Eateries can profit with better lists, prices

Too many restaurants have a love-hate relationship with wine pricing. They love the profits that they garner from fermented grape juice, but they're spreading some hate for wine with their prices.

Seriously, show of hands: Who out there has not, more than once, looked at a wine list priced exorbitantly above retail and said "I'm just not going there"?

I know next to nothing about business, but I have to believe that restaurants could sell a lot more wine -- and still make healthy profits -- if they priced it more reasonably. And I'm baffled that even in tough times, so few restaurants have altered their approach to wine.

Now, not every place is guilty of gouging. There's a nice little pocket of wine-consumer-friendly spots in Minneapolis' East Hennepin district (Ginger Hop, Butcher Block, Vic's) and scattered wine-centric spots from Ham Lake (T-Box) to Prior Lake (Perron's Sul Lago) and Dinkytown (Kafe 421). There also are impressive inventories in surprising places such as the Melting Pot, Ngon Vietnamese Bistro, OM and the School II.

In addition, places that are passionate about food, the fresh/local/seasonal contingent, tend to be avid about having an approachable, affordable wine list. Among them: Corner Table, Heartland, Piccolo, Spoonriver, even Birchwood Cafe.

And, of course, Lucia's. In an ideal world, every eatery would have someone like Victoria Norvell, who does a killer job of keeping Lucia's wine list fresh and focused. The list, like the menu, changes weekly, with at least two new wines added. The by-the-glass pours change monthly.

"The wine list is an ever-changing amalgam of items that reflect different price points, different taste profiles, and work with the season," Norvell said via e-mail. "Oh, and of course my personal bias, which causes me to end up heavy in the Rhône or Loire occasionally."

But we deserve better. So here's a Customer Bill of Rights (and Wrongs), a list of what consumers have a right to expect from a restaurant (and themselves):

• There should be several bottles, a half-dozen or more, available for $25 or less.

• There should be several by-the-glass selections for $7 or less.

• The wine list should have a lot of varietal diversity.

• The wine list should have a lot of geographical diversity, unless the restaurant specializes in the cuisine and wines of a certain country.

• Corkage fees should be no more than $15 per bottle.

• Customers should not bring in a bottle of wine that is on the restaurant's wine list, with the possible exception of a (much) older vintage.

• If a customer thinks a wine is corked or otherwise faulty, the manager should personally take a sip and discuss it with the customer.

• If a customer has a question about wine that his/her waitperson cannot answer, someone on duty should be available to do so.

• Except for bottles that have been cellared for years, wines should never cost more than $20-$25 over retail.