Bring Your Own Wine Experiment Starts Nov. 1st

In just over a week, Manitoba restaurants can begin to allow clients to bring their own wine to dinner, although diners may have trouble finding an eatery that's interested.  Last May, the government announced it would be introducing a number of changes to Manitoba's liquor laws, including a provision that allows restaurants to let clients supply their own, unopened bottles of wine, rather than having to buy it from the restaurant.

That change, which is entirely voluntary and up to each restaurant to decide, takes effect Nov. 1.

But don't pop by just anywhere that night hoping to pop a cork with dinner.

"I haven't heard a lot of people saying they'll be falling over themselves to do it," said Scott Jocelyn, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association. "I can't say for sure there won't be any, but I haven't talked to anyone who is.

Jocelyn said many restaurants likely won't want to give up a potential revenue stream. "But we're in the people-pleasing business so I guess if the demand is there we'll have some operators who'll consider it," he said.

Jocelyn said he's pleased restaurants can choose whether to offer the service, and that they can charge a corkage fee to customers for doing so.

However, Jocelyn also said he's concerned the public will be confused about which restaurants allow it and which don't, and also about potentially thorny issues like how to cut off diners who've had too much of their own wine to drink.

Diana Soroka, a spokeswoman for the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission, said diners will have to check with restaurants ahead of time to see if BYOW is allowed, as there will be no formal system in place.

"They don't have to notify us. There's no license or anything like that," she said. "I imagine restaurants who do this will promote it."

Soroka said there's also no cap on the corkage fee restaurants can charge for the service.

She noted the law only allows diners to bring unopened, commercially made wine for a meal in licensed dining rooms. That means no home-made wine, and no BYOW at nightclubs.