Corkage has received a lot of emails lately from brides and grooms on the topic of corkage charges in hotels and venues. Here’s an example:


“…..I was astounded to discover the venue I booked is looking to charge me a €15 corkage fee per bottle! They are already getting room hire, bedroom hire for guests, the catering, plus all the alcohol which they’ll be selling in the evening! I believe that such a corkage charge is obscene …”


Hear, hear. But, unfortunately the topic of corkage is not as simple as that. After much consultation with restaurateurs, industry figures and hotels, this is the situation as I see it corkage, when honorably implemented, is a fair thing.
The common complaint runs something like this: “It’s outrageous! I can buy this bottle of Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc for €10.49 in Tesco , yet such and such venue are looking to charged €30! It’s outrageous!” (See blog on avoiding serving branded wines!)


In defense of the (good!) hotels and venues of the world, let me hit you with a bit of a reality check. Running a hotel is not a benevolent pastime. Venues have to buy, store, sell and serve wine. “So do retailers!” you say. Yes, but retailers, particularly the Tesco’s of this world and mega-wine chains, have an enormous buying power. Tesco can buy the wine at a rate much lower than a hotel. Similarly, Tesco only has to shelve it and put it in a bag. A hotel or venue has to refrigerate it (well, at least half the time), serve it by the glass (more wastage here), pull the cork and pour it via a team of staff.



The trick particularly at the moment in the ‘current economic climate’ (is anyone else getting really sick of that phrase?) is to haggle and haggle and then haggle some more. Corkage charges like property prices and bank shares are plummeting at the moment. A venue is not going to risk loosing your booking over the corkage fee so there has never been a better time to provide your own wine and wow your guests with a great wine selection……..