After a heated exchange that stirred up the online wine lover community, spritz has become the topic of the month. Whether it’s good or bad, what one does with their wine is ultimately a personal decision. Or is it? Marcel Vulpoi delved a bit deeper into the subject, and the conclusions are painful: spritz is the death of the HORECA sector, and consumer behavior is the reason for the unsustainable markups on wine in restaurants.
"I have nothing against people who drink spritz"
Wines of Romania: OK, it’s official, you have a column in Wines of Romania. Probably somewhat monthly. So let’s start directly: what are you drinking?
Marcel Vulpoi: Well, let’s keep it like last time, because it worked out well, right? I’ll have cola, you have beer. Anyway, from here I’m heading to the Great Hill wine bar, so I need to save room…
Wines of Romania: What do you mean, you don’t drink spritz? Was all the uproar on all channels for nothing, isn’t that what we’re talking about today?
Marcel Vulpoi: No, never spritz. Yes, we’ll talk about it, but in a different way.
Wines of Romania: But do you have anything against people who drink spritz?
Marcel Vulpoi: No, I have nothing against people who drink spritz. After all, everyone does what they want with their product… but preferably not in public. I don’t have a problem with spritz itself, I have a problem with the perception of spritz. If we go out tonight and someone asks where we’re going, what do we say? To have a spritz!
Wines of Romania: It’s a generic term, one meant to make the wife think I won’t come home too tipsy…
Marcel Vulpoi: Exactly, yes, that’s right. I have a very poor opinion of spritz. Friends tell me they make themselves a spritz in the evening after a long day, I have nothing against people who drink spritz, let them drink it, be healthy, especially if they’re at home… How can I tell them what to do in their own house? But I think about poor Gabi Lacureanu (Gramofon winemaking consultant), who makes the wines with his own hands, and he makes them a certain way… From my profane point of view, as an accountant… if he wanted to make it for spritz, he would have made it for spritz, right? And then we would write "wine for spritz" on the bottle. And from there, other things—whether it’s with some kind of water or another, with soda, with whatever else, I don’t know what… Well, then, why not with cola? Is there a limit there, is there a line being crossed?
Wines of Romania: Well, water dilutes it, cola changes its taste. Some waters add salinity, soda, in principle, does not.
"Would you be proud to have a spritz tavern?"
Marcel Vulpoi: So spritz is OK when it’s made with soda?
Wines of Romania: It is what it is. We can talk about the outside temperature, dehydration, moderation, preventing excess… There are also those who say they improve the water, right? OK, Gabi Lacureanu doesn’t make spritz wines, but there are wineries whose wines might fit, I’m especially thinking of aromatic semi-dry ones.
Marcel Vulpoi: Why doesn’t a winery just say – look, this wine is for spritz, if it’s all so great? Or are they ashamed? Or is the sommelier or tavern owner ashamed to recommend something like that?
Wines of Romania: As a restaurant owner, you see the proportion of spritz, which wine is drunk as spritz, how many customers… So, if you have spritz customers, why not have a dedicated product? And you also help the winery owner meet their cash-flow targets.
Marcel Vulpoi: Yes, on the other hand – and now I’m speaking as someone who has two taverns and will probably open a third soon – would you be proud to have a spritz tavern? I wouldn’t, maybe I’m subjective.
Wines of Romania: Let’s look at it differently. What’s the percentage of the elite in society? An optimistic 5%? What’s the percentage of educated people? Close to 20%? The percentage of wine connoisseurs? Maybe 2%, hoping for 5%. And what about the rest? Don’t they have the right to drink wine?
"Spritz shouldn’t be drunk in public"
Marcel Vulpoi: God forbid, of course they do! Let’s explain: where do people drink spritz wine?
Wines of Romania: On the terrace and at home, watching a game, playing backgammon with the neighbor…
Marcel Vulpoi: Exactly. And in the park, at a picnic… Okay. But when you break some norms, it’s better to keep it to yourself, not in public.
Wines of Romania: So, what you’re saying is that there should be a clear separation between places where wine is drunk for its quality and places where people come to drink their spritz.
Marcel Vulpoi: Exactly, places of joy, laughter, merriment. With spicy wings, some peanuts… Or at your own home where, since the title of ownership transferred to your name, no one can tell you what to do. There’s an old example of someone sticking a crowbar in a luxury car. If they did it in their garage, would there be such a major incident? But when you do it in public, with five cameras rolling, it’s not okay. I saw, when I was researching, that there are clubs in the USA where they sell wine with cola, with Schweppes, with all sorts of crazy cocktails with wine. Okay, that’s a place where you go to drink such things. But would you see a Michelin-star restaurant making spritzes?
Wines of Romania: And a Mimosa is made with a prosecco that costs a few euros, not with a vintage champagne costing hundreds of euros…
We have a lot to learn about regional wine stores
Marcel Vulpoi: You have to respect etiquette. If you’re at a cocktail party, you do what’s necessary, drink your glass of wine, then go and ask for some water and drink it separately. You don’t make your spritz in public. I know it sounds a bit hypocritical, but it isn’t. It’s a matter of civilization. I, too, have played backgammon at the gate, at my place, in the countryside, with neighbors. They had the soda, I brought Sonorum Chardonnay, the first serving was gulped down by uncle Doru, for the second he said, "nephew, bring a bigger mug," and added two parts of sodas to it. I can’t be mad at him. In fact, let me tell you how we came to talk about spritz today. I discovered that spritz is the death of HORECA, and it’s no joke.
I was recently on a research vacation, let’s say, in France, in the Loire Valley, Vouvray and other places. Of course, I also went to taverns, as I visited wineries to see how things are done there – and, between us, in terms of winery hospitality, we are miles ahead in some respects, I had nothing to learn from there. However, in terms of regional shops, yes, there’s a lot to learn; after what I saw in Amboise, I already have some ideas…
Spritz is the root of all evil
Going back, one day we went to a restaurant with 20 seats. Three appetizers, three starters, two main courses, and two desserts on the menu, plus 145 wines. They were urging me to choose the wine, I was asking them to recommend one, she didn’t want me to think she was selling expensive wines – she used to run a wine bar in Paris, and her husband was now working in the kitchen – I kept insisting it be a wine that pairs well with the food…
The wines ranged from 30 to around 150 euros, as we were in a village, not at a Michelin-starred place. Finally, she brought a wine that went well with the food, I checked it on Vivino and thought, wait a minute, what’s this? It had a markup of 50%, at most 60%. And the wheels in my accountant’s mind started turning – that’s how I made this sheet I brought you (calculations, ed.). 20 seats, open from 12 to 3 and from 7 to 10. And I calculate – how much I paid, the average per table, how long it’s open, 20 seats… And the conclusion was that spritz is the root of all evil in Romanian HORECA.
"Because of spritz, restaurants no longer take two reservations per night"
Wines of Romania: Because here, people linger at the table instead of eating and leaving.
Marcel Vulpoi: Exactly. When I had this revelation, I looked around. All the tables had a bottle of wine, well, after the initial sparkling wine. And I did the math because I couldn’t understand how such a tavern operates, and what do you know, it works! So, I decided to see how things are in our horeca. As you know, here, 99.9% of tavern owners don’t do any calculations. Laissez faire, laissez passer, since we’re talking about France. So, I did some research yesterday, for a few hours, to see how much the fixed cost per chair is in Romania. You look at the turnover, let’s say, in both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, of a million. In the optimistic scenario, the cost of food as raw materials is 20%, in the pessimistic scenario – 30%. You have salaries, 30-35%, and indirect expenses, also around 30-35%. Then I saw how much a chair costs me, and from there, it results in how many times I need to use each spot per day to break even.
At the prices, salaries, and rents in Bucharest, it costs me around 37.5 euros per day, in the optimistic scenario, with 50 seats and a fair rent. In the pessimistic scenario, the fixed cost per day is 50.8 euros. I earn this money from the markup on food, around 80%, from water, coffee, beer. And I need, in the optimistic scenario, to use that chair 1.32 times. That means one in three chairs to be occupied at lunch and all chairs at dinner – just to break even. In the pessimistic scenario, 2.87 times. That means three people per chair, to eat and drink, with civilized markups – I put a 100% markup on wine for the optimistic scenario and 50%, as in France, for the pessimistic scenario. All at an average check value of 40 euros per person, which does not mean luxury restaurants – there, the wine alone is 50-55, it goes up to 70 for a regular bottle of wine, an honest wine. And here comes the question: how do you use that chair three times if people drink spritz? Because if a customer lingers after having dinner, it’s over. Most restaurants no longer accept two reservations per night, from 6 and from 9, let’s say, because people already know the table won’t be free.
Wines of Romania: How does this translate into business operations?
Marcel Vulpoi: Let’s go tonight and see the taverns after ten o’clock. Most of them are empty, where there are still people, six are sitting at one table. Two women are sipping on lemonade and giving dirty looks to those drunks who won’t finish their bottle of wine, one drinks still water because she’s on a diet, the rest are friends joking around until midnight or 1 AM.
"With spritz, you make 25 Lei per seat in three hours"
Wines of Romania: And this means you have to keep the bartender, the waiter, maybe even a cook or an assistant cook on standby…
Marcel Vulpoi: The tavern owner knows or should know that they don’t make money after ten o’clock. People just stay there to drink. And here’s where the markup issue arises – if you add 50%, meaning you sell a 50 lei wine for 75, that means you make 25 lei per seat in three hours. The same goes for water. And then, people add markup. And what I discovered, having looked at three taverns in a row, on a central avenue, in Floreasca, and through the city center, a more family-friendly, more accessible chain restaurant. They all had the same wines, exactly the same list, although they cater to different categories of the public. From low-medium to super-high, the same wines. So, in a tavern with an average food check, excluding wine, of 400 lei, you give me the same wine as in a restaurant with a check of 140 lei? Well, I say, we have a problem. Not to mention the markup, where the same wine is at totally different prices in one place and another. In other words, you select your customer for food by price, but when it comes to wine – to hell with the customer. The person pays more for the food but, when it comes to wine, you give them the same wine, only more expensive. How does that work? Well, didn’t you eat well? Not to mention the markup on water – the same price at all restaurants, 13-15 lei, 350% markup. Well, isn’t it better to buy a bottle of wine at home with the money for those three 330 ml water bottles from the restaurant?
Wines of Romania: And at home, you can drink it spritz without upsetting anyone…
Marcel Vulpoi: Yes, correct. But look, this is how you see that spritz is the death of horeca. The notion of spritz – whether it’s beer, wine with soda, lemonades…
"It’s in our DNA to linger at restaurants"
Wines of Romania: So, investment in education is needed on all sides. To know that there are places where you go, eat, and leave, and places where you linger with spritz.
Marcel Vulpoi: Yes, exactly, bravo. Bars, brasseries, wine bars. At the restaurant, you eat, take a wine, make your pairings, then go to a wine bar and stay as long as you want. There, a person has calculated that you come just to drink. I use the seats only once in the evening at the wine bar, very rarely twice. But I made calculations in this direction. If you hang out with four people for hours at the restaurant, you damage the business. But I think it’s in our DNA to linger and laze around in restaurants. It’s also a matter of assumption – how many taverns would now have the courage to say "we serve between 12 and 3 and between 7 and 10"?
Wines of Romania: They could, eventually, have these hours for meals, and in the rest, you could stay for a beer between 3 and 7.
Marcel Vulpoi: In France, they were all like that. I arrived in a village around 4, asked where I could eat, the only thing open was a fast food in an area like Băneasa Mall. Well, what are you doing, trying to eat at this hour? You can’t – that’s the only option. Or, as I like to call it, forced education. Or like in Germany – it’s open all day, but the meal is served from hour x to hour y and that’s it, no one keeps the cook busy for you. Stay for a beer, you can get a sausage, a cold cut, and that’s it. In Bucharest, there used to be a restaurant model – when you entered, they asked if you came to drink or to eat. And they had different menus, with different markups for drinks. If you ate, the markup on drinks was 50%. If you came to drink or lingered after the meal, you switched to the drink menu with a 300% markup. So, the very sad conclusion is that, in the end, it’s my fault, as a customer, that I have a 300% markup on wine, because of the way I behave. It’s sad, but that’s how it is.
