As wine enthusiasts and gourmands alike know, the right bottle can significantly enhance a dining experience. While many restaurants offer extensive wine lists, sometimes you may wish to bring a particular vintage from your own collection. This is where the concept of Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) comes into play.

However, bringing your own bottle to a restaurant isn&#39;t as simple as just walking in with it under your arm. There are certain etiquettes that need to be followed &ndash; after all, you wouldn&rsquo;t walk into an eatery carrying your own chicken! Here&rsquo;s everything you need to know about making the most out of BYOB while respecting both restaurant policies and good manners.

1. Call Ahead or Check Corkage Policies:

Before planning on bringing your own bottle, call ahead or check online if the restaurant allows it at all. Many establishments have their corkage policy listed on their website; also check the CorkRules app as we&rsquo;ve begun collecting that information.

2. Understand What Corkage Entails:

Corkage refers to the fee charged by restaurants when guests bring their own wine bottles instead of purchasing from them directly - essentially charging for opening and serving someone else&#39;s beverage within their establishment.

This cost varies widely depending upon location and type of venue but typically ranges between $10-$75 per bottle.

3. Look at Wine List Beforehand:

One unwritten rule about BYOB is not bringing something already available on the restaurant&#39;s menu &ndash; this can be perceived as disrespectful towards their curated selection.

Therefore always look over an establishment&rsquo;s wine list before deciding what you will carry along. If the wine you are brought is on the list, buy the wine from the restaurant.

4. The Age Factor Matters:

Typically older wines which have been aged appropriately are preferred when opting for BYOB because they might not be readily available in most restaurants due its high storage costs involved in ageing wines properly.

5. Bring a Bottle, Buy a Bottle:

A polite way to approach BYOB is by also purchasing a bottle from the restaurant&#39;s list. This not only supports their business but can lead to an exciting opportunity for pairing different wines with your meal. You could also consider pre/post cocktails as well.

6. Don&rsquo;t Bring Cheap Wine:

While there&rsquo;s no need to break the bank, it&rsquo;s generally considered bad form to bring very cheap wine when opting for BYOB. The idea behind bringing your own bottle is usually about sharing something special that isn&#39;t readily available in most restaurants.

7. Share Your Wine:

If you have brought along an exceptional or unusual vintage, consider offering a taste of it to the sommelier or chef if they are interested. They will appreciate this gesture and may even provide additional insights into its characteristics.

8. Tip Generously:

When calculating gratuity at the end of your meal, be sure to tip as though you had purchased the wine directly from them assuming service was good. After all, staff still took time and effort serving and attending on your brought beverage just like any other drink ordered off their menu.

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BYOB offers patrons an avenue through which they can personalize their dining experience while enjoying some of their favorite vintages in new settings. However remember - with privilege comes responsibility; therefore always ensure that you&#39;re being respectful towards both establishment policies and general etiquette when deciding on bringing along your own bottle! #drinkwhatyoulove

As wine enthusiasts and gourmands alike know, the right bottle can significantly enhance a dining experience. While many restaurants offer extensive wine lists, sometimes you may wish to bring a particular vintage from your own collection. This is where the concept of Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) comes into play.

The Art of BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) to Restaurants: Etiquette, Tips and Guidelines

Wines from grapes grown in higher altitude areas with cooler climate has become quite the trend recently. This specific growing environment gives intense flavor but elegance and freshness to the final wines. To highlight and champion these conditions more and more winemakers are starting to use alto as a marketing and labelling term to show their grapes were grown in high altitude vineyards.

Decoding the wine label: Alto

Brut is a word often seen on labels for different kinds of sparkling wine. As you may have discovered when drinking these wines, it indicates that the wine is dry, meaning there is no perceived sweetness in the wine. But how about Extra Brut or Dry, what do they mean and are they the same as Brut?

Decoding the wine label: Brut

Semi-sweet Riesling, a type of wine falling out of style. It’s a shame, since these wines are perfect to pair with flavorful cuisines like Asian or Mexican, or simply drink as they come under the summer sun. The higher level of sugar left in the wine also means that the alcoholic fermentation was stopped before finishing, providing a wine with lower alcohol level and therefor easier grabbing a second glass of.

Decoding the wine label: Spätlese

Have you ever heard the word Xinomavro? Most have not. It is however a word on many sommeliers’ lips today, as it happens to be considered the grape variety with the highest quality in Greece, and one that is trending at the moment. The fact that Greece have been making wine for a long time comes as no surprise, but they have never exported an amount to make sure wine lovers around the globe tried it. With the growing wine tourism many have discovered these wines and are serving them in wine bars and restaurants in many countries today.

Decoding the wine label: Xinomavro

Chianti Classico, Valpolicella Classico, Soave Classico… Why do all these Italian wine regions have the Classico addendum and what does it mean? What is the difference for wines labeled as Classico?

Classico is a wine term in Italy seen on a few wine labels and it indicates that the wine’s from the historic center of the region, the heart. Using Chianti and Chianti Classico and their Sangiovese-based red wines as an example, Chianti is a rather large wine district within the Tuscany region. Chianti Classico is located withing Chianti as the central part and the one that originally existed. Back then this smaller region was actually called Chianti, but as the region grew the quality of the wine plummeted and the well-known characteristics of these red wines were watered down. The reputation took a hit and sales diminished. Eventually this led to the creation of Chianti Classico, which would be drawn from the original Chianti borders to recover the typicity of these wines. Today the quality of both Chianti and Chianti Classico have risen a lot due to modern techniques and knowledge about pruning, planting and temperature control in the winery.

Decoding the wine label: Classico

In the rarefied world of fine wine, where bottles can command prices equivalent to luxury cars, authenticity is everything. Laurent Ponsot's gripping memoir "FBI: Fake Bottle Investigation" reads more like a high-stakes thriller than a traditional wine book, chronicling his relentless pursuit of one of the wine world's most infamous counterfeiters, Rudy Kurniawan.

From Burgundy's Vineyards to the FBI's Most Wanted: A Winemaker's Quest for Justice

Chablis – one of the more popular styles of wine today and a region known by many. Most are familiar with the word Chablis and the light, fresh white wine with a touch of minerality it brings. Even though it’s a renowned wine, few knows what it really is.

Decoding the wine label: Chablis

Many grape varieties around the world of wine have names local to the region or country they’re grown in, even though they’re exactly the same. The most famous example would be Syrah in France where the same grape is named Shiraz in Australia. Another variety with two names is Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Gris.

Decoding the wine label: Pinot Grigio

Have you ever seen the term sur lie on a wine label? It’s not a grape and not a wine region, but a winemaking method used to give certain styles of white wine a rounder texture and a more complex flavor profile.

Decoding the wine label: Sur lie

Cecilia Bonet

Limani

LIMANI &ndash; New York

RT: Hello and Welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where&nbsp;we review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Cecilia Bonet, Certified Sommelier.

Hello Cecilia,&nbsp;it&rsquo;s great to have you the CorkRules Family and from beautiful Spain

CB: Hello Robert, great to be here.

RT: Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules.

We created CorkRules to demystify wine list&rsquo;s because we know from experience, those lists can sometimes be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, or value wines or that special bottle that will take your dining experience over the top.

So, today we are talking about Limani near Rockefeller center. This is a high-end, swanky, beautiful Greek Mediterranean restaurant featuring seafood galore plus they have a broad selection of wines including some great wines from Greece. There is something for everyone.

Cecilia, I can&rsquo;t wait to hear what do you think of their wine list?

As far as I can see, the wine list is well distributed with reds and whites, although there is perhaps little room for sparkling wines.

You will find a broad selection of Italian, French and local wines as well, but I would like to highlight the incredible choice of Greek wines, which are normally difficult to find.

As consumers, we are used to seeing wine lists with old-world wines, and when I mention this, I mean generally European wines, but not Greek. And if there are, very few.

And if we are talking about the wine offer, they also have some Kosher wines.

Rt; So, with all their great wines, anything unique jump out at you?

In this magnificent Mediterranean restaurant, we will find mostly seafood dishes. Therefore, I would like to suggest on this occasion more white or light red wines than others with more body and structure.

Something you should definitely try is the Assirtiko 2018 from Sigalas Winery. Assirtiko is the champion white grape of Greece, originated on the volcanic island of Santorini. Wines are bone-dry and lean with subtle saltiness, ideal both as an aperitif for its freshness and to pair with most main dishes.

RT: Sounds like a great suggestion, but what a lighter red to get me going?

But if instead, you love red wines, and perhaps with little structure, I would choose the Oregonian Pinot Noir &acute;Seven Springs&acute; Evening Land, produced in 2017 by Eola Amity Hills.

RT: As you looked at the list did you see any good values wine you might point us too?

Value Wines

If I choose to remain in the country I will suggest the 2015 Chardonnay Au Bon Climat, produced in Santa Maria Valley. It is rich on the palate, and the classic Chardonnay flavors of apple, citrus and vaNULLla go on and on. This lively wine will go with a wide assortment of foods, even with some meat.

If, on the other hand, I wanted to try a Chardonnay from its origins, I would prefer the 2017 Pouilly &ndash; Fuiss&eacute; by Albert Bichot, produced in the emblematic Burgundy.

RT: Right on, Bichot is one of the finest producers in Burgundy. Always a great choice. 

So this is a special kind of place, what&rsquo;s a special bottle for one celebrating a special occasion or big business dinner?

Bigger budget/Special Occasion

If it were up to me to decide, and a red one in this case, I wouldn&#39;t pass up the opportunity to drink the 2015 Barolo Cannubi from Chiara Boschis, produced in the heart of Piedmont, north of Italy. I have to say that I had the opportunity to meet Chiara when I was in London, and I was absolutely impressed by the quality of her wines. This would be definitely my choice, if a go for a bit more structure.

RT: Cecila, thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Limani&rsquo;s wine List. I&rsquo;m adding this to my list and can&rsquo;t wait to try your suggestion myself.

To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like us to review one of your favorite restaurants, please send us email to: <a href="mailto:Info@corkrules.com">Info@corkrules.com</a> or visit our web website where we have a request form available and we will do our best to get it in the queue as quickly as possible.

We are looking forward to being with you on another CorkRules episode soon. In the meantime, please check out our website as we have lots of other episodes of your favorite restaurant wine lists available.

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

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Thank you.

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BRAT

Bocca di Lupe

Gap Weekend: A Film Shoot in Wine Country

Alba Restaurant

Alba

10 Greek Street

L'Auberge Chez Francois

Andrew Edmunds

Salt Seafood and Oyster Bar

Matteos Ristorante Italiano

Matteo's

Jermann is one of Italy's most renowned wineries, producing some of the finest white wines in the country. The winery is known for its meticulous attention to detail and dedication to quality.

Wine shop known for its knowledgeable staff & a broad choice of natural & small-batch vintages.

Mandolin Aegean Bistro

The Surf Club

Itamae

Itamae Miami

Veranda

Boia De

Huertas

Kesté Pizza & Vino

Keste Pizzeria

Taverna di Bacco

Tavern on the Green

Leyland Brooklyn

Junoon

homepage

CorkRules application allows you to discover wines at your favorite restaurants, learn with friends and be confident with price transparency. Order wine with confidence at restaurants and retailers. Get personalized recommendations. #DrinkWhatYouLove

Chambers Street Wines

Hervé Villemade

Sauvignon 2020

Sauvignon Blanc

Loire Valley, France

Domaine de la Chevalerie

Breteche Bourgueil 2015

Cabernet Franc

Bourgueil, France

Sant'Or

Roditis, Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia 2019

Roditis

Peloponnisos, Greece

Antica Tenuta Pietramore

Abruzzo Pecorino Superiore 2019

Pecorino

Abruzzo, Italy

Rogue Vine

Grand Itata Blanco 2019

Blend

Itata Valley, Chile

Bricco Ernesto

Rosso NV

Nebbiolo

Piemonte, Italy

Laurent

Barth Muscat NV

Alsace, France

Bernard Baudry

Chinon Rouge 2020

Cabernet Franc

Loire, France

Giuseppe Rinaldi

Barolo 1961

Barolo, Piedmont, Italy

Heinrich Hartl Pinot Noir Classic, Thermenregion 2018

Thermenregion, Austria

Guichard Potheret & Fils

Pommard 2019

Pinot Noir

Burgundy, France

Domaine FL

Roche aux Moines 2020

Chenin Blanc

France

Lecci e Brocchi Ragonaia, Chianti Classico DOCG 2018

Chianti Classico, Italy

Cantina Ripoli

Chianti Classico 2017

Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Illahe

Pinot Gris 2021

Pinot Gris

Willamette Valley, USA