More restaurants embrace BYO scheme
Customers visiting some of the country's top eating establishments have been invited to dust off that bottle of Cheval Blanc and bring it along with them, as restaurants attempt to stave off the effects of the economic slump.
Around 50 venues, including the Michelin-starred Ledbury in Notting Hill, have signed up to the BYO club scheme which allows members to bring their own wines for no charge or a dramatically reduced corkage fee.
Membership also includes a wine tote and subscription to the club's newsletter.
"The new movement is for people who are serious about their food and wine, but really resent that restaurants mark their wines up so highly that they can't afford wine to match the quality of the food they are eating," wine writer Tom Cannavan told the Guardian.
Mr Cannavan last week took a bottle of 1990 Leoville-Las-Cases to Glasgow's Chardon d'Or, which would have cost around £250 on a restaurant's wine list.