Yes but the up-charge on wine is absolutely obscene and can frequently be more than what they earn on the food. Additionally, the places that can get away with this are the kind of places where arguing about what would be a relatively small charge on the bill would be so incredibly awkward that you wouldn’t dare.

So it’s extortion basically, but fancy.

Here's a non-wine related thing often charged by restaurants: a cake-cutting fee. The restaurant offers desserts which you won't be buying, and yet they are supplying you with plates and forks, and they will keep your cake safe in the kitchen until dessert, bring it out to be admired with maybe candles and a song, or a toast to the happy couple, then they'll cut and plate and pass the slices, and afterwards they'll wash the dishes. So they charge a fee to pay for the people and supplies.

We had a birthday party at a sushi train restaurant and brought a rainbow cake. We'd agreed to pay $20 or something over the total of all the sushi everyone ate. They turned down the lights and sent out the cake as individual slices on individual plates each with a lit candle flickering on it, and the teenagers loved it, which is pretty hard to do because teenagers.

If there was no charge then everyone would bring their own, and they would have to start charging more for the food to make up for the loss.

Maybe the wine at the curry house was shit and they knew it so they brought their own.

Sometimes you can bring a cheap bottle of wine and even with the corkage fee it ends up being less than the cheapest bottle of wine at the restaurant.

If you were a wino and that was your favorite restaurant, why wouldn't you?

It's just a really easy thing for restaurants to do. Even if it's not listed many will do this.

I have only ever encountered it in the context of wine though. I wonder what would have if I brought a bottle of whiskey.

Does that curry house have an alcohol licence? Because some don't (either for religious reasons or cost, I'm not sure), but they're still providing glasses that will need to be washed.

Generally this is done for cost reasons by the customer. Wine in restaurants is expensive, corkage doesn't make up the difference, so people looking to save some money will bring their own, pay the fee and still come out on top. Fancy restaurants with sommeliers don't advertise this (idk if that means they don't do it though)

Then you might bring your own sulphide free wine and pay the corkage fee.

So is it only wine that messes you up? It'd be interesting to know if you get any negative reactions from Breznak for example next time you're at Systembolaget (if you even drink, I dunno)

No one ever believes me; they genuinely seem to think I get hungover even if I drink just a single beer. Then I can drink them under the table with any kind of spirits, and have no hangover the next day.

And chill and decant if they're fancy.

Protip, boxed wine doesn't have a cork, so they can't charge you for de-corking it.

Going to the restaurant you pay the most for the place simply existing in time, space and rent.

Not always, it's just a fee for brining your own wine.

It's a fee for them to serve the drinks you supplied on their premises. You don't get to use their premises and wait staff for free just because you supplied the drinks.

Correct

I know people that have really nice wine glasses and they bring their own to a restaurant.

So I guess it's possible that some people bring their own wine and glass.

It's not really about the pairing, if these places allow liquor they usually have a nice selection or is byob. Many cigar shops only carry certain brands, and many cigars aren't meant to be smoked when you buy them, but to be aged.

Not most, some do!