Knowledge of wine, scientific or practical.
I got into a near-argument with a business owner about the cost of wine versus beer and other liquors. Like many people I know, I rarely buy wine at a bar or restaurant because the cost markups are irrational. In some cases one could go to a store and buy 2 bottles of a wine for the cost of a single glass of that same wine at a wine bar. Beer, I was then informed, is usually marked up at comparable if not greater percentage when compared to store-bought products. To me the analogy does not connect, at least where draught beer is in play. Draught beer is generally a superior product to canned or bottled beer, and it is generally not available in homes (in-home kegs exist but they are not common). If one pays $10 for 4 cans of Guinness one would get, for the same price, 2 pints of said beer at a pub. That 100% markup (and I’m not including tips) is still far less than markups of 500% or higher that I tend to see in bottled wines. Bottled wine is, however, the exact same product you could get at a store, while draught beer is (arguably) a better product than what is available in most shops. That’s my point of view. I may be full of it but if I am then so are a lot of other people.
