The Glass Is Half Full. And That’s the Point.

Why ordering by the glass isn’t settling for less, it’s the smartest way to drink better.

By Gavin Keogh, COO, Wines Direct

 

Whenever I’m dining out, I almost always order wine by the glass. Not because I can’t commit, but because I want to try more. A different grape with the starter. Something unexpected with the main. A small discovery that might lead to a new obsession. It turns out, a lot of people feel the same way.

A recent report from UK importer Liberty Wines confirms what we’re seeing in the market too: more drinkers than ever are choosing to go their own way with wine rather than defaulting to a shared bottle. Health-consciousness, price awareness, the rise of cocktail culture, and, honestly, a genuine curiosity about what’s in the glass are all driving the shift.

But here’s the thing that often gets missed in these conversations: the by-the-glass revolution isn’t a downgrade. It’s an upgrade. What’s changed isn’t the desire to drink well; it’s the unwillingness to compromise.

Technology Changed Everything

The biggest accelerant in this shift has been preservation technology. Systems like Coravin, which draw wine through a thin needle without ever opening the bottle, leaving its contents unaffected for years, have completely changed what a restaurant can viably offer by the glass.

Consider this: Jason Atherton’s two-Michelin-starred Row on 5 in Mayfair now pours a 2021 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Duvault-Blochet by the glass at £200 for 50ml. That would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Alongside it sit thoughtful, accessible choices like orange wine from Skerk in Friuli and Syrian producer Domaine de Bargylus. The entire list is structured so guests pay roughly the same per millilitre whether they opt for a bottle or a single pour.

“I didn’t want price to be a factor when people were making the choice,” says Roxane Dupuy, executive head sommelier at Row on 5. “It’s not nice to push people to consume alcohol.” That’s a philosophy we understand completely.

— Pascaline Lepeltier, Beverage Director, Chambers NYC

Adventurous Drinkers. Serious Money.

At Chambers in New York, a bar specialising in North American wines, beverage director Pascaline Lepeltier noticed a quiet but meaningful trend a couple of years ago. Bottle orders were declining. Half-bottle requests were up. And guests were happily spending serious money on a single glass of something remarkable.

The bar leaned in, expanding its special pours to 20–25 options on top of an already generous list of 30+ by-the-glass wines. The shift has been “a real success.” And the logic is simple: when the financial barrier to trying something extraordinary is reduced to a single glass, adventurous drinkers say yes.

This is something we’ve long understood at Wines Direct. The producers we work with, over 200 independent growers across 13 countries, make wines that reward curiosity. Our job, and your job as a hospitality operator, is to make it easy for guests to take that first step.

What a Strong BTG List Actually Does

SoHo wine bar and bookstore Bibliothèque encourages guests to browse its award-winning list like a library. Their by-the-glass wines, which they call ‘short stories’, are the entry point. Bestsellers include hard-to-find bottles from cult Italian and French producers. Director of operations Scott Woltz puts it well: “You can have something fun, a little irreverent, sitting next to something very serious, and both feel accessible.”

That accessibility is the point. A well-constructed BTG list doesn’t just serve guests who aren’t sure what they want; it converts them. It builds confidence, generates conversation between guest and server, and creates the kind of discovery moment that leads to a repeat visit, a bottle order, or a wine purchased on the way home.

This summer, Vagabond opens its biggest site yet in London’s Soho with over 120 wines and a self-pour experience. Guests can help themselves to 25ml, 125ml, or 175ml pours, log tasting notes on an app, and order favourites for home delivery. “Very quickly they begin to move into more unexpected areas once they realise how easy it is to try things,” says MD Christobell Giles. That instinct, the joy of the unexpected discovery, is exactly what we’ve built Wines Direct around.

Our Recommendations for Your BTG List

Here are four wines from our range that we think deserve a spotlight on your by-the-glass offering. Each one is a conversation starter.

Serge Laloue Sancerre - Loire Valley, France

Precise, mineral, and quietly brilliant. A wine that makes guests lean forward and ask questions. A natural anchor for any white by-the-glass list.

Henry’s Hill Sauvignon Blanc - Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

A collaboration born from a friendship between our team and grower Paddy Borthwick. Fresh, characterful, and a genuine talking point for guests. Bottled under the Wines Direct label.

Skin-Contact White - Friuli, Italy

Orange wine is no longer niche; it’s a must on any modern BTG list. Amber is textured, and sought out by name by adventurous guests. A single pour that opens up an entire conversation about how wine is made.

A Minimal-Intervention Red - Your Choice

Reserve one slot on your BTG list for something outside the usual. A natural red that rewards guests who say, “I’d like to try something a bit different tonight.” Our team can help you find the right one for your room and your customers.

The Bottle Isn’t Going Anywhere

It’s worth saying plainly: none of this is an argument against the shared bottle. Victoria James, beverage director at Korean-inspired steakhouse Cote, puts it perfectly: “Sharing a bottle is part of the experience; it slows things down in the right way. A great glass builds trust, which often translates into a bottle, where the real magic happens.”

We couldn’t agree more. The glass and the bottle aren’t in competition. They’re part of the same story. The guest who takes a chance on something unusual by the glass tonight is the one who orders the full bottle on the next visit. And the one after that.

At Wines Direct, we’ve always believed that discovery is the whole point of wine. By-the-glass is simply the most democratic, most joyful way to make that happen. Right now, the world is catching up, and the best hospitality operators are already ahead of it.

 

BOOK A TASTING WITH OUR TEAM
We work with 200+ independent producers across 13 countries. If you’d like help building a by-the-glass programme that reflects your venue and your guests, our team would love to sit down with you, ideally over a glass or two.

Get in touch to book a tasting appointment with one of our wine specialists.
Email us: sales@winesdirect.ie