I guess it could be that. I do tend to purchase wines that are not available in the restaurant and could use that as a cover, but the truth is I would rather spend $100 retail for 4 glasses of great wine than average wine at $25 a glass... The stuff I like often isn't available at many places though...

So I'm cheap and picky, and spend a ton of money at these places, and tip well...one visit was into the 4 figures in just tips... I'm not sure it's low class to be upset with 4x markups on average bottles