I wish more restaurants would encourage customers to bring their own wines. I am a huge supporter of modest corkage fees -- it shouldn't ever be more than $15, in my opinion. After all, they don't have to do anything with your wine except open it. In general, wine lists are so preposterously overpriced and filled with poor selection, I look at them only for amusement. And, for the most part, I don't find wines on them that I want to drink because all their selections are far too young. (Try finding a 1997 Napa Cabernet on wine lists anymore! It's all 2000 and 2001!) I always call and ask about corkage fees before bringing a bottle along. If it's too much, I do without. But if it's reasonable, I bring a bottle and enjoy. It's good form to offer some to the sommelier, I think, but don't feel compelled to tip extra because it's a bottle of wine I paid for and assumed the cost of cellaring, and I prefer not to let waiters pour.

I know I must come off sounding like the restaurant wine Nazi, but that's just how it is for me. Most of the time, I avoid drinking when I eat out because it's just not affordable. A lot of restaurants, though, are beginning to recognize that having reasonable corkage is a good thing. I've found an increasing trend of places in Houston offering low corkage -- $7 or so. It's become a really nice thing in Napa Valley, too, where a lot of places charge $10 or $15. The higher up the scale you go, of course, $25 becomes the standard. Or, if you're at the French Laundry, it's $50 (!!!).