The Progressive Wine Program at Jar

After believing in this concept for so long, I have finally been able to get it off the ground. Suzanne has agreed that now is the time for us to take up the flag and stand against high restaurant mark-ups! Super exciting!

The following will be posted on suzannetracht.com this week. I thought it might be appropriate to post it here as well. I hope we see you at Jar for some awesome juice soon:


Over the past few years, there has been a lot of buzz in the cyber world about the prices that restaurants charge for their wines. The arguments generally go back and forth, consumers arguing that restaurants are a rip-off, and restaurant owners listing all the costs involved in running a wine program that justify the hike in price. I’ve been reading these posts, blogs, etc. for years now and have always been surprised that no restaurant has ever responded to this wave of outrage from the guests who are keeping them afloat.

What costs are involved in running the wine program…? Yours truly, for number one. There IS the expense of hiring a wine professional to maintain and purchase wines for the program. It certainly involves a lot of time in labor. Many argue about the expense of stemware and decanters. Frankly, if your servers are careful and don’t break a dozen glasses every day, then it’s just the washing and that’s pretty minimal. Storage and refrigeration can also be an expensive undertaking, depending on how much inventory you have. I can certainly see the restaurant side – heck, I’m a part of it!

But whatever happened to “the guest is always right”. If people feel ripped off, then they just aren’t going to buy the product. And where does that leave your wine program then…?

The simple truth is that with all of the online retail now, most people know what they should be paying for a given bottle. And let’s face it – everyone is a little more frugal these days. So, unless you’re the “hot-spot” restaurant that everyone is just dying to eat at regardless of what they charge you, then you are playing the same game as everyone else. And up to this point, restaurants have fortified themselves with no one allowing a crack in the wall.

I am extremely pleased to announce that Chef Suzanne Tracht and I have decided to do what’s right for our guests and drive the wine program in a new direction. We have lowered the prices on the entire wine list to make them more reasonable and comparable to what is charged at your local retail store. The days of paying two to three times what retail charges are over. Jar is pleased to usher in the new era of the wine program, offering affordable prices on all of its wines.

What does this mean?

- Duckhorn Merlot at Jar will cost the same as Duckhorn Merlot at Wally’s Wine Store
- Freemark Abbey ‘Bosche Vineyard’ Cabernet 2003 will be cheaper than anywhere you can find it online
- Our rare and allocated wines will be snapped up by our regular diners who are lucky enough to be there the week the wines arrive
- Paying a corkage fee to bring wine in will most often be costing you more than if you had bought a comparable wine at Jar

We are not discouraging corkage. We are encouraging you to take advantage of a new concept that we are very proud of and that we hope leads the way for other restaurants to do the same.

I hope to see you at Jar where you will still find all of the same wonderful, small-production and boutique wines that we strive to find, but at a significantly more valued price to you. You won’t believe what you’re drinking for the money!