Chamber Street Wines seen from outside

I visited Chamber Street Wines located at 148 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007 between Broadway & Greenwich St
TriBeCa. Though I don’t drink wine, this is the first time I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and actually visited a wine shop and I must say, it was quite an experience. Through the given list of choices of wine shops located across the five boroughs of New York, I chose this particular shop to visit because it had a warm ambience to it. The employees were very friendly and knowledgeble and it helped a lot especially because I was a tad bit nervous and they made me feel welcome. The price range is pretty reasonable and the employees provide customers with recommendations to fit well within their budget. The shop is known heavily for its selection of vintages, and also, has a great variety of wines that range from Piedmont reds to dry whites.

Before visiting, I took it upon myself to research the shop to know a few basic information. I researched about the founder and co-founder of Chamber Streets Wines whom are David Lillie and Jamie Wolf and what motivated them to open such an establishment. Once I arrived, I mentioned I was a student studying wine and would like to be assisted throughout my visit. First and foremost, once you enter the shop you can’t help but notice that the shop is very well organized and clean. A few of the questions I asked were, “How do you maintain inventory with such great selection of wines?”, “Can you direct me towards the wines you currently have on stock from France and inform me about each label associated with the bottle?”, “Do you have any Sparkling Wines on stock such as Moscato d’Asti?”, and “I have studied about wines throughout France, Germany, and Italy, can you mention another region popular for winemaking?” I felt very comfortable asking such questions because well, “I study wine.”

Overall, I was surprised with the outcome of my experience. I had a wonderful time and it was a great opportunity for me to visit a retail beverage shop because now I have a better outlook on how I will be perceiving wine from now on hereafter.

Variety of wines displayed for customers to view.

Wine from France (The Dupasquier vineyards located near Rhône Valley)

Sparkling Wine (Champagne)

Wine from Spain (Sade Rubor 2014)

For the retail shop analysis, I went to Grand wine liquor store which is located in Astoria on 31^{st Street}. the store is easily accessible as it is located right off the 30^th avenue station on the N and W train. I had the opportunity to speak to Richard who manages the store. he told me that his great grandfather opened the store in 1933, and it had been passed down to him. Having been born into the business it’s no surprise that Richard has great knowledge of wine. The family business is also proud of their Greek heritage, which one could notice from the large Greek flag hanging from the window and their assortment of Greek wines. Upon entering the store, the first thing I noticed was large banner that said “75 years of proudly serving Astoria”. I also noticed that the wines were arranged by country by large signs hanging from the ceiling, except for sparkling and sweet & fortified which had their own separate area. Richard further explained to me that they then sort the wines by type and grape variety.

One of the things I found interesting was that next to each section there is a wine map of that country. These maps are the same ones that can be found on Wine Folly, which we use to study. Their best-selling wine is Mionetto Prosecco Brut that comes from Italy. Italy also happens to be their best-selling country along with the USA. However, their most expensive wine is a red wine from Burgundy which is priced at $1300 for a 750ml bottle.  Although this wine is incredibly expensive the store does offer a vast amount of affordable wines with some even under $10.  One thing I liked about the store was their method of recommending wine to someone who is new it. Richard said that he would ask the person what they like to eat and then recommend a wine that pairs well with it. I thought this was a clever method and extremely helpful for someone like me who doesn’t know how to pair wine. The store also has great discounts such as 15% off on 3 bottles of wine or 20% off on 12 bottles or more. They even have a 15% senior citizen discount. Besides the grand variety and great discounts this store has to offer, they also hold wine tastings on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend because I am underage but once I turn 21 I will return for the wine tastings and discounts.

“Shelf Talker”
A few of the wines had descriptive labels such as this one. It provides the customer which information regarding the viticulture and the taste.

Map of Australia from Wine Folly

“Wine from Chile”
The producer is Frontera, and the vineyards where this wine produced is Concha y Toro in Chile. The grape variety is Merlot. The label on the back of the bottle describes its taste and offers food pairing suggestions.

“Wine from France’
This is a french wine which is 100% made from the grape variety Grenache. Although the label does not say it infront it is indicated on the back. It is a Rose and on the back it says to best enjoy it between 8 and 10 degrees.

“Sparkling Wine”
This wine is from California and is a Brut Rose or a Rose Champagne. However, because the wine is not produced in the champagne region of France it is labeled as Methode Champenoise. It’s alcohol content is 12% and the producer is Korbel.

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

After the end of the hard study this week, I visited two wine retail stores on Friday, the Astor and the Flatiron. I did some online research about both of them, but I will focus on Astor. Astor Wine & Spirits is a great place to purchase wines and to learn about wines. Because this store has a lot of categories of wines, especially for the French Wine lover. Astor is more focused on French wines, so they have the separate shelves of different regions in France. They also have wines from different countries. Such as Italy, Germany(doesn’t have an independent self), Spain, Cava, Greece, California, New York, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Argentina. By reading these “Shelf Talkers” you will learn some interesting facts about the country.

I like the way they organized the wines and provided a lot of information on the shelf because this place is so big, which means they won’t have enough staff available for all customer. And the customers can read and desire which wine they will like to purchase.

Except for the information tag of the wine, some of them will have “staff pick” next to it. This card explains to the customer why they personally recommend this wine.

I’m glad to have a chance to talk to Ms. Laura Atbashian, she is the wine buyer assistant, very friendly and knowledgeable. She showed me the best seller shelf which they put the wines that are popular.

Best Value Red Wine

Best Value White Wine

I asked Ms. Atbashian about how they store certain wines, she said the room temperature in their store should be kept at 65°F, which was the temperature for most of the wines. And they have a row of refrigerators for Japanese Sake and others. And the temperature control room which controls the temperature at 55°F for the expansive wines and the wines need to stay at the particular temperature.                       

In this temperature control room, you can find the high-quality wines, low sulfur and no sulfur wines included. Those wines that place on the wall are the most expensive wines in the store.

She also told me how to store the opened bottles, the most important thing is to keep the oxygen out and don’t leave the opened bottles of wines for more than 3 days. And then she showed me how they store the opened bottles for the guest tasting event.

Ms. Atbashian told me she developed her wine knowledge from the WSET course, it is a 10 weeks course to study wine which she could go to different countries to taste and learn about different wines. And she also enjoys to work in Astor and keeps developing her knowledge by tasting wines in their store.

These are some wines from the countries we haven’t learned.

Overall, I enjoyed this experience to visit Astor, it expanded my vision and knowledge about wines.

Miguelina Nunez

For this retail wine assignment, I visited Wine Legend retail store. This wine store is located Downtown Brooklyn. Some of the reasons I choose this place are the cozy atmosphere, the customer service, and the varieties of wine and other spirits that they have.

Wine Legend has a type of decoration that makes you feel comfortable to buy even though you are no sure which wine or other spirit you are looking for. This is the way I felt when I came in. The Property has big crystal windows with the logo of the store and some wines perfect for winter season. In front of the main entrance door they have a water fountain and lights of different colors that makes you relax. Inside the store they have a section for each type of beverage which make the store looks beautiful and organize.

Additionally, The Wine Legend retail store has a very helpful and friendly staff. I had the opportunity to speak with the manager. Jeffrey Davis is a very kind, he answered all my question without rush although it seems as a busy morning for him when I came in. He informed me that a lot of their customer are looking wines for special occasion but are not willing to pay too much for a bottle. This is one of the reason this wine store has wine bottles from $12 to thousands. The prices vary with the quality, vintage, and production of the wine that the customer is looking for.

Moreover, the varieties of wines in this store is huge comparing the size of the place. As I mention before, Wine Legend has a section for each region or part of the world that the wines come from. For instance, in the front they have all American wines, follow for Italian, dessert wines, a big section of European wine and other spirits.

Lastly, I would like to mention that I enjoy working in this assignment because I learned about the reason the wine store has so much demand for cheaper spirits, how the organization of their products matters and so many different type of wines that a retail store has to work with.

retail wine shop