The week in Provence had begun shakily.
Pounding rain and fierce Mistral on the drive up had lent a dreary start. But, it was a surprise hit of fierce allergies mixed with a very unfortunate breakfast at a hotel in Vaison-la-Romaine that stuck with me for all the wrong reasons which were making for a less-than-pleasing week in what is normally my favorite part of France.
As the week rolled on, I just wanted a nice, menu de midi at a pleasant, normal restaurant. No emulsions, no deconstructions, no petit fours, no giant plates with tiny scoops of things. Just regular, local food, please… sans pince à épiler.
I had a tasting scheduled in Tavel–home of Serious Rosés–and I found what seemed to be the perfect option with 19€ menu. The server (who I assume was the wife of the chef given her eccentric nature) asked if I wanted any wine to drink with the meal. The rain had stopped that morning and the sun was wondrous, lighting up spring in all its green glory. While I usually drink very little if at all while on research trips, I thought, “When in Tavel, one should most definitely drink the Anti-Provence.” And I ordered a half bottle without much thought.
It arrived and met all my expectations, pulsating in that wondrous un-red but also un-onion skin color, the the latter of which it seems all rosés want to emulate these days. One sip reminded me as to why should all be drinking a lot more Tavel (MTGA?) in that it’s a truly wonderful wine that’s the best of all worlds: rich and textured on the palate like a red, acidity of a fine white, aromatics of a rosé and more than that, generally well-priced for what ends up in your glass.
The bill came and I was literally enraged to find that the wine, a half bottle of Tavel in Tavel, was 17€. It was admittedly my own stupidity for not verifying the price before receiving the bottle, but there was no wine list given when ordering and I’d glanced at their wine list online which has the full bottle listed at 23€. Also, as is usually the case when in wine regions, I’d assumed it was some local wine that would be affordable and pleasing.
Well, it definitely can be affordable, if you buy it directly from the cooperative of Les Vignerons de Tavel & Lirac where a full bottle cost 9.40€. I’d been charged 17€ for a half bottle. In case you’re wondering, the full bottle at the restaurant cost a whopping 32.50€.
The last time I’d been scammed like this was by a taxi driver in Kyiv who’d kept the doors locked at the airport until I paid his invented price. That a family-run restaurant in a nice village in Southern France was committing a scam of similar incredulities, was insulting.
I argued with the server about it and suddenly her accepting-of-my-mistakes French vanished and she had no clue what I was talking about and acted very dumb. It was a very stupid thing to do as the restaurant wasn’t full by any means and it’s clear they’re trying to pull in a bit more money by vastly overcharging for the wines. Even if I was to ever go back, would I order wine? Never and I love wine.
Punch the golden goose and kill it too
According to an average of sources, there was a 15% drop in wines sales in restaurants in 2025 and while this will vary per region, it sounds more or less on point given the panic across the industry. This is justified but everyone is looking to external sources as to the cause. At trade fairs you hear that it’s due to people wanting to be healthier post-pandemic or newer generations not drinking wine or Ozempic jabs, etc.
I understand the health aspect as I drink less overall than I did pre-pandemic. But I don’t buy the generational claims as I’m meeting more and more Gen Zers who are picking up wine at a much earlier age than myself (an ‘young’ GenXer) ever did. The weight loss jabs? Apparently, they do change things, but don’t eliminate drinking alcohol completely.
There are of course other external factors to look at, but the truth is, restaurant markup is simply perverse in many countries. In talking with my family back in California they’ve emphasized that there’s no way they’ll drink wine when out as they don’t want to pay $20 for a glass and they used to be the kind of people to always order something with a meal. I completely agree with them as this process to balance restaurant books in the US via massive alcohol markups hasn’t worked for a long time. I would go so far as to posit that if you’re not actually making a profit selling food, then the restaurant doesn’t actually work.
And this is before we even get into the fact that VAT (sales tax) as well as the tip (20%+) aren’t included in the listed prices in the US. When I was in Napa Valley in 2024, I had a salad and a non-alcoholic drink at a restaurant and it was $35 pre-tax and pre-tip. I think it was the only time I ate out in over two weeks there.
So, as others have pointed out, people aren’t drinking wine simply because they feel like they’re being had, which, they are.
That restaurant in Tavel was buying that wine from a winery literally 700m down the road and they’re charging nearly 3.5 times the retail price and this with what I assume is their paying 5€ a bottle for the wine. Maybe they pay a little more for the whole bottle, but I feel it’s still a horrid markup.
While the general consumer doesn’t know these numbers (or at least didn’t), they can easily see when they’re being charged usurious prices over retail. Any restaurant who thinks people don’t look these things up, on their phones, when at the restaurant, is still living in the early aughts and thinking that emulsions are “cutting edge”.
Getting’ bottles on tables
How do we wind back the clocks on this as if people aren’t drinking wine at home nor when going out, then people simply aren’t drinking wine and that’s sad as it’s a wonderful, socializing beverage which, when drank in moderation, is amazing.
It’s clear that restaurants need to stop bullshitting their customers. This will be very hard in the US as entire systems have been built up around these various billing issues. But the fact is, they will simply have to charge the actual prices to make a profit off of the food and only be charging a small premium over retail prices for wine that justifiable as people are paying to drink the bottle in a setting with servers.
This could very well price many people out of going to restaurants if main plates are nearing $100, but I think that die has already been cast and nothing will change that. It’s better we come to terms with it now than pretend like it doesn’t exist.
In Europe, it’s less difficult as markups on wine aren’t egregious, minus those who have come upon the ‘brilliant’ idea of the US which only makes me want to eat from grocery stores when travelling. Admittedly, a lot of extra costs in restaurants like those in Spain are born by staff being paid low wages (although everyone earns low wages in Spain) and skimping on ingredients. If you don’t believe me, go enjoy a screaming-yellow paella on Les Rambles and note that not a single employee is Spanish.
To date, I haven’t experienced wine markups in Spain like this restaurant in Southern France, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. One establishment where I’m based in Priorat has steadily raised their menu from 35€ to 45€ and now just over 50€ which is more or less reasonable given inflationary costs, but at the same time, they now have wines at 250% markups which is ridiculous given that they buy directly from the producers, much like the Tavel location. There’s absolutely nothing on their wine list that’s reasonably priced and their storage and wine service lacks tremendously, not justifying these prices.
In Barcelona, you can easily find 300% markups if you so desire simply by dining in the center where all the tourists are. So, these prices are out there, but they shouldn’t be as it makes people buy wine less and less.
As people shy away from wine and if this situation goes unchecked, I wonder what restaurants will do next to make up the shortfall in billing as there isn’t much else to dip into.
Given that in Tavel, it was only myself and another table there on a Friday at the peak of lunch, I suppose that we may see a great many restaurants shut down which would be unfortunately, but again, if they’re not actually making money from being a restaurant, then are they actually making money at all currently?
And in the meantime, all this is doing is making wine more expensive and out of reach exactly when the opposite needs to happen.
