Decanter Don’t fear second cheapest wine on the menu, says study The second cheapest bottle of wine on a restaurant list isn't always the worst value option, according to newly published research that has claimed to dispel an ‘urban myth’. May 4, 2021 Study dispels 'myth' that second cheapest wine on a restaurant list is a 'rip-off' Credit: Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash It’s not true that the second cheapest wine on a restaurant list always carries a bigger price mark-up versus other bottles on the menu, suggests new research. Experts at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Sussex business school analysed hundreds of wine lists at London restaurants and found no evidence of the ‘rip-off’ theory.