Pricing Wine by the Glass and Bottle

Wine pricing runs on two conventions everyone half-knows. Here they are in full, with the math and the traps.

By the glass: the first-glass rule

The classic rule: the first glass pays for the bottle. A bottle that costs you $11 wholesale sells by the glass at $11 — the remaining ~3.75 glasses are margin. That lands around 21–26% beverage cost, right where by-the-glass programs should sit once you account for the real risk: spoilage. An open bottle is good for 2–3 days (longer on preservation systems); every half-bottle poured down the drain on a slow Tuesday is cost with no sale. Keep the by-the-glass list short enough to turn every bottle inside its window — a tight list of 8 that moves beats a proud list of 20 that oxidizes.

By the bottle: markups that slide

Flat multipliers overprice the top of the list. Use a sliding scale:

• Under $12 wholesale: 3.5–4× ($10 bottle → $35–40)
• $12–25: 3× ($20 → $60)
• $25–50: 2.5× ($40 → $100)
• Above $50: 2× or cost-plus a fixed $50–75

The high end is deliberate: a $120 bottle at 2× moves and leaves $60; at 4× it decorates the cellar. High-dollar wine is a dollars-not-percentages business.

The list is a portfolio

Anchor each section with one obvious value at the low end, put your margin engines in the second-cheapest slots (where most guests actually buy), and let the top validate the middle. Track by-the-glass pour counts against bottles opened — that gap is your spoilage number, and it's the wine program's version of variance.