Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, March 4, 2023

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 4, 2023 9 Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 4, 2023 9 
Peter Dills Knows 
GAS OR WINE ? 

Recently, I was the recipient of a question from reader Cruz Trevino 
of Sierra Madre. It appears that Cannon Drive(Beverly Hills) 
and their wine list may have migrated to a location near us. Cruz 
was at the Langham Hotel and enjoyed a glass of Taittinger Champagne 
($27), and he asked this writer to investigate how establishments 
come up with prices of wines by the glass. I dream of a day 
when a poor restaurant critic may soothe his many worries with 
an exceptional glass of wine and not be required to carry a bag of 
gold dust as payment. Like the majority of us, Cruz strikes me as a 
regular consumer of wine; a person who is not cheap but searches 
for value when he is dining out. I must admit I, too, like the gentle 
view from the Tap Room over looking the 50 acres of greenery. 

I reached out to my many sources in the industry and this is what 
I found out. Ian Blackburn, founder of Learnaboutwine.com, 
said, “That ($27) is fairly common (really?) for a good glass of 
wine and the math works out to ($135) for the full bottle at that 
price per glass.” While many chain restaurants use a Libby wine glass which costs a couple of 
bucks, upscale restaurants use a higher quality glass, so you can guess that the cost of the glass 
might be just a bit lower than what they paid for the entire bottle. My next call was to Randy, 
who owns the Domenico’s restaurant on Washington in Pasadena. He tells me that his wine 
purveyors suggest to "tripling the cost of the bottle”. This means if you see a bottle for $30 at 
your favorite restaurant, by this rule of thumb, they paid $10 for it.” 


Ok, so how about corkage fees? Most 
restaurants charge $4-$15 for this service 
because, yes, they still have to 
open your bottle and clean the glasses. 
I find it that is unacceptable to bring 
in a bottle of wine that is already listed 
on the restaurant’s menu. If it is an 
owner-occupied restaurant, often it is 
a good gesture to let the owner sample 
the wine that you have brought in. 
Who picks the wine? Erudite wine 
broker Eddie Ramirez offers this insightful 
advice, “Always have the wine 
list when ordering, and I do not recommend 
asking the servers for a wine 
recommendation unless you do not 
have any issues with the price.” My 
suggestion to Cruz and my readers is 
it to never blindly let the server choose 
the wine for you and be careful on the 
“ House Wine” I stayed at a resort in 
South Laguna just a few years ago and 
my bill was $110!!
I hope this helps. I learned something as well. Follow me on Tic Toc and Instagram 


177 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 550, Pasadena, California 91105 
(626) 792-2228 | cliffordswan.com 
Providing Objective and Experienced 
Investment Counsel to Financially 
Successful Families since 1915 
AS EMERGENCY ORDERS END, LIFESAVING 
COVID-19 TOOLS REMAIN 
READILY ACCESSIBLE THROUGHOUT 
LOS ANGELES COUNTY 

-1,028 New Positive Cases and 16 New 
Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los AngelesCounty 

With recent decisions to end federal, state and local emergency orders related to COVID-19, 
Los Angeles County residents are reminded to continue taking sensible steps to protect 
themselves and others against severe illness and help keep hospitalization and death rates 
low. 

During this new phase, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public 
Health) is committed to ensuring easy access to free lifesaving preventative services, including 
testing, vaccinations and boosters, and treatment. 

One of the most effective ways to prevent severe illness is to get the updated bivalent booster, 
which has been shown to offer boosted individuals increased protection against hospitalizations 
and deaths when compared to individuals who were vaccinated but had not received 
the updated booster. 

For the 30-day period ending Feb. 14, vaccinated people in Los Angeles County who had 
not received the bivalent booster, formulated to protect against Omicron strains, were 1.5 
times more likely to be hospitalized compared to people who has received the updated bivalent 
booster. When compared to those who had received the bivalent booster, unvaccinated 
people were five times more likely to be hospitalized. 

When looking at COVID-19 deaths based on vaccination status, for the 30-day period ending 
Feb. 7, unvaccinated Los Angeles County residents were over six times more likely to die 
compared to people who had received the bivalent booster. People who had been vaccinated 
against COVID-19, yet not received the updated bivalent booster, were more than 1.5 times 
more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection than those who were boosted. 

For the seventh consecutive week, Los Angeles County remains in the U.S. Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Low COVID-19 Community Level. This includes a 
7-day case rate of 62 new cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from the 69 new cases per100,000 people a week prior. The 7-day total for new COVID-19 hospital admissions per100,000 people is currently 6.9, stable from the 7.0 reported the week before. And the 7-dayaverage of the proportion of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is 3.8%,
similar to the 3.9% the week prior. 

To keep the community in the Low COVID-19 Level, residents, workers and businesses are 
asked to continue to take sensible steps to protect themselves and those most vulnerable. 
This includes staying up-to-date on vaccines and boosters, testing before gatherings, seeking 
therapeutics when a COVID-19 infection is confirmed, and staying home when sick. 

Find a location to get boosted at VaccinateLACounty.com, VacunateLosAngeles.com (en 
español). Telehealth services to connect residents to COVID-19 vaccinations, boosters and 
medication may be accessed by calling 833-540-0473, 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.; 7 days a week. 

“I would like to extend my deepest sympathies and wishes of comfort to those who have lost 
a loved one to COVID-19,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los 
Angeles County Department of Public Health. “At Public Health, we are acutely aware that 
the pandemic is not over and that there are people within our county who continue to feel 
the hardships of COVID-19 every day. As we enter this new phase, residents of Los Angeles 
County are reminded that there is no change in their access to lifesaving tools. We will work 
with federal and state officials in the coming weeks and months to make sure this remains 
true. Vaccines, therapeutics and testing are the resources that got us to this place where there 
is less severe illness from COVID, and this is where we hope to stay.” 

Today, Public Health reported 16 additional deaths and 1,028 new positive cases. To date, 
the total number of deaths in L.A. County is 35,720. There are 643 people with COVID-19 
currently hospitalized. 

A wide range of data and dashboards on COVID-19 from the Los Angeles County Department 
of Public Health are available on the Public Health website at http://www.publichealth.
lacounty.go 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 
Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com