How to price wine in a restaurant
On wine, margin is counted in cash more than in multipliers. A flat multiplier makes cheap wines very profitable and fine ones unsellable.
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A tapering multiplier
The selling price including VAT is the net purchase price times a multiplier that falls as the bottle moves up the range. The scale Margéo applies: up to €6 net, 4; up to €12 net, 3.5; up to €20 net, 3; up to €35 net, 2.6; above €35, 2.2.
The logic is cash: a bottle that sells earns, a bottle that stays in the cellar ties up cash and earns nothing, whatever its theoretical margin.
Worked example: two bottles, one scale
Prices include 20% French VAT on alcoholic drinks; margins are net.
| Bottle bought at €8.00 net — multiplier 3.5 | €28.00 · €15.33 margin |
|---|---|
| The glass, 5 glasses served per bottle | €7.45 |
| Bottle bought at €40.00 net — multiplier 2.2 | €88.00 · €33.33 margin |
| The same at the house multiplier of 4 | €160.00 · €93.33, on paper |
At €160, the bottle never leaves the cellar: its theoretical margin is never realised. At €88, it earns €33.33 on every sale — more than twice the cheaper bottle.
Pricing the glass
price of a glass = bottle price ÷ glasses actually served × 1.33. Count the glasses actually served — five for 125 ml pours, not the theoretical 6.25 — and add a third: an open bottle oxidises if it does not go within two days, and the last of it is lost.
Track the cellar, not just the list
The price says nothing about rotation. Margéo tracks the cellar bottle by bottle, as a sum of deliveries, sales and breakage: you see what moves, what sleeps, and the real margin by the glass as well as by the bottle.