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.

&nbsp;

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

Grant Wood, wine educator and certified sommelier, and Robert Tas point out the best bottles on the 67-page list at Quince. 

Wine Review of Quince, San Francisco

Grant Wood

Quince

Quince

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where we review a wine list from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Grant Wood, wine educator and certified sommelier

Hello Grant, great to have you back for another great wine list.

GW: Hello Robert!

RT: Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules.

We created CorkRules to demystify wine lists because we know from experience, that sometimes wine lists can be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, value wines or that special bottle that will take your dining experience over the top.

RT:&nbsp;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list.

Quince

Quince is a contemporary dining masterpiece in San Francisco&rsquo;s historic Jackson Square, and they were the first to be awarded a green star from Michelin for its efforts in sustainability and biodiversity. They have an impressive 67-page wine list so let&rsquo;s dive in and see what we discover.

Starting with by the glass and you can&rsquo;t go wrong with toasting with a glass of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose which is always a delight.

For a solid white that fits their Italian flair I&rsquo;d go for a glass of the 2018 Ansitz Dornach Pinot Bianco, Vigneti Delle Dolomiti from Alto-Adige is a great choice but for you Robert, I&rsquo;d suggest the 2017 Jean-Francois Malsert from Saint-Joseph which is peppery, perfumed and elegant.

Lastly, a great way to fortify your evening would be the 1929 D&rsquo;Olivera, Tinta Negra which is a great opportunity to drink a little bit of history.

Moving on to bubbles, I love the Egly-Ouriet &lsquo;Les Crayeres&rsquo; V.V Grand Cru which is 100% PN from a single vineyard in Ambonnay but you also can&rsquo;t go wrong with the likes of Cederic Bouchard and Ulysse Collin of which they have multiple bottlings.

For the big houses, I&rsquo;d go for the 08&rsquo; Bollinger La Grande Annee or anything from Krug of course.

Now it&rsquo;s time for whites to keep things moving. For the lighter more linier side, I absolutely love anything from Peter Lauer making beautiful and pure styles of Riesling from Saar, a sub-region of the Mosel in Germany and on their list I&rsquo;d go for his Ayler Fass 3 Troken which is a favorite. 

Another great Riesling but from Austria that could be really fun is the 2000 Jamek &lsquo;Ried Klaus&rsquo; Smaragd from the Wachau.

If you&rsquo;re feeling a little natty and funky but still want an iconic wine from Italy then look no further than the 2009 Gravner Ribolla is just the kind of skin fermented &lsquo;orange wine&rsquo; that you need in life.

I also love seeing the 2018 Monteraponi, Colli Della Toscana which is one of my favorite Tuscan producers and makes a great 100% Trebbiano.

Moving up the scale and if you want white Burgundy then I think the 2018 Alice et Olivier De Moor &lsquo;Coteau de Rosette&rsquo; from Chablis is really awesome but you can also ball out with Raveneau if you want Chablis. Something a little rounder and further south, I&rsquo;d go for the 2013 Dominique Lafon from Meursault is a great direction to go. A great domestic alternative from here in California is the 2017 Racines &lsquo;Sanford &amp; Benedict&rsquo; Chardonnay from the Sta Rita Hills or the 2009 Stony Hill Chardonnay from Spring Mountain would be fabulous since those older Stony Hill&rsquo;s age so well.

Now for your reds, Robert, and particularly if I&rsquo;m dining with you, I&rsquo;d order the 2012 Lorenzo Accomasso &lsquo;Rocche dell&rsquo;Annunziata, Vigna Rocchette is an amazing Barolo if you want to ball out. I know you love wines with some age as well so I point you towards the 1964 Oddero which would be a really interesting time capsule.

One more Italian favorite for me at a better value is the 2013 Giuseppe Quintarelli &lsquo;Primofiore&rsquo; is a favorite of mine from the Veneto and always delivers.

If you want Grand Cru Burgundy then I&rsquo;d go for the 1995 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier &lsquo;Bonnes Mares&rsquo; which is a splurge for sure but a wonderful producer championed by the late Becky Wasserman.

But if you&rsquo;re a baller on a budget then I&rsquo;d order the Jean-louis Dutraive &lsquo;Champagne&rsquo; from Fleurie would be a better way still being able to pay the rent and is of course a delicious option. If you want California PN then I&rsquo;d go for the 2015 Ceritas &lsquo;Coastalina&rsquo; from the Sonoma coast but the 2019 Hirsch &lsquo;The Bohan Dillon&rsquo; is a great value as well and an amazing vineyard in Fort Ross Seaview.

or California Cab there is a lot of great options to choose from, but my eye immediately goes to the 2011 Corison &lsquo;Kronos Vineyard&rsquo; which is an undervalued vintage which is aging beautifully. Another no brainer is the 1990 Dunn &lsquo;Howell Mountain&rsquo; which has some great age on it. I just had the 92&rsquo; for my 30th birthday and it was perfect.

Lastly, to finish on a sweeter note, I&rsquo;d go for the 2009 Paolo Bea, Montefalco Sagrantino, Passito from Umbria.

Final thoughts, this is an incredibly detailed list that spares no expense but offers great depth and has something for everyone and at every price point. This was a great list to go over and I look forward to dining there soon.

Cheers!

Grant, thank you so much for all your great suggestions and helping us navigate Quince&rsquo;s wine list. I can&rsquo;t wait to go try your great suggestions.&nbsp; &nbsp;

To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.

If you would like Grant 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 for other episodes of your favorite restaurant wine lists.&nbsp;

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

Thank you.

&nbsp;

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

Viña Zorzal is a family-owned winery located in the Navarra region of Spain. The Sanz family has been producing wine here since 1989, with a focus on indigenous grape varieties and sustainable winemaking practices. The winery is committed to producing high-quality wines that reflect the unique terroir of the region.

Old-school Italian standby provides guests with a range of familiar dishes in a relaxed atmosphere.

Delfina Restaurant

Delfina

AFICI

Afici

Ancora

Muller & Lux

The Morris

Spruce

Chez Panisse

Bar Sprezzatura

Sprezzatura

Rich Table

The Progress

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

Jimmy’s Italian Restaurant

Castello di Monsanto

Chianti Classico Riserva NV

Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Tenute Silvio Nardi

Brunello di Montalcino NV

Sangiovese

Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy

Caymus

Cabernet Sauvignon NV

Cabernet Sauvignon

California, USA

Michele Chiarlo

Tortoniano Barolo NV

Nebbiolo

Barolo, Piedmont, Italy

Renieri

Toscana Invetro, IGT NV

Tuscany, Italy

Tramin

Stoan NV

Gewurztraminer

Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

La Scolca

Gavi La Scolca (White label) NV

Cortese

Gavi - Cortese di Gavi, Piedmont, Italy

Ruffino

Chianti NV

Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Alexander Valley

Legacy NV

Red Blend

California, USA

La Crema

Monterey Pinot Noir NV

Pinot Noir

California, USA

Antinori (Santa Cristina), Bianco, IGT NV

Umbria, Italy

Ruffino

Aziano Chianti Classico NV

Sangiovese

Chianti, Tuscany, Italy

Santa Margherita

Pinot Grigio Valdadige NV

Pinot Grigio

Valdadige, Italy

MCV, Red, Paso Robles NV

California, USA

Michele Chiarlo

Barbaresco Asili NV

Nebbiolo

Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy