Love to. Let me know when you find one! 250% is the lowest I've seen in years, other then the occasional old price that hasn't been updated.

Avoid all steakhouses; they are the worst for markup. Also, the bigger the list, the higher the markup. Wine takes up space, and you have to store all that wine somewhere. You may be able to find some decent priced wine on a list like that, but you have to comb through it pretty hard.
The places that tend to be best are smaller restaurants with a 50 bottle list or smaller. 2x retail markup is what I shoot for. Any higher than that, and I just drink water, and drink a nice bottle at home afterwards.

I really didn't want to rehash this conversation again, but since we are here...

I freaking hate restaurant wine. But I really love Pappas. And I really love Napa cabs. I was torn, which is why i only go there once a year or less. But since it was a special occasion I went with something a little nicer than had it just been a regular night out (having a $100 gift card my the pain a little easier). Believe it or not, the best "value" they had was a bottle of 2011 Scarecrow, which was just over 2x my cost. Of course, that is high in absolute dollars, but I did notice the markup difference. Too bad it was the 2011 and I didn't have 4 hours there to let it decant... or an extra car payment laying around.

But we usually cook at home, do BYO places, or go somewhere like Brasserie 19 if we want a nice bottle. No reason to piss money away at every dinner out on the town! Besides, I know what I like and some of these places that claim to have wines that are good but not highly visible to the public dont blow my skirt up. The wines may be good, but they are not exceptional, and that is what I'm after these days.

Outside of Brasserie 19, Ibiza, etc (Clark Concepts) hard to find a good wine list that isn't really jacked up in Houston. There are a few others, but not many.

I like going to 13 Celsius, but then you have such a limited menu it isn't the same as going to a restaurant.

The wine lists at Sugar Land restaurants, where I live, are the absolute worst. Perry's is a joke and their markup is over 300%. At least Ruggles Green is decent food and allows wine in for only a $5 corkage, so we do that quite a bit.

Paul Thompson at "Cypress Grill" here in Boerne has an outstanding wine list, especially for us Napa Cab types. He shoots for 250%, but doesn't update his prices very often. Also, on Wednesday nights any bottle is 40% off, so effectively a 150% markup, which is palatable. Then if there's a few wines that have out dated prices... His Stag's Leap Artemis (I know, not a premium wine, but still good) is cheaper on Wednesday night than I can get at HEB. Dolce is at $100 on the price list, so $60 with the discount, less than most places sell it for.

For Houston, as bularry already mentioned, the markup at any of Clark Cooper's places isn't bad. Underbelly, Reef and Coltivare are all also under 200%, typically falling in the 50-60% markup range. The markup on the wine list is one of the main criteria I pick my restaurants by.

I guess corkage fees are a no no in Texas. I have been away since graduation . The best restaurant wines is from your own cellar. In DC and VA it runs $25 to $ 50 dollars for per bottlle.

It has been awhile, but just over the NM border there is a steakhouse called Billy Crews that makes the WS 2-3 star list with minimum mark up. You can shop for more great wine or the same wine you had with your steak post meal. I never understood why that concept hasn't been copied more. They used to have the best selection of wine in El Paso . It has been 15 years since my last visit.

"Twenty 9" in the Quarry in SA has typical in-restaurant pricing. But a bottle to take home is 40% off and a half case 50% off.

Corkage is allowable in Texas. Sometimes all you have to do is call ahead and ask.

Alberico in McAllen and San Antonio has a similar setup. One side is the restaurant, the other is the retail wine store. Go pay retail for your wine, and open it next door without a corkage charge.

Next time that I am in San Antonio I will look up Alberico. Thanks for the heads up. Are the Steakhouses corkage friendly?

Most aren't becauae they have a full bar. IIRC, you can't do corkage if you have a full bar, but I've seen places turn a blind eye toward this.

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We've gotten to the point where we don't even buy good wine at nice restaurants any more. When you know they're charging 300% or more of what you can buy it for, it's just hard. We like restaurants that allow us to bring our own, and gladly pay the corkage.

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The little Italian place in Marble Falls is perfect. Pretty darn good food and you bring the wine.

Something to keep in mind: most places will waive the corkage charge if you buy a bottle of the list. You should always call ahead to see if this is the restaurant's policy.

The rule in most localities is that a restaurant cannot charge a corkage fee unless they have a liquor license. If place is BYOB it is usually because they do not have a license, and they therefore cannot profit off of the on-premises consumption of alcohol by charging a corkage fee.

If they do have a liquor license, they can charge whatever they want for corkage. And Any place with or without a license could just prohibit BYO altogether.

My wife opened a bottle of 2005 Mas Igneus Priorat FA 206 Vinyes de Coster on Sunday night. She poured me a glass. It was nothing special. It was past its prime I believe. So I opened a Framboise for a Cure beer from RRBC instead. Can't go wrong there.

I just ordered the 2012 Piper Wines Napa cabernet. It's half Moulds vineyard (cooler Oak Knoll area) and half George III (warmer Rutherford). It's one of the few wines that I still buy. I actually did some punchdowns on this particular vintage.

I had the chance to visit AZ after all. I found a vineyard that is partnered somehow with Maynard Keenan (someone suggested I try his wines on here), Arizona Stronghold, and bought a bottle of their Chardonnay. Also went to another vineyard, Alcantara, and picked up a bottle of their Zin and a red dessert wine that was made from Cab grapes and grappa, they said it was supposed to be like a port. Highly recommend it.

Both of these were outside of Sedona, if any of y'all are out there, I'd like to hear the opinion of someone with a more developed palate than me.

For a "celebrity" winemaker, I've always heard good stuff about his wine. Good for you.

I had a red blend in flagstaff 2 summers ago. It was full bodied and surprisingly memorable. Nothing great but an enjoyable bottle of wine.

Went to a friend's 50th birthday tonight.
3L 2007 Shafer 1.5
2010 Shafer Hillside Select magnum
2010 Hundred Acre
2010 Robert Foley magnum
2006 Sanguis As the Crow Flies 3L
2007 Ridge Monte Bello magnum
2010 Darioush
1965 Graham's Port Malvedos (my favorite, and the bed wine I've ever had.)
Here's a picture of everything else I forgot.

Should I order my allocation of Alpha Omega Era 2013? I dropped off the wine club due to some kind of poor wines being sent out but I have always enjoyed the Era in the past...

HTown, what Bevan is that?

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1965 Graham's Port Malvedos (my favorite, and the bed wine I've ever had.)

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uhhh.... this one warrants further discussion, I think.

Get your mind outta the gutter, Cecil.

HTown: that's pretty impressive.

How was the 2007 Ridge Monte Bello? I am aging those right now.


Side note: a few years ago I was out of town and wife asked what bottle she could open with her friend. I told her that we had some Ridge at the bottom left of the wine cabinet. I was thinking the zin. Well I guess she had already had a few drinks and heard "Ridge at the TOP left of the wine cabinet" and popped open an '07 Monte Bello. Apparently she liked it because she texted later and told me to order more of that '07 Ridge Zin. I thought nothing of it until I realized we didnt have any '07 Zin from them. UGH!!!! So I had to replace it at secondary prices which is considerably more than futures pricing!

and yes AG07, go for it if you like it.

Cecil, those phone call with the better half always end up with a treasured bottle slipping out of ones hands without a snip or sip of said bottle.... as the vow goes for better or worse.

The 07 Monte Bello needs several more years. Still fairly tannic and acidic. It's going to be a good one when it's ready. Note that this was from a magnum, so the standard size bottles may be further along.

I have no idea which Bevan it was. Some of those were gone before I could try them.

Didn't know if you guys have heard of the recently-filed lawsuit in Ca about elevated arsenic in wines.

My friend at Wine For Normal People recently uploaded an interview she did with a food toxicologist from UC-Davis, basically calling b/s on the whole thing. (Did you know there's more arsenic in rice than wine?)

Anyway, y'all should check it out:
Wine for Normal People: Interview with Dr. Carl Winter

Also, check out the "bonus" rap/homage at the back end of the podcast that's worth the listen alone as it mentions a certain recent fairly successful Aggie QB. Great stuff.

We printed t-shirts during undergrad that touted "Nuclear Power - Safer Than Sex!". It came with a note explaining that due to K42 naturally occurring in humans, your radiation exposure for eight hours lying next to someone was greater than eight hours alone in the control plant of a Nuclear Power Station! So, no, neither arsenic nor ***ishima is going to alter my wine consumption!

Quivet Cellars Cab released today. Their Syrah earlier this year was outstanding. Hope the cab is as good!

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The 07 Monte Bello needs several more years. Still fairly tannic and acidic. It's going to be a good one when it's ready. Note that this was from a magnum, so the standard size bottles may be further along.

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Thanks. I've always wondered just how much longer a mag needs. Someone should do an experiment on that. I don't plan on touching my Ridge bottles for 15 years from vintage. I did buy multiple mags of the 2009 for my son. That is his birthyear. He'll get champagne and Yquem, too.

Cecil, I got the Quibet LPV for me and some Napa cabs for my wife so she can drink when I'm not.

Steaks later, decant now. Happy Mother's Day.

Has anyone tried the 2012 Bevan EE? I have an opportunity to purchase a few bottles but don't know much about it.

FYI, HEB is getting a case of it, $200/bottle for ya'll in San Antonio.

I came home from work today to find two books from Scarecrow at my door. One of pictures of flowers and the other of mushrooms. I wish they had just sent me free wine instead.