Why the second-cheapest wine always wins
Restaurants do not expect you to buy the cheapest bottle. They expect you to refuse it — and they price the list so that refusal lands exactly where the margin is fattest.
Intuition test — answer before you read on
On a typical restaurant wine list, which bottle usually carries the highest percentage mark-up?
Restaurants do not expect you to buy the cheapest bottle. They expect you to refuse it — and they price the list so that refusal lands exactly where the margin is fattest.
What everyone sees
A wine list with a modest bottle at the bottom, a few mid-range names, and something ruinous at the top. You scan it, decide you are not a person who orders the cheapest wine, and land on the second line from the bottom.
What is actually happening
That second line is where the house margin peaks. Sommeliers call it the anchor position. The cheapest bottle exists to be rejected: it sets a floor that makes the next price look considered rather than expensive. Studies of restaurant lists repeatedly find the second-cheapest bottle carries a higher mark-up than the bottles above and below it.
Why it stays hidden
Because the decision feels like taste. Nobody experiences the wine list as a pricing structure. You experience it as a small statement about yourself, and the list was designed by somebody who knew exactly which statement you would make.
The cheapest bottle is not for sale. It is a decoy that makes the next one up feel like restraint.
The cheapest bottle is not for sale. It is a decoy that makes the next one up feel like restraint.
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The cheapest bottle is not for sale. It is a decoy that makes the next one up feel like restraint.
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