I' ve been writing about the pleasures of life for more than 15 years, but I just can't figure out why restaurants price wine the way they do. When we used to complain about the unreasonable pricing of imported wines, especially the supermarket stuff that gets passed off as fine wine in our city, the industry would wring its hands in despair and blame the high customs and excise duties.
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The government allowed five-star hotel chains, as well as restaurants that could afford to do so, the facility to spend a percentage of their foreign exchange earnings to import duty-free alcohol. It's been about eight years since the ministry of commerce showered its munificence on hotels and restaurants, but we have not seen the benefit being passed on to us - the thirsty consumers. Ordinary wine, as a result, comes at extraordinary prices in our quality-deprived city.
What's more galling, though, is the way Indian wines are priced.
Wines that sell in the market for Rs 480 to Rs 700 are priced between Rs 1,600 and Rs 2,000 even at a regular restaurant.
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