For my retail store assignment I chose to visit Oak & Barrel at 235 East 57th Street, between 2nd and 3rd avenue. I chose this store after tasting Muscat de Beaumes de Venise in class one day. I enjoyed this wine so much after our tasting, I decided to find it in store here in NYC. Oak & Barrel seemed to be the only store in the city that sold this particular dessert wine in a half-size bottle for $11.99. As soon as I walked into Oak & Barrel, I was very impressed by their wine setup and how many different types of wine they sold from countries all over the world. Every country had its own section and was divided by reds, whites, and rosés.

In the window of the store, they had an impressive display of rosé wines that all had different hues of bright pinks and orange. Another characteristic the store had were signs to help customers pair their wines with different types of food. This is extremely helpful for a person like myself who has never drank wine until being part of Professor Goodlad’s class, and who in all honesty isn’t sure what type of wine should be paired with different meats or cheeses. These signs, along with the knowledge I’ve acquired in class, would be more than helpful to me now if I were to buy wine regularly.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Scott, who was the Sommelier for Oak & Barrel, and was quite busy with a wine tasting with a seller. Upon speaking to him, I learned that the retail store holds wine tastings everyday from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm. I asked him what inspired him to be a Sommelier, he kindly replied working in restaurants all his life. He shared with me that he’d started as a bus boy and just developed a passion for wine and its history. I also asked what he felt were his customers’ favorite dessert wine – because Muscat de Beaumes de Venise happened to be mine, and the exact reason I chose this retail store. Coincidentally, his most popular dessert wine was Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, while their most popular wine in store were the American brands. Additionally, I asked Scott what he feels his customers prefer between French and Italian wine for dinner, he responded the sales are even between the two countries.

After our brief conversation about wine and his inspiration to be a Sommelier, I walked around the store and picked up on small details that enhanced my experience as a first time wine store walk-in. All of their most popular wines had small descriptive labels in front of them listing the fruits incorporated in the wine, and what aromas you’ll get upon tasting it. Most of the wine ranged from a $9.00 – $50.00 price point and were all full-sized bottles. Given the opportunity, I would absolutely go back to Oak & Barrel and purchase a couple of bottles of wine. But first, I’d like to learn about other countries and regions and the wonderful wine they have to offer.

These white wine signs were on the other side of the red wine signs to help customers choose their wines.

Sone other whites we haven’t studied yet that go well with seafood

Some regions we have not studied, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina

Other regions we have not studied, South Africa and Greece