THE WINE LIST

A few weeks after Cha Cha Cha Encino opened, the restaurant broke with a tradition I have long opposed: high markups on currently available wines.

Restaurants often price their wines by a formula--a flat multiple of the wholesale price before the discount. Most restaurants charge three times cost, so a bottle of wine that may sell for $15 on the retail shelf, and that the retailer buys for $10, often costs $30 on the wine list.

These days, almost any quantity buyer gets a discount, but few restaurants pass these on to their customers. So I was disappointed, though not really surprised, to find Cha Cha Cha’s prices running three times wholesale. Less than a week later, though, the prices on the list had been dropped by as much as $9 a bottle.

One of the better white wines for the spicy dishes is 1990 Hop Kiln Gewurztraminer, $17, a bargain (it had been $19). Another is 1990 Trefethen White Riesling, $16, an even better bargain, down from $18. Red wines that would work with the cuisine include 1990 Saintsbury Garnet, $17, and 1986 Marques de Riscal Rioja, $17.

Prices for wines by the glass were not lowered, so they don’t represent as good a value as the bottles.