Prices of wines in restaurants

Some time ago, you tried to raise awareness through your column against excessive prices charged for both local and foreign wines in local restaurants. Apparently this was met with little success. Still, I believe something should be done.

Recently I visited Paderborn restaurant in Bugibba, where a bottle of Hardy's chardonnay was priced at Lm9.80! The agent's price for this bottle is Lm2.06 - over 400% mark up! Isn't this excessive?

I believe it is up to us to refrain from drinking wine when prices are excessive, or else to simply not go to such restaurants. (Denis Muscat)

Mr Muscat also sent me a copy of a letter he sent to Paderborn Restaurant:

I was recommended to your restaurant by a friend of mine and I must state that while the quality of the food was good (pasta starters portions, too, generous) and prices compatible with other outlets, yet I was totally disappointed when I had a look at your (wine) list.

Being a lover of Hardy's chardonnay, which I buy in boxes from the agents at Lm2.05 (Vat included), I was dismayed to see same on your wine list at Lm9.80. Too hefty a margin - so I had no option but to stick to a bottle of fizzy water.

It might have never crossed your mind that excessive pricing will only turn patrons away; as for me this was my first and probably my last visit to your outlet for I would like to have a bottle of wine to complement my food.

Just for info purposes, the same bottle at Marsaxlokk retails for Lm4.75 and as a result we (because we are usually a party of between seven or 10) drank four bottles.

Also to conclude I could not see anything to justify this high price - i.e., no wine waiter with an experience in wines - no special storage for the wines (special fridges) both white and red. I am prepared to wager a bet that hardly anyone providing the service knows what the room temperature of a bottle of red wine should be, nor does anyone know how these red wines should be stored.

Has it ever crossed your mind that if prices were brought down to decent levels you would register a greater turnover, both in the number of bottles consumed and probably you could witness an increase in patrons?

If you ever decide to adjust your prices, please do let me know, for I did enjoy your fillet. (Denis Muscat)

I asked Paderborn Restaurant for their comments and 'On a Positive Note' they gave Denis Muscat an interesting offer. I received the following letter:

Please note that the matter has been handled in the way that a letter was sent to the customer, explaining to him that the price of the wine in question reflects the purchase price of 2003, which was never revised due to the fact that we store wines in bigger amounts.

The customer has been invited to dine again at our restaurant and get one free bottle of Hardy's chardonnay wine. For your guidance. (Charles Attard, Paderborn restaurant consultant). At this point I must stress that, since we operate in a liberalised market place, restaurants can charge whatever they want to charge. Indeed, as long as they display their prices accordingly, the respective restaurants are not breaking the law if they charge higher prices. After all, the ingredients that attract customers to specific restaurants are not limited to the food. In this context the atmosphere, the quality of service, and the attitude adopted by staff are only some of the 'other' ingredients.

However, in accordance with the consumers' right to be informed, it would be very useful to share information on prices charged by various restaurants. In this spirit, I invite readers to send us information on prices with a particular focus on highlighting which restaurants give consumers good value for money and which restaurants do not.

At this point I appeal to readers who may send me such information to inform the respective restaurants accordingly by copying them in.