We supply carefully chosen wines for weddings and special occasions. Let us help you select great bubbly to get your reception going and the perfect wines to match your wedding meal.
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anything you don't drink can be returned to us for a full refund. Visit our FAQ for further information.Corkage Explained
So what is Corkage?
Corkage refers to a charge applied by a venue if you wish to supply your own drink for a function. If you choose wine from the venue's list they already have their margin embedded in the price (i.e. a wine that you will find in an off licence for €10 will be €30 (or more) on the wine list). Most hotels and restaurants work on a 50 - 70% profit margin on wine if you provide your own wine they loose this lucrative profit and therefore will either not allow you to provide your own wine or charge a corkage fee to compensate them for the lost revenue.
That does not seem very fair?
To be fair venues have overheads, staff to pay etc. it is a bit unreasonable to expect them to open bottles for you and serve your guests for free. The problem occurs when they have a very poor wine list and try to push plonk at premium prices.
What about the venues that do not allow corkage and insist that wines must be selected from their list?
Hmmm. In my experience there are only 2 reasons for this 1) The venue is red hot, extremely professional, know what they are doing, have trained wine experts and don't want any interference with their proven system - fair enough let them at it or 2) they are creaming it on the wines and intend to continue doing so. It's up to you to decide what you think is going on but by all means send us a copy of the wine list and we will set you straight.
So what is the average corkage charge?
How long is a piece of string... corkage charges vary from venue to venue but in general range from €10 to €25 euro per bottle of wine. Charges for Champagne are usually more €12.50 - €30 per bottle. Corkage charges are always negotiable and by all means name and shame any unreasonable venues on our blog space.
Why bother supplying my own wine I already have a million things to do?
Simple... if you are looking at paying €30 per bottle for your function (most people pick the second least expensive wine on the list... oh the psychology of it all!) chances are you are getting a pretty average bottle that would retail in shops at the €7.99 - €10.99 range. By selecting your own wine you can pick a much better wine for say €11 add your corkage charge of say €10 and voila! Total cost €21 - You will be serving your guests a much better wine and saving loads of money in the process.
Any other reasons?
In my experience it is always worth the effort, I have been at some weddings where the wine was the talking point for all the right reasons and others where it was for all the wrong reasons. The devil as they say is in the detail. At my brothers wedding we served Chateau Dillon (our family name), for my own wedding we had a lovely South African wine from near where we got engaged. Both went down a treat and were remarked on by loads of guests.
So what service do you provide?
Click below for an explanation of our corkage service:
How it works