I took a weekend trip in November to the Poconos with my family and we found a cute little Vineyard & Winery Called Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard & Winery. The owners Randy and Tiffany decided in 2010 after visiting the West Coast to open elegant yet informal winery where they handcraft small batches wines. They also have two locations where they sell their wines called Regina Farms and The Crossing Premium Outlets. They also sell their wines in little shops around town.

I was surprised to find out that the wine tastings was only $5 per person which includes 5 wines. They have a large and detailed list of white, red sweet wines. I tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon which they called The Godfather. Randy who is the owner and also gave the tour, told us that they aged the wine in 15 gallon bourbon barrels. The Godfather was fullbodied wine. The wine is unfiltered and raw so the wine did have some Sediments in it which i did not like .

Raspberry Inspiration, Riesling, and Terroir

Discriptive wine menu. I marked the ones i tried.

The winery was full of unique vivification methods. They also have a wine that is put into a bourbon barrel then is place 5 feet under ground on the vineyard and is left there for 9 months. It was taken out on June 17. It is also raw and unfiltered.  We also tasted a Chardonnay. Randy told us how they aged the grapes in 40 year old scotch and tequila barrels. On the nose the wine had a fruity melon smell with hints of pineapple but on the palate it i tasted a lot like figs and mango with citrus.

The wine tasting room was beautiful. Its a large open space with a wrap around porch that faces the vineyard. In the tasting room they have live performances on the weekend and dinners from 6-9. The tasting room over looks the vineyard and the Christmas tree farm which is next door to the vineyard property . The weekend that i went they started the lighting of the vineyard which would be a great view while drinking wine. Although i didn’t get to stay long for the lighting of the vineyard or for the dinner they do have food trucks and vendors on the property.

View in tasting room

View of vines

As i mentioned before the owner of the vineyard ran the free tours. which took place at 2pm and 4pm. You can tell that he was very passionate about wine and had a great amount of knowledge. He explained viticulture and how he had played a major roll in each and every wine. Randy took us to this machine and showed us the bottling process. it had 8 filling heads it goes around in a circle and fills the bottles next it goes to the sipper which basically sucks out some of the wine to make sure it is exactly 750ml in each bottle. Then before it is corked it is hit with some nitrogen to stop any further oxidation from happening. The bottle is than corked and labeled.

Bottling machine

Over all i had a great experience at the Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard &Winery. Having the tour done by the owner made it a greater experience and made it fell more personal.

I brought 2 bottles and they gave us complimentary wine glasses

For my retail wine analysis I visited Cappy’s Warehouse Wines and Sprits located in Lynbrook, NY. I am very familiar with Cappy’s because I shop there often when buying alcohol in bulk for parties or events. Although I’ve been there multiple times I’ve never ventured over to the wine section of the store, which basically makes up 80% of the store. When I called to see about making an appointment to talk to a manager about my project, I was told that I can come in on October 14 on a Saturday morning.

This photo shows the view of the store. It gives warehouse vibes.

When I arrived at 11 the parking lot was chaotic and the store was packed. As far as the set up of Cappy’s it looks very much like a warehouse. When you first walk in they have grocery carts and trolleys for people buying large amounts. I was immediately greeted and pointed to the direction of the manager Dawn. She showed me around the store. The isles were separated by Countries/ Regions and then within each isle the wines were separated by the type of wine. While Dawn and I were discussing some of my interview questions she had to step away to help other shoppers. She introduced  me to one of the employees Marissa. Marissa asked me what type of wine did I like and I told her that that I liked sweet desert wines. She directed me to the in store tasting and told me that the they had wine of the week every week .She insured me that I would love the wine that they featured. The wine was called Bartenura Moscato from Italy. She was right I loved it and brought two bottles. Each bottle cost only 10.99. The wine had a sweet refreshing taste with hints of pear and melon.

This photo shows how the the wines are separated by region.

There also this cool thing called instant wine cooler. It looked like a water fountain. It chills wines 25 times faster than refrigerators. If you leave the bottle in for 3 minutes and it get cool, 5 minutes it gets cold and for 7 minutes it gets ice- cold.

Wine well get wines cool while you continue to shop.

By the end of the tour I had picked up some other goodies and the cashier told me about Cappy’s loyalty program. I signed up and saved 10% on the  spot. Every time I come in after points will be added to my account. Once I got 5,000 points I would receive $5 back to use in the store. Overall I had a pleasant time visiting Cappy’s Warehouse Wines and Sprits. The employees were knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful.

Country: Italy
Region: Lombardy
Grape Variety: Muscat Blanc
Vintage: 2015