While wine lovers are excited to have the option of bringing a bottle to their favourite restaurant, B.C.’s new corkage fees are being met with mixed reaction from restaurateurs.

Mid-range restaurants and burger joints see the BYOB rules as a good way to bring in new business, but many fine dining establishments are furious.

Sommalier Stephen Bonner, who blogs about the newly introduced B.C. corkage fees, says the new rules are causing confusion for restaurants and customers alike.

With fees ranging from $2 a bottle all the way up to $60, some restaurants are opting out altogether, and consumers aren’t sure what’s allowed.

"People just thought carte blanche they could bring a bottle to any restaurant, and it's actually a voluntary program. So that's why I set up a blog so they could see which restaurants are offering it,” he told CTV’s Steele on Your Side.

Cioppino owner Pino Posteraro isn’t allowing customers to bring their own wine into his fine dining establishment.

Since opening 14 years ago, he’s built up a $3 million wine cellar at his own expense, and says allowing his well-heeled clientele to bring their own bottles in would bankrupt him.

"Lots of these customers, they do have very good cellars at home. If everybody brings their own wine -- I will be out of business,” he said.

Posteraro says the corkage fee just wouldn't be enough to cover his bi-weekly staff payroll of $44,000, plus the monthly rent on his Yaletown restaurant of $55,000.

He said restaurants were not adequately consulted with before the government announcement last month.

But Verace Pizzaria and Enoteca on Keefer Street in Gastown has a completely different view of the new rules.

Verace lets people bring their own wine in for free on Wine Wednesdays and charges $10 the rest of the week.

Owner Roberta King-Lee says every day a bottle of wine that sits on her shelf unopened costs her money – and hurts their bottom line.

"It affects my cash flow,” she said.

"For $10 all we're doing is opening a bottle of wine and dirtying a couple of glasses. I don't have to buy the inventory. I don't have to hold the inventory."

King-Lee said she modeled her price point against cities like San Francisco that suggests casual restaurants with a wine selection under 20 bottles should charge around $10. She said it’s understandable that restaurants with more overhead, and a sommelier, would charge more.

When it comes to corkage fees, don't assume all restaurants allow you to bring your own bottle. Bonner suggests calling ahead first to save yourself the trouble, and potential embarrassment.

There is no cap on how much restaurants can charge for corkage fees because it’s a voluntary program.

Bottles of wine brought into restaurants must be unopened. Customers can re-cork and take home unfinished bottles of vino.

Click here to check out Stephen Bonner’s corkage blog

Have your say: Would you bring a bottle of wine into a restaurant?