Jaleo Wine Store

[CrescentFresh]

Apparently Jaleo is opening a wine store in Crystal City.

[DonRocks]

Apparently Jaleo is opening a wine store in Crystal City.

More importantly, I think this might mean that Jaleo will allow you to recork partially finished bottles in the restaurant and take them home with you, at least that's what the law allows them to do at Tallula and Evening Star Cafe. Jaleo Crystal City's wine selection has not been strong up until now, so this hopefully signals improvement, both in selection and price. Also, since Oyamel and Jaleo are basically the same physical property, I wonder if this will also apply to Oyamel.

Cheers,

Rocks

[dmwine]

More importantly, I think this might mean that Jaleo will allow you to recork partially finished bottles in the restaurant and take them home with you, at least that's what the law allows them to do at Tallula and Evening Star Cafe.  Jaleo Crystal City's wine selection has not been strong up until now, so this hopefully signals improvement, both in selection and price.  Also, since Oyamel and Jaleo are basically the same physical property, I wonder if this will also apply to Oyamel.

"Partially finished bottles"? This does not compute ...

It also means that diners will be able to "splurge" on some really rare Spanish wines and pay just $15 above retail price, without the typical restaurant markup (and markups have always been fair at Proximo establishments).

[Joe Riley]

Don, unless the Virginia wine laws have changed, it has long been true that diners in Virginia restaurants were legally allowed to re-seal the bottles that they purchased for dinner and take them home with them.

Virginia restaurants never seemed to want to publicize that fact for some reason, but I shudder to think about how many half-consumed bottles of great wine have been abandoned at Virginia restaurants by ignorant diners who just assumed that removing them from the premises was verboten (though I'm sure that many restaurant staffers were the lucky recipients of such abandonments!)

[cucas87]

Don, unless the Virginia wine laws have changed, it has long been true that diners in Virginia restaurants were legally allowed to re-seal the bottles that they purchased for dinner and take them home with them.

I think the law must have changed. A few months ago I hosted a dinner at Oyamel for about 15 people. At the end of the evening there were three 1/2 full bottles of wine on the table and they were given to me to take home.

[CrescentFresh]

"Partially finished bottles"? This does not compute ... 

It also means that diners will be able to "splurge" on some really rare Spanish wines and pay just $15 above retail price, without the typical restaurant markup (and markups have always been fair at Proximo establishments).

IIRC, places like Sonoma and Dino already charge only about $10 above retail for many/most of the bottles on their wine lists. And in VA, Talulla and Evening Star do the same thing that Jaleo is doing, but for only $10.

What would the true and reasonable cost be for providing wine service, i.e. bringing stems to the table and cleaning them afterwards? After all, if the customer is already buying the wine from you at a price you're willing to accept in your wine store, why make more bucks off them if they want to drink it in your restaurant? If they bring in bottles from elsewhere, then fine. Otherwise, I think Jaleo should look at what the actual cost of providing clean stemware is and charge that.

[Joe Riley]

What would the true and reasonable cost be for providing wine service, i.e. bringing stems to the table and cleaning them afterwards?  After all, if the customer is already buying the wine from you at a price you're willing to accept in your wine store, why make more bucks off them if they want to drink it in your restaurant?  If they bring in bottles from elsewhere, then fine.  Otherwise, I think Jaleo should look at what the actual cost of providing clean stemware is and charge that.

I think there's an unmined nugget of inspiration here. How would it be if restaurants took the following approach:

Create a wine list with a reasonable retail-style mark-up, and proclaim that wine service includes the cost of the bottle plus, say, $20 (or $25, whatever) for the service and the stemware. I think that this would cause people to order more expensive wines, the thought being, "Well, if we're already paying $X for the service, we ought to at least treat ourselves to better wine", right? This way, the restaurant has made a reasonable profit on the wine, and the service is taken care of in a consistent manner. I think that this could work because I, for one, don't order wine in a restaurant that I would drink every day, I look for special wines or ones that I'm curious about. You go out to a restaurant to order food that you can't experience at home, so it just stands to reason that you should order wine that you wouldn't have at home, either. If the staff is particularly excited about a wine, then it's worth taking the chance.

Terry Theise once wrote (paraphrasing here) that he ordered at a restaurant and his waiter exclaimed that he had a wine that would be "killer" with that dish. Terry didn't even hesitate to ask what it was, he simply said, "Send it!". It's an admittedly gonzo approach to food and wine pairing, but if you're in for adventure and fun, it can be quite the eye-opener, and I enjoy having my horizons broadened by the restaurant experience.

[CrescentFresh]

Well, I don't know what this Jaleo wine store is all about, but don't plan on driving by and filling up your basket with assorted Spanish wines like you would at any "normal" wine store or supermarket. One morning last week I wandered down Crystal Drive to check the place out. Walking south I passed by Oyamel thinking, perhaps the entrance to the Jaleo Wine Store will be next.

Nope. Then there's the entrance to Jaleo. Hmmmm. Okay. Where's the wine store? I keep walking and the building ends and next thing you know I'm at the corner of 23rd Street. No wine store. Hmmm. So I make a right and walk down 23rd, thinking the entrance would be there. Nope. Not there.

So what's going on here? I have no idea. Perhaps the "wine store" is actually inside the restaurant (which was not open)? There are no signs whatsoever. If it does exist, it's by no means anything like an actual retail wine store right next to a restaurant. The whole thing was just bizarre. Does anyone remember what the Fellowship of the Ring had to say to open the door to the hidden Dwarf city? Perhaps I needed to say some magic words or something to find the store.

I'm thinking they're now calling their "wine cellar" a "wine store" so they can sell bottles to go from inside the restaurant? Either that or their wine store is really nothing more than a souvenir shop similar to the T-shirt shop at any Hard Rock Cafe?

Perhaps I can learn more sometime when I'm there and the restaurant is open. In the meantime, don't waste your time trying to seek this supposed "wine shop" out.

Although it just might magically appear like Brigadoon.

[mdt]

Well according to the Jaelo web site the address is exactly the same as that of the restaurant. Appears that the 'shop' is open when the restaurant is open, although there are no specific hours listed on the web page.

[CrescentFresh]

Well according to the Jaelo web site the address is exactly the same as that of the restaurant.  Appears that the 'shop' is open when the restaurant is open, although there are no specific hours listed on the web page.

Which would then support the notion that they're simply using this as a means to sell the restaurant's bottles to go.

[cjsadler]

So the Post reports today that the Jaleo wine shop is upstairs, above the restaurant.