Tipping on Wine

You go out to eat and you order wine with your meal. That's not unusual if you are reading here. Some of the most difficult questions, however, relate to tipping on the wine. And, part of the problem is that there is no right answer -- not even close.

I've seen Wine Spectator try to tackle this question several times. They struggle with it as do their readers who are willing to weigh in in their Letters to the Editor section. So, this must not be an easy question to answer.

My opinions here might be controversial. In fact, I expect they will be as would anyone else's be on this topic. But, they're my opinions and I haven't had any establishments fail to welcome me back ... yet.

We're stuck in the US with a system where tips, or gratutities if you prefer, in restaurants are based on the amount that you spend and really not on the level of service although, frankly, there is often a connection between the two. So, that would suggest that you tip twice as much on a $60 bottle of wine as you would on a $30 bottle of wine. Does that make sense? I don't know.

I'm going to go through my own personal guidelines, not necessarily what I would suggest to you, but the way that I work it out. And, because it makes the math easy, let's assume that our standard tip on food is 20% of the total and that sales tax is 5%. That totals to 25%. I can do that math.

Digressing for a moment to a pet peeve, many restaurants these days have suggested tips that they show on your bill/check/tab (whatever you call it). And, when they "help you out with the math," their suggestions have you tipping on the sales tax. That does not happen in my world. No way. No how. That I should tip more because a locality has a higher sales tax rate than another is just criminal to me. Got it?

Back to the subject at hand, let's assume, again because the math is easy, that you order a $100 bottle of wine with your dinner. That's usually a nice bottle. Based on the assumptions that we made earlier, assume you are going to spend $125 in total on that bottle. That's $100 for the bottle, $5 sales tax, and a $20 tip. As one of the editors of Wine Spectator said, if you can't afford $125, don't order a $100 bottle.

But, here is where the controversy kicks in. For a $20 tip, I expect wine service. Yes, some of it is just pomp and circumstance, but it does make my experience better, and if I am dining out and offering a nice gratuity, I expect to be served properly (call me a snob if you like). So, with a $100 bottle, I expect taht the bottle will be presented to me at the table so that I can see that the bottle is the one I ordered, including the vintage (call me a snob if you like). I expect the cork to be pulled at the table and presented to me for my inspection (call me a snob if you like). While I am doing that, I expect the server to take steps to ensure that the wine is not tainted (they should be able to discreetly take a whiff to see that the bottle is not corked or severely tainted with brettanomyces, even if they don't know what that is). I expect good glasses given what the restaurant carries. I expect a proper tasting pour to me because I am almost always the person who orders. And, if I approve, I expect that wine will be served, ladies first, beginning to my left, then gentlemen, and ending with me. This is basic blocking and tackling. At this price point, failure to do any of that could bring the gratuity down as could failure to serve after the first pour.

As prices go up and the price of the restaurant generally goes up, percentages might come down. If a server wants to keep them at or near that 20% (that we are using for illustrative purposes) benchmark, then on an expensive bottle, they need to go above and beyond. Some of the things that can get them there are making outstanding suggestions, offering small tastes of several potential selections (most restaurants can't do that, but some can), offering to decant, offering better glasses, and generally going above and beyond. If a sommelier has helped, whether they get an additional tip "in a handshake" is dependent on just how much they improve the experience. I'll come back to that later with two examples.

If a bottle is particularly inexpensive, a server has to do far less to get that hypothetical 20%. Just don't blow it. Be even a little bit attentibe. Act like you care. And, similarly, if a restaurant really does not do wine, but carries perhaps a few bottles, my expectations change to something like hoping they get the wine into my glass.

Suppose you bring your own bottle. The restaurant probably has a corkage fee. That is, they charge you an amount to serve you your own bottle. If wine service is good, offer your server or sommelier a taste. If you do and they are well-trained, they will likely waive corkage or at least a part of it. If the corkage fee is low, my feeling is that you should tip on the bottle roughly as if you had ordered that bottle, minus a small amount.

Now, let's come back to sommeliers. What can a sommelier do to merit them having their palm greased? I'll give you two examples.

The first is a restaurant that we go to periodically. Their menu is constantly changing and quite offbeat. Many items are frankly unknown to me and this makes pairing difficult. But, the beverage director there knows that we appreciate our wine. He also knows their menu and their wine selection. With us, at least, his custom is to make three suggestions, bring us a small taste of each and let us decide from there. He has not yet steered us wrong.

The second is an outstanding restaurant with an over-the-top wine list. Sadly, I may not ever visit this fine restaurant again, but that's far off-topic. On a typical weeknight at dinner time, they will have three to six sommeliers on the floor. They are serious about their wine. On our last visit there, we asked for the assistance of a sommelier. She asked all the right questions and made a number of suggestions for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, from three finalists, we narrowed it to the winner. Exquisite and served perfectly, it could not have been a better choice. 

About two or three minutes after pouring, she came back to discuss the wine with us. And, she had a little surprise. She had brought samples of the two other "finalists" that we had not selected. Talk about making our wine an experience.

Going back to the 20% hypothetical benchmark, what can happen, at least in my mind, to make the gratuity shrink as a percentage? First, if the bottle is really expensive (whatever that means to you) like a true celebration wine, for me, the percentage is coming down. Not that I have ever ordered one, but if I ventured down a wine list and ordered a bottle whose price in dollars had a comma in it, I am not tipping $200 or more on that bottle. It's just not happening. If that makes me a bad person, I'll accept that label. But sicne I am not ordering a $1,000 bottle, neither am I tipping $200 on one.

But, there are lots of other things a server can do to get their gratuity cut. Open the bottle, but expect us to pour our own wine. Bring us the wrong wine initially, but that is minor. Argue with us that it is not the wrong wine, and that is not minor. Ignore a reasonable request that we make such as asking for glasses with stems. And, making a show out of things by intentionally making a loud pop with the cork extraction or pouring the wine from a high height so as to put a head on the wine like you would a beer. (call me a snob if you like).

Ultimately, the choice is yours. But, excellent wine service should improve your experience. And, it's not easy,. Be generous when you are able if it is deserved.