by the glass

[Jerry D Mead]

Re The Hobbit...I think it's still there, albeit with a different format.

Burnap had to sell out when he started his winery because of a crazy California law that says you can't own a license for a 2000 case winery and a wine license for a 60 seat restaurant. (Of course if you are a giant corporation which owns a huge winery and a hotel or restaurant chain, you can pay of the politicians and get a special waiver to hold both licenses.) His chef partner kept it going with the same basic concept for many years.

The chef then sold to a son. By then trends were moving away from four-hour dining experiences and the younger proprietor wanted to do table-turns and sell more wine. Even got a liquor license and started doing cocktails.

I don't know what the wine mark-ups are these days...haven't been there in more than ten years.

JDM