I plan to follow Rick Steves guidebook to Burgundy, France in June. Any special advice would be greatly appreciated, in particular: If I purchase bottled wine from any of the wineries, can I bring it to any restaurant to have them open the bottle and drink it with the meal purchased there (In the United States, it is ok but a corkage fee is charged)? Not sure if it is polite to do so in France, or do I HAVE to purchase the wine from the restaurant? If it is allowed, do they charge corkage fee and if so, how much?
Thanks,
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10623 posts
I've never seen it done in the forty years I've been going back and forth between the States and France and living in France. Good restaurants are proud of their caves and want to help you pair their food with their wine. Additionally, any wine you buy will probably be younger than what they sell. However, if this is what you want to do, why don't you ask the restaurant when you reserve.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Just a correction: In the US, it is not always OK to bring your own wine to a restaurant. This differs state by state, as well as restaurant by restaurant. I know nothing about how it works in France.
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3050 posts
I also can't say if I know if this is allowed or not, but will say that I have also never seen it done, and while I used to do this in the states sometimes, it would never occur to me to do it in France, because nice restaurants are pretty particularly about their wine lists. The good news is, the markup for wine at a restaurant is generally less than it is in the US. And the house wine is likely to be better than the house wine in the US, too.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
The good news is, the markup for wine at a restaurant is generally less than it is in the US. And the house wine is likely to be better than the house wine in the US, too. This is right on. There is no need to bring your own wine to a restaurant in France because they will already have excellent wine paired for their food and at very reasonable prices. Wine is not marked up exorbitantly the way it is in the US. You can bring the wine home with you in your checked luggage. You get up to 1 liter duty free but if you bring more and declare it, it is unlikely they will even charge you because the cost isn't worth it. Or if you wish to enjoy a picnic on a nice day in a park, you can drink the wine then.
Posted by
OP
Cupertino, CA, USA
2 posts
Many thanks to those who replied. I will definitely respect the restaurants and their wine lists and let them recommend the pairing.
Since this will be the first time I visit Burgundy, I was hoping against hope that I can try some of the wine purchased during the day in the same evening with meal. For sure I will carry some of the wine in the checked luggage since I cannot consume that many during the trip. Shipping them back is most likely not an option for me because it is so expensive, according to Rick Steves' guide book, unless the wine is really high-end.