Wine Bars have become quite popular in the past several years in the Houston area. I believe that it’s been a very welcome trend, as it provides another option for nightlife. They have progressed beyond being the novelty they were several years ago, especially when the wretched Vintage Bar on Mid Lane was about the only wine bar, as such. A bad joke in nearly all regards, and basically just a crappy neighborhood bar that served primarily wines, there were just a handful of strange choices available (and all available at your local grocery store), quite often corked or otherwise undrinkable, and served in glasses that were probably not as nice as the ones I use at home that I purchased in bulk for 75 cents each. That the atmosphere was homemade, or rather tacky and complemented with inappropriately loud and usually quite mediocre but inappropriately loud live music. Thankfully, the local versions have moved far beyond this, in terms of atmosphere, but more importantly, in terms of quality wines.
In some sense, wine bars are the successor to the martini bars that began in the 1990s. Different than other bars, these are bars first, but with an emphasis on a number of choices of wines by the glass, and a usually relaxed atmosphere. These have become especially popular with women, who find these are more approachable than most other types of bars. Not only are wine bars welcome retreats to enjoy the company of friends and meet people in nice settings, they can also serve as places to expand your understanding and enjoyment of wines.
There is not one template for a wine bar. Some have live music on the weekend; most have a least finger foods, one, Cova, has an adept kitchen with interesting array of offerings; nearly all have a comfortable setting suitable for conversation; most seem to strive for accessibility and the demystification of wine, while others border on pretense and obscurity when it comes to their wines. This last fault is likely due to the need to sell odd wines at a high markup. Vino 100 and The Vine Room are two local wine bars that immediately come to mind in this latter regard. They span a wide range in terms of the quality of the wine list, pricing, knowledge of their staff, setting, and atmosphere. Several are out of town chains such as Vino 100 and Cru, but most are home grown. The list of Houston area wine bars currently includes:
My intent with this brief article is not to rate the local wine bars, but to provide some insight on their costs to visitors. What prompted this were two somewhat recent visits to Cova and Sonoma where I searched from something decent and not too expensive. In each case, limiting myself to the most inexpensive quartile among the red wine prices, I ended up with middling wines that I had never heard of for $12 and $13, respectively, in not overly generous pours. These wines were not as good or as interesting as my usual house wine, a Cotes du Ventoux that retails at Spec’s for $6.50. From these visits, I got the impression that that expense and obscurity was the order of the day for local wine bars in terms of their wine selections. Though not a wine expert, I am hardly a novice, as I drink wine daily and have subscribed to the Wine Spectator for well over a decade and attended numerous wine tastings.
My intent with this brief article is not to rate the local wine bars, but to provide some insight on their costs to visitors. What prompted this were two somewhat recent visits to Cova and Sonoma where I searched from something decent and not too expensive. In each case, limiting myself to the most inexpensive quartile among the red wine prices, I ended up with middling wines that I had never heard of for $12 and $13, respectively, in not overly generous pours. These wines were not as good or as interesting as my usual house wine, a Cotes du Ventoux that retails at Spec’s for $6.50. From these visits, I got the impression that that expense and obscurity was the order of the day for local wine bars in terms of their wine selections. Though not a wine expert, I am hardly a novice, as I drink wine daily and have subscribed to the Wine Spectator for well over a decade and attended numerous wine tastings.
I tried to be thorough for this article. But, researching wine prices at these wine bars, I ran into difficulties obtaining wine lists from at least have of the bars. Some ignored my request, while others declined. This begs the question, what do they have to hide? Risa Jenkins, the Sales and Marketing Director at the Vino 100, which is tucked away in a strip center on the western stretches of Westheimer, sent me the following message when I asked about their wine list:
“We do not keep an email copy of our wine list available as we change our wines too frequently and prefer showing our customers first hand our great, boutique wine selection. The idea is for the customers to browse the walls and with the help of our knowledgeable staff hand select their wines.”
What a joke. In part, because there really is a lot to know working at a wine bar with the numerous wine labels, producers, styles, regions and vintages, I have rarely found a bartender or waitress at a wine bar who could be helpful. From what I have heard from others about Vino 100, I very much doubt the staff is knowledgeable. The same people operate the Vine Room, for which I received a reference to this message. The Tasting Room does not provide a wine list on-line, nor were they willing to forward me a copy. The Wine Spot in Katy also did not have a menu available on line. The Cork Café provided an informative wine list that included everything but prices. I get the impression that these establishments are trying to hide something. Do they rely on intermittent odd lots of remaindered wines that don’t sell from elsewhere?
The markups on wines by glass at wine bars provide a fine source of revenue. With the average price per glass of wine at nearly $11 for what is typically a five-ounce pour (for a still wine), there is a lot of profit to be made. Pours for sparkling wines are usually about 4-ounces, and fortified and dessert wines two- or three-ounces. These amounts were confirmed by Randy McCrea, the wine writer for My Table, who penned a recent article about wine bars for that magazine. The average markup from retail is over 300% for a glass of wine. I understand the need for additional equipment to store bottles when an establishment has a large per-glass program, and the potential waste that does not exist with liquor, which has a long shelf life, and single service beer bottles. But, both the average price per glass and the markup seems excessive to me. Especially so, when I can order a well-made beer from Belgium, Germany or an American microbrewery that is often of much higher quality, and certainly more satisfying than many, or most, of these wines for $5 or $6 at a local bar. Buying wine by the bottle is the way to go, if can, as the average bottle markup is just over 200% on average, quite a bit better than the per-glass pricing.
Below is how several local wine bars stack up. The number crunching was somewhat more time consuming than I anticipated. However, I wish I was able to include more of the wine bars, but, as mentioned above, many places were unwilling to part with prices.
| Wine Bar | Glass Number | Glass Average | Glass Markup | WS % Rated | WS Average | WS >Low | WS High | Bottle Average | Bottle Markup |
| Cova | 24 | $ 13.58 | 244% | 83% | 87 | 92 | 80 | ||
| Sonoma | 60 | $ 12.67 | 335% | 72% | 87 | 95 | 78 | $ 45.20 | 205% |
| 13 Celsius | 49 | $ 10.97 | 327% | 58% | 87 | 95 | 80 | $ 47.74 | 192% |
| Wine Spot | 77 | $ 10.52 | 364% | 33% | 86 | 95 | 81 | $ 36.42 | 189% |
| Wine Bucket | 6 | $ 10.25 | 284% | 33% | 87 | 87 | 87 | $ 40.83 | 224% |
| Vineyard on the Square | 26 | $ 9.56 | 354% | 73% | 85 | 90 | 79 | $ 32.08 | 227% |
| Oporto Café | 63 | $ 8.84 | 246% | 66% | 85 | 95 | 77 | $ 37.49 | 235% |
| Corkscrew | 16 | $ 8.63 | 285% | 63% | 85 | 91 | 81 | ||
| Ibiza - Lounge | 18 | $ 8.06 | 322% | 56% | 85 | 90 | 81 |
This list is not entirely correct, as the Wine Bucket serves at least a dozen wines by the glass, but they only had prices for six. And, Cova, Corkscrew and Ibiza all sell wine by the bottles, too. Given my lack of recognition during visits to wine bars, I was surprised that the number of wines rated by the Wine Spectator was as high as it was.
The costs and markup are just two of the factors involved in determining whether or not you might enjoy a particular wine bar. Though it is good to feel you are not being gouged, these are hardly the most important things. If you feel comfortable, and you enjoy yourself, these are reasons enough.
But, if you are serious about wines, some of the various measures to judge the quality of a wine bar might include the following, as a wine bar has lot more to do than the corner tavern:
Some of my general impressions are that the atmosphere and selections at 13 Celsius were both very enjoyable. When picking up the tab for two, I was very surprised with a bill of over $90 during the course of a two hour visit. This was far higher than I believe it should have been. Cova has the most knowledge head, Monsterville Horton, a Certified Wine Educator and former beverage head at the local Central Market, which should provide some confidence and an adept kitchen, both of which seem to help create a decent crowd. But, the availability of inexpensive wines by the glass is quite frustrating. Sonoma has pretty good atmosphere, even if the setting is slightly cheesy. The live jazz music is a big plus. Utilitarian Tasting Rooms are pleasant, and the scene at the Uptown Park location is quite nice.
There is certainly room for improvement. It would be nice to be about to find more drinkable wines at $7 and $8, and more recognizable names that are still interesting finds. If Catalan, Ibiza and Reef can do it, so can these wine bars.