This Holiday Season, Pour Your Guests the Wines the Four Seasons Pours at a Fraction of the Cost

If you want to pour the same wine for your holiday guests that the Four Seasons pours its clientele, it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg.

In the spirit of the Holiday Season, this commentary provides an assessment of value in one corner of the wine world and shows how readers can "get in on some of the action," at prices that are well within reach.

Here in Boston, the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel is a wonderful place to relax, meet some acquaintances for a glass of wine and possibly have a bite to eat. Albeit at prices that reflect its status as a "home away from home" for celebrities and international business elite. Those who have been there, or to any other Four Seasons, recognize that the wonderful atmosphere, service, food and drink all come at Four Seasons prices. So when paying the bill, it is helpful to remember that - in the words of Warren Buffett - Price is what you pay but Value is what you receive. How much value you place on the ability to sit, on any given night, near members of the E Street Band or the back court of the Chicago Bulls, determines how much sticker shock you feel when the bill comes at the Bristol Lounge.

While the Value of a glass of wine poured and consumed at the Bristol Lounge is unique to the person enjoying it, the Price is the same for everyone. In a word, expensive.

Various restaurant folks will quote different ratios for an establishment's wine price per glass to the cost of the bottle. In some cases the first glass poured will pay for the entire bottle and in others it may only pay for half. My research indicates that this holds true at the BL.

On a recent field trip to the Bristol Lounge in what Wall Street analysts might refer to as a "store check," I observed the following per glass prices:

Chardonnay: Laetitia Estate 2006, $15/glass
Sauvignon Blanc: Russian Jack New Zealand 2008, $12/glass
Riesling: Dr. Loosen L Mosel 2008, $9/glass
Pinot Noir: 12 Clones Santa Lucia 2007, $18/glass
Malbec: Catena Vista Flores Mendoza 2006, $10/glass
Merlot: Souverain Alexander Valley 2006, $14/glass
Cabernet: Flora Springs Napa 2005, $22/glass
Cabernet Blend: Chappelet Mountain Cuvee Napa 2006, $18/glass

In checking with my local wine merchant, Taylor Tibbetts of Harborside Wine & Spirits in Scituate, MA I was able to find the following wines available on order by the case:

Sauvignon Blanc: Russian Jack New Zealand 2008, $163.10/case = $13.59/bottle
Riesling: Dr. Loosen L Mosel 2008, $122.30/case = $10.19/bottle
Merlot: Souverain Alexander Valley 2006, $193.70/case = $16.14/bottle
Cabernet: Flora Springs Napa 2005, $336.50/case = $28.04/bottle
Cabernet Blend: Chappelet Mountain Cuvee Napa 2006, $336.50/case = $28.04/bottle

and rounding out the investigation with a trip to a few of the producer websites

Chardonnay: Laetitia Estate Chardonnay 2008, $194.40/case = $16.20/bottle (not the same year as at the BL)

The only wines that did not seem to be available were the Malbec and the Pinot Noir.

For the holidays, treat your company to the same wines the Four Seasons pours without the sticker shock. The Price should be right for everyone, but since they are at your home it is up to you to supply the Value.