NYC's Best Restaurant Wine List Values

[Lindsay E.]

So I know this thread has been dead for a while now and I steared it off course from its original topic of best NYC wine values toward a more general wine value topic..,but I came across a fantastic value tonight in San Francisco at Harvey's on Castro st. $6 glass pours of Ficklin 10yr tawny but the glass pour was about 5oz. Just for kicks, I asked the bartender what a full bottle would cost if I came back with some friends. He said I could have a full bottle for about $20! The cheapest retail
I could find on winesearcher for this is $26! This was a steal and it played in perfectly with the hamburger/pub fare on the restaurant menu. The ficklin was surprisingly good with enough tannin to stand up to fried chicken and onion rings and enough sweetness to handle fries with ketchup. When a Sierra Nevada or Heineken is $5, to get a ficklin 10yr for a $1 more is a no brainer!

[Andy Velebil]

So I know this thread has been dead for a while now and I steared it off course from its original topic of best NYC wine values toward a more general wine value topic..,but I came across a fantastic value tonight in San Francisco at Harvey's on Castro st. $6 glass pours of Ficklin 10yr tawny but the glass pour was about 5oz. Just for kicks, I asked the bartender what a full bottle would cost if I came back with some friends. He said I could have a full bottle for about $20! The cheapest retail
I could find on winesearcher for this is $26! This was a steal and it played in perfectly with the hamburger/pub fare on the restaurant menu. The ficklin was surprisingly good with enough tannin to stand up to fried chicken and onion rings and enough sweetness to handle fries with ketchup. When a Sierra Nevada or Heineken is $5, to get a ficklin 10yr for a $1 more is a no brainer!

[Brian C.]

You are spoiled. Down here mark-ups are usually around the 3x range. I've never understood that. Restaurants, if they lowered prices, could easily make it up in volume. I can recall more times I passed on getting a glass or bottle of wine at lunch or dinner because the prices were just insane. When a single glass is 1/2 the price of the bottle at retail there is a problem.

Since I missed the window on this thread last time...

Most bottles here are 3x retail, also. I drink a lot of iced tea when we go out, unless it's a BYOB place. By the glass is usually priced at wholesale cost of the bottle, if anybody is wondering. That way the worst they do is a scratch when a bottle is opened. 2x retail is considered reasonable here for a bottle, also. Kind of sad, I know. I can sort of (but still not completely) understand when they're using top of the line glassware and employ somms who are worth their weight in gold, but otherwise, give me a break already. I do love it when I spot the (relative) bargain on the list, though.

I don't know if this still is offered, but at Bandera's here on Michigan Ave., I had Taylor 20 Yr for $8 per glass a number of years ago. I also remember a place out east where I had a glass of Graham's 30 year for a similar price, believe it or not. Maybe a few bucks more than $8, but still, it was a steal.

[Moses Botbol]

We had a 1970 Dow VP at a restaurant over the summer. It was either $70 or $50 USD; I forget.

[Brian C.]

We had a 1970 Dow VP at a restaurant over the summer. It was either $70 or $50 USD; I forget.

Was that at Troquet again?

[Moses Botbol]

We had a 1970 Dow VP at a restaurant over the summer. It was either $70 or $50 USD; I forget.

Was that at Troquet again?

Yes. He makes sure to have some port selections when he see my name on the reservation list

We only went once this season. He expanded it a couple of weeks longer; had we known we would've went nice. The Dow was good; a little on the tawny side compared to the '70 Dow's I own. WOTN was a late 70's CA Chard, which I forget the producer. Everyone liked that the most.