Navigating a wine list can be a daunting experience. When the options exceed 600, as is the case at Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria, the experience can be overwhelming. Many factors go into curating a wine list and one of the most important is pricing. Restaurants markup wine at roughly 3 times what they pay for it. If a wine is purchased at $20 per bottle, the restaurant will charge $60. In retail, wines are marked up at one and a half times the purchase price. The same $20 bottle would retail for $30. There are certainly variations to the rule, but this markup structure is common ground here in the city.
When Otto opened in 2003, wine was marked up according to prices that were in place that year. A 1997 Barolo may have cost the restaurant $40 in 2003, so it's priced on the list at $120. Ten years later, that same bottle of Barolo is likely to go for $60; which would have it at $180 on a list that's being put together today. This situation occurs all over Otto's wine list and it makes for some incredible values, you just have to know where to look. As Otto approaches its ten-year anniversary, we decided to take a look at their decade old wine list and come up with a road map for you.
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Monday, November 19, 2012 at 11:30AM 
Otto Enoteca is hosting a benefit tonight for Babbo executive chef Frank Langello, who lost his Staten Island home in Hurricane Sandy three weeks ago. The event runs from 5:30pm - 8:00pm and includes antipasti, pizza, pasta, wine, and beer. There is a $95 general admission and a $195 admission that includes the restaurant's two egg pizzas: Pane Frattau and White Truffle Pizza. Employees in the Batali & Bastianich Restaurant Group are invited to attend for $25. Tickets are available here.