Restaurant goers doing Dry January quoted up to £50 corkage fee to open alcohol-free wine

Non-drinkers and those hoping to cut back on the booze this year could face a charge of up to £50 if they bring their own bottle of alcohol-free wine to a restaurant, the Daily Mail has found.

While it seems you can avoid a hangover by opting for a zero per cent Sauvignon blanc, it is tougher yet to escape the pesky corkage fee that comes with bringing your favourite bottle to an eatery.

This amount typically covers the opening, pouring and serving of the beverage brought in from the outside, including costs like glass, labour and lost profit – however, it has proven unpopular with diners in the past, as some charge as much as an eye-watering £200 for the pleasure of opening and serving you your own plonk.

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‘Cakeage’ – the bill customers are slammed with should they choose to bring their own cake – has also caused controversy in the past, costing as much as £140 for one party, or £10 per person.

Contacting 20 venues across the UK – which don’t have non-alcoholic wine listed on their menus – about corkage fees, our reporters sought to see if places would charge upwards of £20 for even a booze-free tipple.

In all cases, we looked at the online wine list to see if there was an obvious section for non-alcoholic options; albeit some, in their correspondence, presented some which weren’t clearly marked on the site, after the initial enquiries.

The results were a mixed bag. While some made a distinction between an alcoholic and non-alcoholic corkage fee, the price ranged anywhere from £5 to £50.

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In other instances, there was a simple flat out refusal to cater for ‘bring your own bottle’ scenarios – while elsewhere, restaurants offered to try and source their own alcohol-free booze ahead of time.

It seems there is no set rule of thumb in the industry however – one rogue reply even suggested that ‘to be completely honest, they are happy for us to decide on the price accordingly’.

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This month, restaurants in Ireland sparked outrage when a woman taking part in Dry January asked multiple venues about taking her own alcohol-free wine to dinner (Stock image)

The highest bid came from The Glenturret restaurant in Perthshire, a luxury and ‘unique gastronomic experience’ which boasts two Michelin stars.

Initially they explained they have a non-alcoholic option, but asked for the specific details of the bottle we may plan to bring.

When our team responded that they hoped to take something similar to M&S’s Little Joey Sauvignon Blanc (retailing for £7 on Ocado), we were quoted ‘around £30-£50’. We have yet to have a confirmation on what the fee would be.

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Many of the others stuck to a flat £20, including Luca in London, Clerkenwell (in contrast to their £50 fee for alcoholic wine), The Wilderness in Birmingham and Solstice in Newcastle. For the latter, it’s a £75 corkage fee to bring your own alcoholic wine.

Going a fiver less were The Palmerston in Edinburgh, and 10 Greek Street in Soho – which also offers ‘£5 corkage per bottle’ on Fridays.

Edinburgh-based Fin&Grape settled on £10, explaining: ‘Ordinarily, we don’t offer corkage, although on occasion, we have allowed larger groups to bring a bottle for a celebration on the provision that they also purchase wine from our list in addition.

‘Unfortunately, offering corkage alone represents a reduction in potential revenue for us particularly at busy times.

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‘On this occasion we would be prepared to allow it at the standard £10 per bottle charge but only if you’re booking either for dinner tomorrow or on Thursday as we’re not currently very busy. Unfortunately we just can’t justify it at the weekend when we are full.’

The situation was much generous in Wales.

Chapters, a ‘Michelin Green Star restaurant highlighting the best the area has to offer with menus that showcase seasonal, locally sourced and often home grown produce’, quoted £10 per bottle.

Harbour Master, at Pen Cei – ‘showcasing a larder of Cardigan Bay shellfish, fish, Welsh lamb and beef, Ceredigion cheeses and local organic vegetables’ – said it’s usually £15, but the manager had kindly reduced it to £10.

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Showing the generosity of the Welsh even was Asador 44 in Cardiff, a luxury Spanish grill hub.

‘Our corkage fee in Asador 44 is £35 for red and sparkling and £30 for white,’ they explained. ‘We do not have a set price for none alcoholic, as we have never encountered this as of yet. I will be completely honest, I am happy for you to decide on the price accordingly.

‘We do have a bottle of 0 per cent cava on our menu as well as mocktails. However than happy for you to bring the item you were referring to previously.’

And on the cheapest side, it was The Black Friar in Manchester,  and The Buttery in Glasgow – both of which offered just £5.

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The Black Friar also added: ‘I have also spoken to our Bar Team and they would be happy to source some 0 per cent wines as well if needed. For alcoholic wines there would be a corkage of £15 per bottle.’

It would appear in Northern Ireland, there was less flexibility.

The award-winning Home in Belfast, which has ‘picked up amongst others the coveted Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide’, pushed back, simply saying: ‘We are not really a BYO.’

They also offered some alcohol free options they can provide, including a ‘£5 a 175ml glass and £20 for a bottle’ white. If a sparkling or red was wanted, they could ‘get it in with enough notice’.

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In the same city, Asian fusion eatery Yugo said they are ‘not a bring your own restaurant’ and ‘customers are unable to bring any drinks in with them’.

‘We don’t sell non alcohol wine but we do have mocktails/0% beer/soft drinks available,’ they added.

And Ora – also in Belfast – explained: ‘I’m sorry but we are a licensed restaurant and as so we do not offer corkage and no drinks can be brought in.

‘We have a wide selection of sort drinks and an option of zero alcohol beer on offer if that helps.’

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There are five other restaurants the Daily Mail contacted, which have not yet replied.