Screaming Eaqle by the glass???
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:32 am
I visited a brand new Seattle wine bar last night, The Local Vine in Belltown.
The decor was decidedly modern, minimalist, concrete and steel - in sharp contrast to the image the name of the bar suggests.
The menu was relatively expensive, especially given the size of the servings that we placed before us. You could also tell that the servers were all new, as some of them couldn't answer some of my questions about the food or the wine. I can let that slide...
Then came the wine menu... very extensive (and expensive) selection of wines both by the bottle and by the glass. Bin 27 for $10 a 2 oz. pour?
As I scanned down the menu, one wine caught my eye:
2003 Screaming Eagle $480/glass - $2,200/bottle
Ok, now I'm thinking...who in the WORLD would sell Screaming Eagle by the glass???? A bottle of 2003 Screaming Eagle is running about $1,400 a bottle on winesearcher...so I was just baffled. What if someone comes in, orders one glass, and nobody else orders the other two glasses you probably need to break even on your bottle? Sure, the owners can drink the remainder, but that's not making their restaurant any money, is it?
I checked behind the bar to see if the had some wine preservation or argon gas system that would allow them to keep an open bottle of Screaming Eagle for more than a day or two, and they didn't.
One of those things that just makes you scratch your head...
As a post-script, I glanced up at the bar and noticed the familiar shape of a Niepoort 1/2 bottle. It was an unopened 2003 Niepoort VP, and I ask how much it was since it wasn't on the menu. The server went back and asked the owner, who said she's sell me a glass for the same price as the 20 Year Taylor Fladgate - $15/glass. I thought - sure - I can taste it now instead of opening any of the bottles in my cellar! $15 (and an inexperienced 4 oz pour instead of the stated 2 oz) I was happily sipping away on a great VP by the glass....
Screaming Eagle by the glass....those kids just kill me...
The decor was decidedly modern, minimalist, concrete and steel - in sharp contrast to the image the name of the bar suggests.
The menu was relatively expensive, especially given the size of the servings that we placed before us. You could also tell that the servers were all new, as some of them couldn't answer some of my questions about the food or the wine. I can let that slide...
Then came the wine menu... very extensive (and expensive) selection of wines both by the bottle and by the glass. Bin 27 for $10 a 2 oz. pour?
As I scanned down the menu, one wine caught my eye:
2003 Screaming Eagle $480/glass - $2,200/bottle
Ok, now I'm thinking...who in the WORLD would sell Screaming Eagle by the glass???? A bottle of 2003 Screaming Eagle is running about $1,400 a bottle on winesearcher...so I was just baffled. What if someone comes in, orders one glass, and nobody else orders the other two glasses you probably need to break even on your bottle? Sure, the owners can drink the remainder, but that's not making their restaurant any money, is it?
I checked behind the bar to see if the had some wine preservation or argon gas system that would allow them to keep an open bottle of Screaming Eagle for more than a day or two, and they didn't.
One of those things that just makes you scratch your head...
As a post-script, I glanced up at the bar and noticed the familiar shape of a Niepoort 1/2 bottle. It was an unopened 2003 Niepoort VP, and I ask how much it was since it wasn't on the menu. The server went back and asked the owner, who said she's sell me a glass for the same price as the 20 Year Taylor Fladgate - $15/glass. I thought - sure - I can taste it now instead of opening any of the bottles in my cellar! $15 (and an inexperienced 4 oz pour instead of the stated 2 oz) I was happily sipping away on a great VP by the glass....
Screaming Eagle by the glass....those kids just kill me...