City brasserie Bob Bob Cité has announced it has placed a maximum mark up of £75 a bottle (regardless of format size) on all its wines.
The 280 wines and 120 Champagnes on the list in all sizes from bottle to Methuselah (six litres) will be subject to the new mark-up which is to be a permanent feature and not a limited time offer.
The measure has been brought in as part of the venue’s goal to become, “the ultimate destination for drinkers of rare wine and fine Champagne”, the restaurant said in a statement. The restaurant’s policy of sourcing as much as possible ex-château is also a contributing factor, alongside “expert buying and huge capital outlay”.
The impact will be most keenly felt in bottles over £200, with many rare wines on the list becoming available at prices comparable to (and in some cases even below) retail listings.
A bottle of 1947 Château d’Yquem for example – from the restaurants particularly extensive collection – will be listed at £2,880 a bottle when it is listed by fine and rare wine merchant Millesima for £14,723.
For example, some of the old vintages that will be available for less than the same bottle in leading off-trade accounts such as Hedonism Wines or Selfridges, include: 2000 La Landonne from Guigal (£370 per bottle); 1978 Moët & Chandon in magnum (£1,070); 2001 Château d’Yquem (£565); 1966 Yquem (£1,210) and 1928 Yquem (£3,380).
Owner Leonid Shutov said: “My vision for Bob Bob Cité was always that it would be a destination for celebrations and special occasions, yet at prices which would make it accessible to everyone, not just a privileged few.”
“I know that even with the maximum mark-up of £75, the exceptional wines and champagnes on our list are not bottles to drink every day. However when anyone is planning a celebration which includes, for example, a Jeroboam or Methuselah – or simply wants to experience one of the world’s best wines or vintages – my hope is that they will choose Bob Bob Cité in which to do so, safe in the knowledge they are paying an unbeatable price for it.”
