I work in the industry and I am not sure the "answer" to this one.

A wine store has a wine bar where they serve btg etc. You can also select bottles from the shelf and pay an $8.00 corkage to drink it there. How would you tip?

I know I usually over-tip, industry habit, but what would you guys do?

In a bar situation, I usually tip a buck a drink if it's not too crowded. At a Wine Bar, I'd do the same. Always good to tip a little more and get that extra attention/oz pour.

Are you asking how to tip BTG? Or the bottle with the $8 corkage? BTG, a buck is fine imo. For the bottle I'd be inclined to leave five bucks or so.

If it's BTG at a bar, it's generally best to tip the bartender $50-100 at the outset and then drink free the rest of the night.

Eric's practice sounds good to me too.

Under normal circumstances, probably $1/drink.  If they keep the wine bar open longer just for me or something like that, probably 25% of the total cost.

Sorry for the confusion in the question. I was asking specifically about purchasing a bottle from them and paying the $8 corkage.

When I'm concerned that the tip won't be shared, I try to give it directly and have been known to hand it to the bus person when the wait staff was than less average.   I figure if they aren't paying attention to the guests, they most likely aren't paying much attention to the rest of the staff either.


In Vegas, the tipping guide says "the more you win, the more you should share'. Doesn't give any advice if you've lost your A$$
Not my problem as I don't gamble, but I thought it amusing.

But what should you tip, if you've already been charged corkage? I think that's his question.... Just treat it like a tax? Tip on the price of the bottle and disregard that you already had to pay corkage?

I would tend to tip less than 20% when a corkage is involved (depending what the corkage actually is)..... since that corkage fee is normally the handling fee on the bottle, and cleaning of the glassware, etc. So you are only really tipping for the guy to pour the wine into the glass...

At a store where you are already purchasing a bottle at retail PLUS corkage? Sorry. Maybe a buck...

I'm new here but own a combination retail wine shop and wine bar. We have about 350 wines on retail shelves and our wine bar area takes up about 35% of the total retail floor space. We seat 17 at a bar+3 tables and serve cheese pairings, pannini, salami & hummus in addition to a weekly wine tasting flight, 8-10 other wines by the tasting pour (or multiple pours) and customers may purchase bottles that we pour (with no corkage fee). We provide information sheets on the flights and as much one-on-one tasting help/information as a guest wishes. It is not uncommon for one of our staff to spend 15-30 minutes with a party discussing the wines, regions, wineries, technique, etc.. This business model has become more and more popular in this area over the past couple of years. The only differences between us and a pure wine bar are the retail shelves and the fact that a rather odd license condition limits us to pouring only 2 ounces at a time (though we can pour multiple 2-oz pours). I guess we'd best be described as a wine TASTING bar within a wine shop.

My question/dilemma is this: We use a restaurant/bar-type guest check for wine bar guests (one with a tip line on it). Tipping ranges from zero to 20%+ on the bill, sometimes even including a tip on bottles purchased following the wine bar service. In other forums I've found people who think tipping in this environment is unnecessary and that the tip line check is an insult. I really don't understand that position and thought I'd see if I could revive this topic to get some feedback.

I certainly think tipping on retail bottles purchased is unnecessary and have considered presenting two separate checks (one a standard register receipt with no tip-line) to make that clear. But how does a guest spend an hour or more at a wine tasting bar (receiving free bread and crackers + lots of educational information and conversation from an experienced person) and not feel a tip is deserved?? What is the standard in similar establishments where you are? Do they use a guest check with tip-line for tasting service?? How do you decide whether to tip?

The whole concept of tipping is really quite illogical.

Unless you are a regular at a restaurant, it really is not in your economic interest to tip the waiter at all. Since you tip at the end of the meal, you have already received the fine (or poor) service, and have no obligation to tip. Why not simply pay the stated amount on the bill and leave? The odds are very high that you will never see that waiter again, so why should you give him/her any more of your money?

Why is the tip related to the amount of the bill? There are pleny of hard-working people at Applebys or Fridays who will give you a level of service equal to the finest restaurants in New York or San Francisco. "Well", you might say "I am getting a dining experience at the 5 star restaurant which can never be duplicated at Applebys." But that is factored into the price of the food, not the amount of the tip you will pay.

It seems that anyone who works in an industry in which they make their money off of tips is "relying on the kindness of strangers" for their livelihood. That's crazy. Imagine a waiter who serves two tables (ordering identical dinners) with an equal level of service. One table tips $100; the other tips $50. Does that seem fair? Is there anything the waiter can do about it? No.

The Europeans have us beat on this: pay the waiter a decent wage (and benefits).

Couple of thoughts - David, I agree with you, but your analogies are a little off.  Clearly, you wouldn't pay the car salesman because he already receives compensation based on your sale. This is different from the wine scenarios, as the sales person selling the bottle (offering the glass, etc.), is doing so to retain/gain a client. His reward is your return to the store to spend more of your hard-earned money. I think there's a clear distinction between that and someone providing a dining/tasting experience. I received quite a few tips based on my "tight ass" (from ladies and men, ack!) when I was waiting tables during college, so I'm not going to complain. Based on that criteria, I'd be broke as hell now if I tried to wait tables :-D

Midlife - I'd view my sitting at the bar, drinking wine and eating a cheese tray as a dining/entertainment experience and tip accordingly. If my purpose was to go in and buy a bottle of wine and had one or two tastes, with some bread, I more than likely would not tip. Again, your goal should not be the 20% tip I'd leave; it's signing up another loyal customer that sadly can't say no to a well priced (*cough*) bottle of wine. Bread and tastes are a cost of sales factor. I would get irritated if I went into a retail store to buy something and was presented with a receipt that had a tip line. There's an implied guilt that goes along with zeroing that line out that really pisses me off.

Rothko - the big catch in your scenario is that the IRS factors tipping into a server's compensation. When I was ITB, there was an assumed 8% added to your earnings by our corproate office for tax reporting purposes, regardless of whether or not you hit it. Granted, I didn't work with anyone that made under 8%, but it's still an issue. That said, I am so sick and tired of seeing tip jars everywhere I go. At least Coldstone makes the scoopers sing for their money...