THE WINE PATROL IS
LOOKING FOR DEPUTIES
Understand this about the Wine Patrol: we love wine, but we
aren’t geeks. Wine is part of our daily lives. It be
We work for a living, pay for our homes and cars and kid’s
educations. We’re not poor, but we’re not rich either. We understand the word
“budget”. A fine meal with friends, delicious food and some good wine makes us
happy. In fact, food, wine and friends are what the Wine Patrol is all about.
The Wine Patrol was started by people who made wine and
people who sold wine. Most of us have been in the business
for a
We love to eat food in restaurants, but what’s fine dining
without wine? When we walk into most restaurants and are handed the wine list,
we are appalled. It shouldn’t say “Wine List,” it should say “Screw You.” The
prices are ridiculous. A full meal in these restaurants with an appetizer,
entrée and desert is less than the average price of a bottle of wine, which now
runs between $40 and $50. This is a wine crime, and the Wine Patrol is ready to
speak out.
Restaurants routinely price their wines at 2½ to 3 times what
they pay for them. If they buy a bottle for $20, you are likely to see that
bottle priced at $50–$60 on their list. With our current distribution network,
the winery that produced that same $20 bottle of wine was lucky to get $12 for
it. The winery grew or purchased the grapes, produced the wine, barrel aged it
and bottled it. They designed the label, and bought the glass, corks and
capsules. They stored the wine, shipped it, billed for it and sold it. The
wineries make enough profit selling that bottle for $12 to stay in business and
grow. The restaurant wants to make $40 for that same bottle just to open it for
you and pour it into a glass. That’s a wine crime.
Why do restaurants charge so much? Because
they can, because everyone else does and because we let them.
Well,
no more. The Wine Patrol is pleased to announce its Wine Patrol Approved List (WinePAL®) program. The Wine Patrol is now recruiting
deputies. Deputies will have identification cards depicting the Wine Patrol
logo and your status as a deputy. Deputies will also have cards they can leave
in the restaurants that direct the wine buyers to the website where they can
see the requirements for achieving the WinePAL
certification. When dining at a fine restaurant, one with wine prices in the
stratosphere, simply leave a card when you pay the bill.
Restaurant owners will scream that they
have to charge these outlandish prices.
That’s a crock. They don’t charge like that in
Please
look through the rest of this site. See what we require for WinePAL
certification. Check out the press release that goes out to the media on St.
Patrick’s Day. Read the Jake Lorenzo column. See what the WinePAL
cards look like and read what they say. If all of this speaks to you, then sign
up to be a deputy.
There are two ways to enlist as a deputy:
Deputies should send a $5 check to: Wine Patrol
Deputy Enlistment
Or
The
$5 will cover the cost of your identity card, a second identity card for a
friend, 18 WinePAL cards to leave at restaurants and
the cost of mailing the items to you.
Send your check in today,
and don’t forget to include a return address. Get with the WinePAL
program. We can change the way wine is sold in restaurants.