Should we be serving premium wines by the glass?
Ordering wine by the glass has shifted from a “cheapskate” move to one reflecting an enthusiasm to explore, according to Jancis Robinson MW. So what has lifted the stigma? db reports.
Serving wine by the glass seems like a clear win-win-win: consumers get the opportunity to explore without committing to a full bottle; selling glasses individually provides higher margins for operators; and producers themselves have a better chance of having their wines sampled by new consumers.
Restaurateur Xavier Rousset MS says he began listing more expensive wines by the glass only recently. “Two Christmases ago I put a top Champagne cuvée by the glass at £50,” he said.
The thirst was immediately there, and the wine sold out “within a week or two”.
But this was a new discovery for Rousset. “Five years ago, I wouldn’t necessarily have risked it,” he said.
Rousset was speaking at a briefing on Monday (29 September) announcing the launch of The Coravin Guide – a breakdown of the top wine by-the-glass menus around the world.
Hosted by Greg Lambrecht, inventor and founder of preservation system Coravin, Jancis Robinson MW completed the trio of speakers.
Coravin launched its new free digital publication to spotlight sommeliers in restaurants, bars, hotels and private clubs who are pioneering the best by-the-glass offerings.
So why hasn’t by-the-glass historically been the status quo for higher-priced wines?
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“I didn’t have the guts to do it,” Rousset admitted. “We were worried as an industry to put those wines out there.”
Robinson argued that the “stigma of ordering wine by the glass” was previously a barrier – something she said has now “completely disappeared”.
Where “in the old days it seemed cheapskate”, now, the perception has shifted, and ordering by the glass is more closely associated with “exploring”.
Indeed, in a new independent survey of 1,030 consumers in the UK and Australia, Coravin found that half of all respondents are ordering more wine by the glass than they were two years ago.
More than half of respondents said they’d spend £10-15 on a glass of wine, and over a third said they would spent £16-£20 on a single glass. A fifth said they would be willing to stretch to paying higher than £20 a glass.
Coravin’s new guide spotlights the venues which are pioneering more extensive by-the-glass menus. The Coravin Guide will initially cover London, Sydney, Melbourne, Milan, The Netherlands and California, with additional cities to be included in the coming months.
Searchable by region, occasion and wine style, all qualifying venues are able to apply to feature in the guide, regardless of whether they use a Coravin system.
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I regularly only order wines by the glass, but will have 2 or 3 from the wine list, rather than order a whole bottle. Really wish more places offer more choice
Rather than wine by the glass, we really appreciate it if 250 ml can be served in a small decanter, so you can share it, pace yourself and don’t over-fill a glass (or have a stupidly large one)