Dropping wine prices not yet in evidence at restaurants. (Up Front).

Forget about "Two Buck Chuck" at Trader's Joe's or a world glut of grapes that have forced prices down as much as 90 percent from a decade ago.

When it comes to restaurants, prices are pretty much staying put. An unscientific survey last week shows little or no downward pressure.

"Restaurants are getting much better prices on wine," said Ashley Burnette, director of marketing for Orange-based distributor Young's Market. "They may be passing some of the savings along by the glass, but I haven't seen any evidence they are lowering prices."

Janet Lowder, president of Restaurant Management Services, said restaurant wine prices have held steady in recent years -- despite her urgings to clients that they bring them down. "Some of these mark-ups are ridiculous," she said. "They would sell a lot more wine if it was far less expensive." Restaurateurs routinely mark up wines by 200 percent and sometimes higher.

The obvious explanation is that patrons are still willing to plunk down $30 or $40 for a bottle that could be had at a discount wine house for one-third the price. But restaurant owners insist other factors are at play.

One is perception. Lowering their prices, they say, would somehow alter the way customers view their wines: If prices drop, so too will their opinions.

"The wines being discounted on the retail market aren't the kind of wines we serve here," said Jenny Benzie, sommelier for Michael's in Santa Monica, which keeps 450 varieties of wine in stock. "We don't carry the lower tiers of wine. We don't carry Kendall-Jackson."

Gauging wine prices can sometimes be tricky, explains critic Merrill Schindler, because restaurants rarely stock the same labels. 'There are so many varieties that no two restaurants really carry the same wine' said Schindler, host of the KLSX-FM (97.1) radio show "Food Rules." "It can be like comparing apples and oranges."

Five years ago, the wine business was booming. Bottles priced at $100 or higher would routinely be snapped up as consumers -- emboldened by the soaring stock market -- reacted indifferently to rising prices. But a combination of over-planting and a burst of new wineries have resulted in an ocean of wine.

The economic slowdown was the last straw for the industry, which has resorted to rampant price slashing.

The wholesale price of bulk wine, which was as high as $10 a gallon in the early 1990s, had sunk to little more than $1 last year. Bulk wine has rebounded to $1.50 a gallon recently, but the global oversupply is expected to keep prices low for at least another three to five years, according to Michael Bonaccorsi, the former sommelier at Spago who opened a vineyard in Santa Barbara in 1999. His wines start at $40 a bottle in restaurants.

"I want the prestige, but wine, after all, is a beverage, and I want people to be able to afford to drink it," said Bonaccoris.

Christian Navarro, a partner at Wally's Wine & Spirits in West L.A., said prices might begin to fall as restaurateurs work through bottles they purchased when prices were higher.

When these establishments begin to replace inventories with the new, lower-priced fare, Navarro believes wine costs will decline proportionately. "It might take some time:' he said. "But it doesn't seem that far off"

Pressure from consumers may force that to happen sooner.

Instead of buying a $50 bottle of wine, patrons are increasingly bringing their wine from home -- despite steadily rising corkage fees that could reach $20. A few restaurants refuse to open a bottle brought in when the same label is offered on the wine list.

Price, said Bonaccorsi, has had some impact on restaurant drinking. As sommelier at Spago, he would routinely sell several bottles between $80 and $120. Now, he said patrons tend to stick to single bottles of between $20 and $30.

Navarro, for one, believes people aren't bringing their own wine just to save money. He said consumers are getting savvy to all the new labels available and they now know what they like and don't like.

While making a comparison may be difficult, Bonaccorsi said restaurant prices remain too high for the average consumer. "I'm not sure whether prices are coming down:' he said, "but I share the opinion that they seem to be way too high."