How to Price a Restaurant Wine List

What markup should a restaurant put on wine?

Most restaurants price bottles at roughly three to three and a half times wholesale cost, within a working range of two to four times, and they put the higher multiples on the cheaper bottles. Treat three times as a benchmark to test against your own sales, not a rule.

The range holds up across the people who set these prices, though the exact norm varies. In a 2024 Punch survey of New York wine buyers, Justin Chearno of The Four Horsemen called a 3x markup generally standard and the lowest his list can go while still earning a margin. Kenneth Crum of Roscioli runs 2.5x and says most restaurants sit closer to 3.5x. Daryl Coke of Ernesto's works at 3x to 3.5x and tries not to go above 4x.

Some operators reject a single multiple altogether. Chase Sinzer of Penny and Claud told Punch that his restaurants do not build lists by multiplying every cost by 3x or 4x. They check each wine against auction, retail and wholesale markets and against competing lists nearby, then price for value.

What wine cost percentage should you target?

Aim for a bottle cost of about 33 percent of the menu price, which is what a 3x markup produces, then check the blended cost once glass sales are included. Randy Caparoso, a restaurant wine professional since the late 1970s, describes the three times markup as the classic benchmark owners expect sommeliers to hold. In the contemporary glass-plus-bottle model he outlines, blended wine cost typically lands between 31 and 35 percent, and it can creep toward 40 percent if bottle prices are held down.

The reason this number matters is the rest of the budget. Caparoso notes the accepted rule that prime costs, meaning labor plus the cost of food, wine, beer and liquor, should not exceed 65 percent of sales, because most restaurants need at least 30 percent to cover fixed costs. When wine cost runs high, something else has to give.

To check any bottle, divide its wholesale cost by its list price. For example, a bottle that costs you $20 and lists at $60 has a wine cost of 33 percent and a markup of 3x.

How should you tier bottle prices?

Price on a sliding scale: a higher multiple on inexpensive bottles and a lower one as wholesale cost rises, so expensive bottles stay attractive and still earn more dollars per sale. Caparoso traces the approach to Kevin Zraly's system at Windows on the World, which marked up lower cost wines the most and higher priced wines the least to encourage sales of better wine.

One workable method for tiering

This method combines Annie Shi's approach, as she described it to Punch, with Caparoso's blended cost check:

1. Find your average bottle sale price from your sales data.
2. Below that price, set the list price as a multiple of wholesale cost, starting near 3x and going higher on your cheapest bottles.
3. Above that price, set it by a target gross profit in dollars, so the multiple falls as cost rises.
4. Combine glass and bottle sales and check the blended wine cost against your target.

Shi's own example, from King and Jupiter: a bottle that costs $25 wholesale goes on the list at $75, while a bottle that costs $150 may be priced at only $275. The second is under 2x, but it earns $125 per bottle against $50 on the first.

What is an anchor bottle, and should you use one?

An anchor bottle is a deliberately high priced wine placed in a section to set a reference point for the rest of the list. Treat it as a hypothesis, and check your own sales mix to see whether it earns its place.

Be honest about how few bottles carry a list. Caparoso reports that Zraly saw roughly 80 percent of sales come from about 40 selections out of thousands listed, and he believes that probably still holds today. Decide whether each expensive bottle is working as an anchor, a prestige label, or neither.

Some operators go the other way and price iconic producers or special vintages below the usual multiple on purpose. Sinzer told Punch his restaurants accept a lower margin on those bottles because they make the list look exceptional.

How do you price wine by the glass?

By-the-glass programs usually carry higher markups than bottles, and Caparoso notes that holding glass prices down means raising bottle markups to reach the same blended cost. A 750 ml bottle holds 25.4 ounces and yields five to six glasses depending on the pour, according to Restaurant Business, and our guide to menu engineering with cellar analytics covers glass pricing and elasticity in depth.

When should you reprice the list?

Reprice whenever a distributor changes your cost, and review the whole list on a fixed schedule, because a list price is only as current as the cost behind it.

Costs move more than most lists reflect. When Punch surveyed New York wine buyers in 2016, bottle prices on lists commonly began in the $30 range, and its May 2024 follow-up found the price of entry had roughly doubled. The article ties that to rising costs along the production and distribution chain, not markup alone.

Keep each bottle's current cost in the same record as your counts, and recheck markup and wine cost percentage during the weekly count described in our restaurant wine list workflow. Breakage and comps raise your effective cost per bottle, so log them as covered in our guide to bar wine waste and breakage tracking, and see the bar wine inventory count guide for the count itself.

Keeping Cost, Counts, and Your List in One Record

Repricing is quickest when cost per bottle, counts and the printed list come from one record. InVintory's hospitality tools are built to keep counts, variance and list exports together.

See how InVintory handles counts, variance and list exports for restaurants →

If you manage wine programs for several venues or clients, see InVintory for sommeliers.

The benchmarks above come from published accounts by working wine professionals and vary by market, concept and cost structure. Test any multiple against your own sales data before you apply it across a list.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate wine markup?

Divide the list price by the wholesale cost. A bottle that costs $20 and lists at $60 is marked up 3x, which equals a wine cost of 33 percent.

What is a good wine cost percentage?

About 33 percent for bottles, which is what a 3x markup produces, and a blended 31 to 35 percent across glass and bottle sales in the model Randy Caparoso describes. He notes that blended cost can creep toward 40 percent if bottle prices are held down.

Should cheaper bottles have a higher markup?

Usually yes. The sliding scale Kevin Zraly used at Windows on the World marked cheaper wines up the most and expensive wines the least, and the New York sommeliers Punch interviewed describe exceptions that go below the usual multiple for rare bottles or wines they want to promote.

How often should a restaurant reprice its wine list?

Whenever a cost changes, plus a full review on a set schedule. Costs moved enough between 2016 and 2024 that Punch found the price of entry on New York lists had roughly doubled.

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