How to get a discount on restaurant wine

When you’re old enough, you’ll likely enjoy a bottle of wine with a nice dinner. You may well be a little to somewhat knowledgeable about wine and its’ pricing. Undoubtedly, you will know that it is marked up highly by most restaurants. And restaurants are not in the business of discounting some random bottle of wine you choose from the wine list. So, don’t choose one to get a discount. Let them sell you one at a discount.

Image from Unsplash - Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis

If a restaurant is sophisticated enough to have a multi-page wine list. There is someone at the restaurant that manages the list. Ask to speak to that person. When she arrives, ask the simple questions, “are there any bottles that you’re moving off the list?” or “any good bottles that you’re down to your last one or two and you’re not re-ordering”? Sometimes, they’ll say no straight up. Game over.

But they’ll usually ask, “What are you looking to spend?”. Don’t answer directly. Respond with another question, “what can you do a deal on?” Most times they will respond” I have a couple of these left” and point to them and their pricing. They’ll start with higher priced bottles. Which is natural because there’s less demand for them. Counter with “what could you do on them?”, Sometimes they say, “let me check” , most times they’ll give you a discount of 20% to 30% on the spot. If that’s outside your desired price, ask for a deal on a lower priced bottle. You’ll likely get one.

Strike a deal, thank them, and offer them a glass. You’ve done each of you a favor.

If you’re on a date doing this and your companion is bothered by it. Keep looking there are a lot of fish in the sea. If they get a kick out of it, use that bottle of fine to get to know them better.