Dry December Woes: Woman Quoted €40 Corkage for Alcohol-Free Wine

A Dublin woman who contacted three restaurants about bringing her own alcohol-free wine while doing “dry December” was quoted a €40 corkage fee, the same as for wine with alcohol. Denise Kiernan from Clontarf said she did not want to drink, “but I still wanted to socialise”. “You don’t want to be the one in the crowd, ‘I’m having water’. It just looks nice to be able to say ‘cheers’ and have a glass of something in your hand that’s similar [to alcohol],” she said. The restaurants she contacted did not have a bring-your-own-wine policy, but she made the query because restaurants in general “don’t have an option for nonalcoholic wine”. There are “lots of really good varieties available” in supermarkets, and she usually purchases bottles for €7-€10 in the shops, she said. It raised questions for her when three restaurants quoted €40 corkage, after her initial query, which “is punitive”. It was the same charge as for wine costing “a couple of hundred euro”, which “doesn’t make sense”. One restaurant told her they offered nonalcoholic wine but on the night were out of stock. She had a nonalcoholic prosecco for €9, the same price as one with alcohol. [ Four lower-alcohol wines for the new yearOpens in new window ] A second restaurant quoted €40 but charged €20 on the night and provided a bucket and ice for her bottle. The third restaurant, Picasso, in Clontarf “didn’t really push it”, Ms Kiernan said. When contacted, Emiliano Isufaj of Picasso said that if somebody ordered alcohol-free wine one or two days beforehand, they would supply it. “If you bring it yourself – in a party of four or five and one is not drinking, we don’t charge.” But if it is a party of five or six and everybody is drinking nonalcoholic wine “then probably I would charge” corkage, he said. Ms Kiernan acknowledged “restaurants are going out of businesses all the time”, but she suggested at Christmas time there should be a campaign of no corkage fee for designated drivers who brought their own alcohol-free wine. “There’s so much emphasis about extra gardaí on the roads and checkpoints”, and this would be an alternative option, she said. Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said it endorsed the Coca Cola campaign that offered the designated driver free soft drinks. But, he said, “it’s up to each business whether they adopt it or not”. Mr Cummins said that if restaurants did not have alcohol-free wine for sale, they would “miss out on customers” because of the growing trend of drivers opting for nonalcoholic options. He said every restaurant’s wine supplier should be “pushing maybe a bottle or two” of alcohol-free wine so it would be available. Ms Kiernan raised the issue with one of her local TDs, Independent Barry Heneghan, who asked a parliamentary question about Government guidelines for charges. Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke confirmed restaurants could set their own corkage fees with “no legal cap on prices or requirement to link prices to costs”. They are, however, obliged to provide “clear, upfront disclosure of total prices, including any charges, so that consumers can make informed decisions”. Mr Heneghan said “some people are choosing to drink less and some are choosing to not drink at all, whether they’re designated drivers, minding their health, pregnant or for many reasons people decide not to have a drink”. “Restaurants and pubs and any supplier of alcohol need to reflect that reality. Charging the same corkage for nonalcoholic wine as for alcoholic wine doesn’t really make sense and it can discourage responsible choices.”