I feel a little guilty for writing my last column in praise of expensive wine now that I have just listened to a terrifying internet radio show about how the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. To prepare for the hard times to come, I have already cut the fingers out of a pair of my favourite gloves and practiced warming them in front of an imaginary fire in an empty oil drum.
To make it up to my readers, I’m writing a column dedicated to squeezing the most out of your dining budget without sacrificing on quality. This is really not so difficult. Just remember one word: corkage.
Corkage is the fee that restaurants charge if you bring your own wine to dinner (this site contains a good primer on the etiquette of corkage). Since the mark-up on the cheapest bottles on a wine-list is usually around 200-300 percent, bringing your own bottle and paying a flat fee is a splendid way to slash your bill but drink your fill.
Here are my favourite corkage-friendly restaurants in Toronto:
- The Globe Bistro (124 Danforth Avenue) gets top billing for offering free corkage for January 2009. I have found that they know how to treat a bottle right: opening it early to let it breathe and pouring into a proper decanter. Plus, the food and décor are lovely.
- Le Sélect Bistro (432 Wellington St. West) is a perfect place to open a rich red wine since it specializes in rich French dishes (such as duck confit or steak frites). They also pique my interest because they have a two-tier corkage system. A reasonable $18 will open your bottle. For $25 they will also decant it – which is worth it for an old or expensive wine (not that any of us drink those anymore).
- Fresh on Crawford (894 Queen Street West). If you are going to eat dreadful things like bean sprouts and tofu, it might as well be at Fresh, whose rice bowls set the standard for delicious vegetarian cuisine. Choking back all that roughage is made a little easier with a good Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. And why not – their corkage is $10.
As part of my penance for last week’s column, I also want to tip you off to one of the best value wines I have found at the LCBO in recent memory: Santa Duc “Les Vieilles Vignes” Côtes du Rhône 2006 ($15 [Ed. note: No longer available], Vintages #101543, France). It has balance, complexity, structure and richness – all the things that you aren’t supposed to be able to get for only fifteen bucks. The inviting blackberry fruit is enhanced by very classy undertones of earth and fallen leaves. Plus, it will only improve with age. I bought several bottles, and am storing them for 2-3 years. It will go extremely well with a campfire and a can of beans.
Matthew Sullivan is a civil litigator in Toronto. He writes a weekly blog entry here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at matthew@lawandstyle.beta-site.ca