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Wine Margin

By the Glass Margin Calculator

Calculate your by the glass selection margins and wine cost.

Selling price includes UK standard-rate VAT (20%); purchase cost excludes VAT.

GBP

The price of purchase is intended without VAT.

mL

Default is 750 mL for a standard bottle.

GBP

The price of selling is intended with VAT of 20%, as written on the menu.

mL

175 mL pour + 30 mL buffer = 205 mL. What is total pour size?

Wine Margin: GBP (%)

Let's analyze the breakdown of your glass:

Component Amount (GBP) %
VAT (20%)
Wine Cost %
Wine Margin %
Total 100%

Explanation:

For each bottle you buy at GBP, if you sell it at GBP, here is how it breaks down:

  • VAT (20%) is included in the selling price ( GBP).
  • Your wine cost per glass is GBP.
  • Your wine margin per glass is GBP, this is the amount you keep after covering VAT and wine cost.
  • You can sell glasses per bottle.
  • Breakeven is glasses.
  • By selling glasses you gain GBP in profits.

Pour size, pour buffer and total pour size

On paper a 75 cl bottle gives you four glasses of 175 ml, or six of 125 ml. In a real restaurant it never does. That is why you separate what you sell from what you plan for.

Pour size: what is on the menu

The pour size is the measure you promise the guest and print on your wine list, for example 175 ml. By law still wine by the glass is sold in 125 ml, 175 ml or multiples of those, and the guest is entitled to the full measure they pay for.

Pour buffer: the extra you plan for

The pour buffer is the extra wine you reserve for every glass, on top of the pour size. It covers what you lose in daily service:

  • Overpour: even with a lined glass or a measure, staff tend to pour a little over the line rather than under it, and a short measure is never an option.
  • The rest in the bottle: the last few millilitres, sediment, and wine that oxidises before you finish an open bottle.
  • Tasting and spillage: a sip for the guest to try, a glass that tips over, a corked bottle check.

If you calculate with the exact pour size, the numbers never come back. You expect four glasses, you sell three, and the missing glass comes straight out of your margin, every single bottle.

Total pour size: what you calculate with

The total pour size is the pour size plus the pour buffer. With a 175 ml pour and a 30 ml buffer, the total pour size is 205 ml, and that is the number your glasses per bottle, your cost per glass and your price per glass should be based on.

Total glasses: what you really sell

The total glasses are the bottle size divided by the total pour size, rounded down. A 75 cl bottle at 205 ml gives you three glasses, not four, and at 125 ml plus the same buffer it gives you four, not six. Price your glass on three and every bottle pays for itself, even on a busy Saturday night.

Sell the measure on the list, plan for a bigger one. And there is a bonus: when the glass is a little fuller than the line, guests feel they received more than they paid for. That is a better feeling than the other way around.

Want to see how many glasses you get from a bottle? Try the glasses per bottle calculator

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