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The Tipping Point: Tipping on Expensive Wine.
By Margie Tosch
Wednesday, 23rd September 2009
 
The San Francisco Chronicle had a post that caught my attention; It regarded appropriate percentages to tip on high-end wine purchases in restaurants - Seems an interesting time for such an article, but it appears that some are still spending.

The amount used in this article as an example was $300, however I can see that what qualified as a premium or super premium would vary with location, and be somewhat in line with the menu prices in general.

In this post, a reader had written in with this question: "I'm going to a restaurant with two people. The bill without wine will be about $500. I'm buying a bottle of wine that costs $300. I usually tip 20%, including the tax, for the food. How much should I tip for the wine in addition to the 20% for the food? The interesting thing was that there really doesn't seem to be a hard and fast answer.

Even more interesting are the comments below the article. On one side of the coin is what the industry thinks is fair or should be the standard, on the other side is what the restaurant going public thinks. I did a bit of research and came up with a couple of other articles on this (I am sure there are many more out there), and overall each seemed to draw the same somewhat uncertain conclusion.

Not surprisingly, the public's view and the server's or sommelier's view were not exactly in alignment. One article suggesting that a standard 20% is a starting point and that great service should garner even more. On top of that perhaps you should offer the sommelier (and server and chef) part of the bottle. I certainly understand that perspective, especially if you are a server or sommelier, work hard at your profession, have spent years becoming educated and strive for exceptional service.

What I do wonder though, is that if we continue on this path, with tipping standards going higher and higher, are we going to hit a wall or resistance, where the public simply says "no more." Will dining out become only for the wealthy? In these economic times, the popularity of diners, roadhouses, food trucks and other relatively inexpensive dining options has soared.

In regard to dining, are we losing the middle class? The wealthy having the upscale or fine dining option and the rest have other end of the scale, with everything in the middle going the way of the dinosaur?

What do you think? Let me know!

Margie

Sources: San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times 

www.nmgemarketing.com
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