Grand Wine and Liquor

For my Retail Wine Shop after looking at my options from Queens I had decided to go to Grand Wine and Liquor store. I went straight from college to this wine store and the trip was easy and commute was only 20mins away from the college. Once I got off the subway the wine store was right across the street and it was very easy to fine. Only thing that was weird was I had to look at the wine store twice because just to make sure it’s was a wine store not some clothing store or something different. From the outside it would be difficult for someone to tell it was a liquor or even a wine store if they didn’t have a sign. Seeing just the windows from far, it could be confused for something else. After I entered the wine store, the store was huge and had a lot of options for wine. As I walked in the employee greeted me with a smile, and was willing to help me with any questions I had. So I walked around the wine store and checked out all the wine to see where everything was placed. After I walked around I approached the employee that was working there, I asked may I please speak to a manager on duty at the moment. The manger on duty was Jamie; she walked out, she greeted me with not so happy look on her face but she was willing to help me with all my questions I had. She was surprised that I just walked in to talk to her without emailing her or giving her a heads up. After all of that she gave me 5-10minutes of her time. I first asked her was how long has this store been opened up for? She answers by replying Jack Battipaglia, longtime owner who opened up this shop seventy-five years ago, it is still up and running. Jack had a huge heart for the community and touched the lives of many people in the community. Jack lived his life with full of love, laughter, and good; cherishing and placing family above all. After speaking to the manager Jamie, she had answered my questions and then walked over to show me all the wines in the store.

Wine #1 ” Shelf Talker”

Wine #1- “Shelf Talker” Bodegas Lan Rioja Crianza- Spain Price $14.99 Intense red cherry color. Aromas of red fruits, strawberry and cranberry framed by fine nuances of vanilla and toffee. Silky and structured on the palate, it has a long lasting and satisfying finish to wine.

Wine #2- Red From Spain- Bodegas Ego Infinito

Wine #2 Red from Spain- Bodegas Ego Infinito

Intense and dark cherry red color with purple edges. High layer. Clean and bright. Dense tear that lightly dyes the glass.

Wine #3- Coppiere Prosecco Italy

Wine #3- Coppiere Prosecco Extra Dry- Italy 

Delicate, persistent bubbles. Fresh, intense, aromatic bouquet on the nose. On the palate it is mouth filling , with rich flavors of white stone fruit.

Wine #4- Red Wine (Region you did not know made wine.) Lanterna- Plava Mali Dalmatia

Wine #4- Red Wine (Region you did not know made wine.)

This wine is from Croatia because a lot of their customers

are greek and eastern european in the neighborhood which love to

buy this of wine.

Picture of the Store

I started my trip to the Chambers Street Wines store which is located at 148 Chambers Street. When I walked into the store, it was pretty shiny by my first impression. I could see each bottle of wine was twinkling in front of my eyes, and it caught all my attention. I was greeted by the employees as soon as I walked into the store. I told them the purpose of why I came there and asked them if I had the permission to take photographs in the store. They kindly said yes and let me ask them if I had any questions.The store was surrounded by different types of wines. The categories were classified by different countries and regions, and each category of wine had a map indicating its location which told me what country and region the wine was from. I found out that was a good way to let the customers know about where each of the wines was from by looking at the map. When I was looking for the shelf talker, I found out there were only a few shelf talkers for some particular wines. For the other wines, it only had the name, region and the price on the label, and there were not many descriptions. However, if you ask the staff, they are all knowledgeable to tell you about each of the wines. Because this was my first time coming to a wine retail store, many things were not familiar to me. Also,a lot of wines were placed around the corner with no labels. I think it was because they didn’t have enough space for stocking the wines. It could be one of the weaknesses of the store. I asked one of the employees for a red wine which was from Spain. He immediately recommended the Torremilanos 16 for me, which is the most popular one in the store. The price was relatively cheap which many people could afford. He also helped me to find the wines which I needed for photographs. He patiently described them for me. After all, with all my appreciation, I brought a bottle of wine which was Weingut Knauss “Pur” Wurttemberg Trollinger 2017 from the store. It tasted very fruity, and the price was kind of low.

Overall, I think this wine retail store was very interesting. The staff were all well educated and knowledgeable. They answered every question that I asked. Also, they made many wine suggestions for me, depending on my taste. I would visit it again if I have another chance.

Montecastrillo Ribera Del Duero – 2016 This is a red wine from Spain with delicious red fruit flavors, and it’s a great wine for burgers.

Casa Coste Piane 2013 Prosecco It’s a sparkling wine which is from Italy. It tastes like dry lemonade with hints of flowers and a refreshing bead.

It’s the shelf talker of Knauss 2017 Württemberg Trollinger Pure. This wine is from Germany, it tastes dry and fruity; also, the wine itself is pretty light.

2013 Cantine Madonna delle Grazie Bauccio Aglianico del Vulture
This wine is from basilicata of Italy. A region which I never heard of it before.

Tannat red wine from Uruguay, a region I did not know makes wine

Sparkling wine from Tasmania, Australia. Not only did I just recently learned that Australia makes wine, but that they make sparkling also!

Sparkling from Italy

Red (Garnacha and Carinena) from Priorat, Spain

Shelf talkers includes everything from name of wine, region, grape, tasting, and pairings

Located in Long Island City, Hunters Point wine and spirits is the perfect mix of the friendly neighborhood liquor store and a knowledgable wine provider.

Walking into the store, you are greeted by the two sales person on the left, where the checkout counter is located. All the liquor is located behind the register, whereas everything else is completely wine. The first room where you first enter has a few selection from different regions presents on the shelf. A small tunnel leads to the room in the back, which is domed and gives off a nice medieval cellar vibe. There is a sink and a station for sampling located in the back also. All of the wine on the shelves are incased in their own wooden section for each bottle, preventing other bottles from being mixed behind one another on top of the clean, organized wooden interior design. Each of the regions are labeled with a gold plaque on the very top of the shelf, and majority of the wine consists of its own “shelf-talker.”

The shop is very orientated towards serving the customer base of the surrounding neighborhood. Marko, one of the sales associate, answered any questions that I presented, and was extremely knowledgable about the wine and the process behind it’s vinification. Unable to make a trip to a wine shop without bringing home some wine, I asked Marko to suggest both a red and white with specific qualities such as a low acidic, floral white and a low tannins medium bodied red. He was able to suggest many different bottles according to my requests, but also narrow things down with contributions based on his experience. Marko was also even able to recommend certain wine due to the way it was made, such as a red that the grapes were let out to sun dry, creating more densely packed flavors and aromas. When it came to finally deciding which white, he ultimately pushed a certain bottle that one of his regular’s daughter constantly buys because of her dislike towards acidity. It just so happens that the regular was also present in the store, checking out at the counter, in which one of the bottles was the very same one he was recommending. When checking out, Marko requested if I would like to leave my name to create an account, this way my purchase history is on file if I would ever need to pull up a purchase that I would like to repeat. One can definitely tell that Marko not only knew his wine, but also the clients that comes into the shop.

Hunters Point Wine and liquor shop as a whole has many strong points. The store is welcoming, organized nicely and appealing to the eye and the senses. They offer a nice variety where one can explore the different wines available and have some tastings to help with the decision making process. Many of the selection are different from the generic ones offered at some other local wine shops (i.e. yellowtail, barefoot, etc…), which is great for any drinkers who are open to explore new options or want to be surprised. Almost half of the wine comes with a shelf talker, which helps non-experienced and even experienced wine drinkers on what to expect within the bottle. Wines are categorized based on region, and offered in all sorts of price ranges. The only thing that could be improved on would be the organization between the red and the whites. Usually being one of the first categories a guest uses to refine the type of wine they would like to purchase, having to look at all the bottles to locate either a red or white wine amongst regions does take some time and can cause people to miss some bottles from the constant eye scanning. Having reds with the reds and whites with the whites within a region helps a big deal. Although understandable that it could take some rearranging with change in inventory, it should be taken into consideration. Overall, the wine shop was a pleasant experience and makes me wish I lived in the area so I can constantly visit the shop to bring home a new bottle to explore every so often.

The retail beverage shop I had decided to go, and visit was the Astor Wine and Spirits, located on 399 Lafayette street. Upon arriving at the store, the outside ambiance blended really well with the other buildings in the area, but also made its presence with a themed window display of wines as well as signs and a flag to allow the location to pop out. Upon entering the store, I felt like I had entered a supermarket made specifically for wines, seeing things that a supermarket normally had such as aisles and signs showing what were in the aisles, a customer checkout towards the exit and a customer service area where they held their tastings and information desk as well as a clearance section. Something I found interesting about the store was that alongside store tastings they also worked with Astor Sector located right above their store in order to teach people about wines and also held more wine tastings tailored towards wine enthusiasts.

For their wine set up, each country was properly labeled with the country in big overhanging signs and then individual signs were at the top of each shelf that held the wine from that region. Each wine had its own shelf talker and there was a separate storage area which held wines that needed to be stored in a colder temperature. Despite this overall, I felt that you needed to know a little bit about wine just to navigate the store where as the selection got more specific, it became more and more overwhelming even with the shelf talkers present near each wine bottle. However, their set up also has some benefits with the addition of things like staff picks and tons of staff members to help out their customers as well as a two information desks where customers can try and find something that fits their tastes.

I was lucky enough to interview one of their employees there during a busy time for them, setting up for their upcoming Italian wine tasting and sale. Jose, the associate we interviewed handled a lot of the guest relations and provided each guest with the information they needed to navigate and find what they were looking for within the store and provided me with a brief overview of how they ran their store.  He explained that their store organized their wines by country then region and then grape variety. These wines came from one of their 25 state distributors who only deal with business in New York state and talked about how they try not to carry bigger name brands such as Yellow Tail, but rather try and support local and smaller producers if they can. Due to this, they carry some unique wines such as the Mia Prosecco their best seller, but also carry some of the staple big-name brands still such as the Veuve Clicquot Brut as it is something that is always requested. Through buying wines and creating relationships with local and smaller producers, Jose explained that they are able to provide both the classic staples that are always requested but can also provide alternatives from these smaller producers to sell more inexpensive and affordable wines for people to enjoy and maybe even buy again. For the most part he explained that over 70% of their inventory is from a local or smaller producer while the other 30% is comprised of the classic known brands and wines. Finally, he explained about their mailing list and class calendar which they try to promote in order to try and educate more and more people about the beauty of wine

Astor Wine and Spirits-Outside of Astor Wine and Spirits located on 399 Lafayette Street.

Shelf Talker-This shelf talker describes and shows one of the best sellers at Astor Wine and Spirits called Mia Prosecco NV made from Glera grapes from Veneto, Italy.

Red Wine from Spain- The Friend and Farmer Red Wine from Spain is made from using a black grape called the Tempranillo grape and is great paired with carne asada and pulled pork.

Sparkling Wine not from France- This sparkling Rose wine from Austria, Sparkling Rose, Erdenlied NV is made from Zweigelt grape and contains a lot of red berry flavors matched with dry and delicate bubbles.

Red wine- The Niepoort Rotulo Tinto, Dao 2016 is a red wine from Portugal, a region I did not know made wine and is made from a Portugese red wine blend which is famous in their port wines. The wine is similar to that of a Beaujolais red wine made with the Gamay grape and pairs well with cheese.

Red Wine- The Chateau Musar Rogue 2001 is red wine from Lebanon, another region which I didn’t know produced wines and is made with a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsaut and is one of Lebanon’s famous full bodied wines.

For my Retail Beverage Shop visit, I went to Astor Wine and Spirits and Union Square wine.  Both retail stores had similarities as well as differences. Union Square wine was my first wine store visit, I was extremely excited because now that I study wine and have the knowledge of what to look for it makes it much more interesting. USW was a medium size store where they had a glass door entrance with their logo in red. When I entered there was a lady at the information desk who greeted me and asked how can she help. I told her the purpose for my visit and I proceeded asking how is the layout of the store, is it by region or by grape variety.  I was then advised to have a look around and the wines will be categorized by regions. The wine bottles were displayed by categories. They were set up with the high price wines at the top and the inexpensive wines at the bottom. They also had a Japanese wine section called Fukushima. USW carries canned, bottled and boxed package wine. They did not have recommended wines nor “shelf talker” however they had a featured section. It was very slow because there was only one other customer beside myself. Overall, I found USW to be simple and did not have a lot to offer such as tasting menus. Since I did not like my experience at USW a fellow HMGT student recommended me to Astor Wines and Spirits. When I walked in Astor Wines and Spirits, it felt like a supermarket because there were many signs, shopping carts, cashiers, and refrigerated areas. They sell other products such as wine openers, ice trays and wine bags for storage and gifting. I spoke to a friendly employee and asked her about their delivery services. I was curious about the procedures for ordering online because they had a delivery section. There is no need for a store visit when you can shop online. That’s if you study wine of course. The tasting area caught my attention because they had a calendar to inform their customers with upcoming tasting events. With wine tasting it allows guests to sample and choose their favorites, rather than making a blind purchase not knowing what to expect. I really enjoyed my experience at Astor Wines and Spirits because of the selection of wines from regions such as France, Italy and Spain.

Union Square Wines’ display of canned wines. The wine in the picture is a California Pinot Noir Rose.

Bandit wines in carton bottles. The blue boxes are Merlot and the yellow is Pinot Grigio from California. These wines would be paired well with salmon.

This is a shelf talker at Astor Wines and Spirits.

Rebel Red wine from Portugal made out of Baga grapes. 2016 Vintage

Cava Sparkling wine from Spain

Astor Wines & Spirits

I have visited Astor Wines & Spirits which is located in neighborhood of a lots of Italian restaurants. This shop is so organized and set up in the way made easier for customer to find their desire wine.
Each of every section had a sign on top, explaining what kind of region of wine, and they were separated by types of wine (red, white, sparkling and etc…). Not only that, they have Champagne section, Half bottle, Dessert wine, and a clearance section, which wines are on the sale.

Wine section of for sale

And when you take a closer look in to each sections of wine, there is a little note call “staff pick” which are written by staff of the shop, recommending their favorite wine for customers. Which I felt like a guest interaction for those who are not sure what to buy.

Recommendation by staff, explains in detail why customer should choose this wine

Walking around the shop, it was little difficult to find and have any staff to ask question because they were preparing for an event coming up (they plan out a lot of events of all different categories of wine). But one of the most experienced staff was nice enough to walk to me, and spend more than 20 minute for me to answer my question.

I wanted to know about their marketing strategies. In order to keep large wine shop, there must be efficient way to make customers comeback. He have explained to me, that the most important strategy is to build up a good relationship with producers and vendors. Because of that strong relationship, they could always have high quality of wines, and it rarely happens for them to return a bottles of wine.
Next step is relationship with guest. Like I have mentioned before, they a lot of events by different categories of wine. For example, one day, there will be more southern French wines display and will be on sale. It attracts customer to focus in certain wine, and become a fan of it.
They also send out email to their every customers about new wines, on sale wines, and the wines they customers requested for or a repeatedly bought wine.

Lastly, he wanted people to know, how so many great quality of wines are being underestimated because of popularity of producer. Small producers of wines are mostly made by hand with so much of effort, but because of small amounts of wines are produced, they don’t get so popular.

Shelf talker

Sparkling wine from California

La Banda del Argilico, Micro Wines 2017 Rueda, Spain

Hungary wines which are not common