Thanks for taking the time to comment, Grazza, bec...

2008-03-24T14:21:00.000Z

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Grazza, because I think you've made a lot of valid points here and they're the type of things which are far too easy to overlook.

On the one hand, I was in shock about the £60 mark up on retail, but I also knew that there were a lot of costs to cover - it's just very hard for the diner to attempt to quantify these. For example, I have no idea how much a sommelier earns and many people won't be aware of how much a single glass can actually cost (I have a glassware weakness, so I understand that all too well!).

I read your write up of your experience at Petrus ...

2008-03-19T10:34:00.000Z

I read your write up of your experience at Petrus and it seems like you really enjoyed it. It is interesting that you felt the mark-up on the wine to be expensive. I think that the wines are quite reasonable considering the locale and the stemware that they use. Im not sure if they still are doing so, but I'm sure that they use to use the Riedel Vinum and Sommelier ranges of stemware, which are quite pricey even at trade prices. Then of course you have to factor in the cost of the hi-tech wine storage equipment which maintains the wines at the optimum temperature, vibration free and free of excessive UV light. The team of sommeliers is quite a costly expense as well, all of which contributes to the cost of the wines. Running a restaurant is an exceptionally expensive business, especially at the top end of the market, which undoubtably Petrus most certainly is. While the mark-up on that wine might seem high (cost price is about £24, so the cost of sales in about 30%, or in other words it represents about 70% gross profit at a selling price of £95, by the time all the costs mentioned earlier come out, the profit will be quite small, perhaps as little as 15%)

Comments on Eating Leeds: Pétrus

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Grazza, bec...

I read your write up of your experience at Petrus ...