the shame of restaurant markups - but I guess they've got to pay the rent somehow...

I'm very proud of the fact that I try to focus on wines that are a great value and quality for under $20 and that everyone in any budget can have a cool and tasty wine for any occasion.....except maybe when you go out to a restaurant and are looking to enjoy a bottle of wine at the establishment. Most people are aware that restaurants generally mark up the price of wine by a little bit (or a lot) and most people are pretty accepting of it as a small sacrifice to be made if you want to enjoy wine with dinner in a restaurant. I still find it incredibly annoying however. Today for example I had an excellent opportunity to try a white blend of Viognier and Marsanne called Mon Ami Rascal. It caught my attention a while ago as something that might be worth trying since it retails at around $11. At first this wine kind of scared me partly because of my reservations towards trying anything with a funky name or label and also because I knew it was a blend made especially for the Earls restaurant chain by the Perrin Family in the Rhone Valley, making both a red and a white in a Southern Rhone style. Eventually I decided that since the Perrin Family is pretty reputable and Earls does generally have a reputation for good value, the wine might not be half bad and that I should at least give it a try before I judge. Anyway, it's $11 in stores so there wasn't much lost if I thought it was crap. Well, today I had my opportunity to try it but not from the store, instead I had the privilege of paying $27 a bottle at Earls restaurant on Robson. I could buy 2 bottles at that price in the store! Man, these restaurant mark ups really piss me off sometimes.
Anyway, my conclusion is that overall it's a pretty good wine. Easy to drink, fruity but not overly so and while there is some acid, it's not too overpowering which allows this wine to be extremely food friendly. A great wine to have available as a house wine (well done Earls). Definitely a great value for $11. Paying $27 for this bottle of wine however is a little annoying but still a decent value especially considering how much a bottle of wine generally goes for in restaurants.