Originally Posted by
l'etoile
I've read many quotes from restaurant owners that corkage fees also contribute to the high cost of maintaining a good wine cellar. It is, in part, to make up for wine not purchased from the restaurant.
The question is an interesting one. I assume if your wine was corked you then ordered a similarly valued bottle off of the wine list? If so, I would likely not expect to be charged corkage, assuming the restaurant wanted me to return. It would certainly be within the restaurant's right to charge the fee, but it would certainly leave the same taste in my mouth as the corked wine.
The question was hypothetical - it occurred to me last week when I took a 1990 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz to a friend's place- the last of a dozen bottles of that vintage all of which were spectacular until this bottle. On removing the foil I noticed the top of the cork was stained and there was a hint of mould. It just got me thinking what would have happened if I had taken this bottle (as several of that dozen had been) to a restaurant. Would the corkage be due at the point of removing the foil?, removing the cork?, tasting the wine? An esoteric question no doubt but I thought I would canvass opinion.
I tend to share your view
l'etoile both on what the corkage fee covers and whether it should be charged in this circumstance