Swiss man charged $8,000 corkage at Australian restaurant

A Swiss wine buyer visiting Australia was allegedly charged AUS$8,000 (£4,386) in corkage, having brought eight bottles of his own wine to a restaurant in Melbourne.

The man was allegedly charged AUS$8,000 corkage on eight bottles of wine.

As reported by the Daily Mail, each of the eight bottles he brought with him cost just $200, but he was charged a fee of $1,000 (£548) a bottle, costing a total of $8,000.

At AU$1,000 a bottle corkage, it would likely be the priciest corkage charge of any restaurant in the world.

Chef Tom Keller’s restaurants, Napa’s French Laundry and New York’s Per Se, are often touted the world’s most expensive for corkage. But at just US$150 (£114) a bottle, its charges seem reasonable by comparison.

Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas charges $100 a bottle and the Shangri-La hotel at London’s tallest building, the Shard charges pay £50 ($83.95) per 750ml bottle of still wine and £75 ($125.90) for a bottle of Champagne.

The wine buyer said he had attempted to contact the high end restaurant three times to confirm if he could bring his own wine and the relevant charges, but had received no response.

The story was reported by an Australian radio station, after a man believed to be a client of the wine buyer, known only as Scott, got in touch to share the story.

The name of the restaurant, which is reported to be in Melbourne, has not been revealed.