It has been a year since Colorado passed the Cork-N-Go law, which lets you take home one partially consumed bottle of wine from a restaurant.
Have you tried this?
Obviously many of you have not. Restaurant workers say few customers ask to have their wine re-corked to take home. And if you do ask, you may get a blank stare from a server unaware of the law.
For two people, what could be better than ordering a bottle – instead of two glasses, which typically cost more by volume – and take what you don’t drink home?
“I have seen it done two times,” said Lindsey Fundingsland, a manager and server at Swimclub 32 in Highland Square. Customers ask to take wine home “so rarely that it’s crazy.”
For her part, Fundingsland and her fiancé think it’s a great option for Sunday evenings, when liquor stores are closed.
“We’ll go to a restaurant, get a little sake and take it home and drink it on the back porch,” she said.
Sake?
Yes, sake is included under the law because it’s classified as wine by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The idea behind Cork-N-Go is to promote responsible drinking and reduce drunken driving.
It was passed as part of the 2004 House Bill 1021, which makes it illegal to drink and drive with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent, down from .10 percent previously.
(The law also opened the door for liquor stores to do free tastings of wine, beer and spirits.)
Though diners have been slow to embrace Cork-N-Go, some restaurants have been able to boost sales because of the law, especially where wine is on a par with the fare.
“We love to do it,” said Alessandro Carollo, who owns the Chianti and Venice Italian restaurants in Greenwood Village. “I think my wine sales raised about 5 percent since we have this new law.”
Half his customers don’t know about the law, but once servers mention it, they typically end up ordering a bottle, Carollo said.
At the Red Room restaurant and bar at 320 E. Colfax Ave., servers also mention the re-corking law to upsell customers. But only a dozen or so have taken their wine home, said owner Brian Sommatino.
And it’s not always after enjoying a meal.
“I actually have had a few people come in after one o’clock, order a bottle of wine, have one glass and take it home,” he said.
While the law was intended to encourage responsible drinking, in practice, it may not always have that effect.
When Swimclub customers learn they can take their wine home and order a bottle instead of two glasses, Fundingsland said, most often, “They get excited, and then they drink the entire bottle.”
Kelly Pate Dwyer is a Denver freelance writer.
Tips and restrictions
The Cork-N-Go law applies only to wine.
No whiskey. No beer.
A customer must drink some of the wine before taking it home.
The limit is one bottle per customer – that’s per person, not per table. Even on Sundays.
The law also allows a restaurant or bar to refuse your request.
If you’re going to re-cork and take your wine home, make sure the server puts it in a bag or box sealed with tape or staples. Then put it in your trunk to avoid an open-container violation.
The original Cork-N-Go law allowed re-corking only at venues with a hotel-restaurant license. But in April, Gov. Bill Owens expanded the law to include venues with Limited Winery, Beer & Wine, Tavern, Brew Pub and Vintners Restaurant licensees.
