Michigan Restaurant Association applauds introduction of

wine “re-corking” bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              Contact: Andy Deloney

February 10, 2005                                                                                               (517) 482-5244

LANSING – The Michigan Restaurant Association (MRA) today announced its strong support for legislation which would allow restaurants to “re-cork” or re-seal partially-consumed bottles of wine for diners to carry home with them.  The bill will be introduced in the Michigan Senate next week by state Sen. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac) with bi-partisan support.

Under current Michigan law, if a diner in a restaurant requests a bottle of wine but consumes only a portion of it, they are not allowed to bring the rest home with them.  The bill is designed to allow exactly that.  “Think of this as the wine doggy-bag bill,” said Andy Deloney, MRA director of public affairs.  “Diners can bring unfinished portions of their meals home with them, and we think this legislation is a simple extension of that.”

Currently, 30 other states allow restaurants to re-seal a partially consumed bottle of wine for carry-out by diners.  The affect of the re-corking law in other states has been two-fold.  First, the law reduces the apprehension among diners to purchase a high value wine.  Said Deloney: “If a couple orders a bottle of wine but are apprehensive about consuming it in its entirety, they will likely choose a wine of lower cost.  If they know they can bring any unconsumed portion home with them, they are more likely to order a wine of higher cost.”

Second, these laws have a positive impact on the problem of drunk driving.  Currently, if diners choose a bottle of wine and are concerned about getting full value for the purchase, they are more likely to consume the entire bottle so as to not waste any.  Said Deloney: “By letting diners know they can bring home any unconsumed wine, they won’t feel compelled to consume the whole thing and risk driving in an impaired condition.”