So for my wine retail store project I chose to go to Pinnacle Wine and Liquor ware house located at 114 Ditmas Ave. Previously known as Dynasty Wine and Liquor warehouse, this place is located conveniently right of the F train line at the Ditmas Ave stop, very easy to get to on my way home from school. Upon walking into the store I automatically saw how big it was and how much of a variety they had when it came to wine. The store is divided into isles by red wines from different countries for the most part.

Some of their white wines and how they keep them.

To see their white wine selection, you can walk over to the refrigerated isle or you can also find some on the shelves as well. I noticed that even though all the wines are facing label in the front and the price tag on the shelf, that there are no “shelf talkers” no descriptions on any of the regions or wines that they have.

The Italian wine isle. Top shelves are more expensive and bottle shelves are cheaper.

They had wines varying from France, Italy, Germany, Israel and even Chile.

I spoke to the girl that works there about the various wines they have and how they keep most of them and she said that all of their wine is either kept on the shelves, the fridges or in the basement for extra storage. In my opinion, having the overstock in the basement isn’t a very smart idea because not all wines keep well for long and having too much of those wines and not selling them fast enough can cause them to lose inventory. I also asked her what the most expensive wine that they cary is and she said it is a $210 bottle of a 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Padis Vineyard in Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley.

Most expensive bottle of wine they have.: $210 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon.

To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed. I thought that with the amount of wine that they sell from various countries that they would have a an older vintage bottle from France or Italy, but the best they had was from California. Something that I did find pretty cool was that they had wines that were made out of other fruit like passionfruit from Israel and I’ve tried these before and they were delicious. 

Their selection of the Rose, not too large.

They also have a bunch of Rose on display towards the front but a small variety. Overall this place had a good amount of wine some that I even recognized from class and Was so excited to actually know some of them and be able to have a conversation about wine which up until this class I was completely clueless about. This experience was pretty cool, having some of the knowledge that I have now. 

Long’s Wines and Liquors is a wine retail store located 79^th street 5^th avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. According to my experience and the reputation of the retail store, I believe that they will be able to provide answers for my inquiries. Another reason of choosing this retail store is that they draw passenger attention with free wine tasting on Fridays and well-designed display window, which gets changed by seasons and holiday.

There were three employees working at that moment Andrew was the employee with most experience, and other two employees were fairly new. However, the 7 months and 2 months of experienced employees, Greg and Coleen, helped me answering most of my questions.

I planned out three questions before I visited the retail shop. The first question is how they suggest wine to their customers. Greg’s answer was little different from what I expected. I expected the suggestions were made based on grape varieties or regions. Their answers were more realistic. According to Greg, he asks about fruit flavor and sweetness. Depending on type of fruit, such as lemon black berries, plums, or citric, he then suggests grape variety. The range of price for these suggestions is between $12 and $25.

The second question was about the displays. I wanted to know why the structure of the display designed this way. As I was walking in, I saw American wines first then all other wines from Europe. Andrew was able to answer this question. The front half of the store was wines of new world, and the back half of the store was wines of old world. Greg told me his opinion on top of the fact that Andrew told me. Because both employees and customers can associate and read the descriptions better with the American wines and the word ‘New’ sounded it belongs in front, American wines were the first section people would walk into. Sections for some regions were interesting set up the retail store. Greek wines had its own section based on Greek population in the neighborhood. Beside from Greece, many different interesting regions such as Israel, New Zealand or Australia had smaller sections.

The last question was about the customers. I have been taking longer time choosing a wine now because I know more than before I took the class. I asked if the customers they have are educated wine consumers. Roughly about 70% of their customers appeared to be educated wine consumers according to the employees. However, they seemed to be unsure when I asked if their guests will notice the difference if they suggest same grape variety from two very different location.

The retail store visit could have been much better if there is a person who is really in charge of everything. I picked Friday to visit them since they have wine tasting. I have assumed a manager would supervise on the special day like wine tasting day. Although Long’s Wines and Liquors is doing great on training the new employees, they can definitely improve on selecting motivated swift manager. Throughout the visit, Andrew seemed the least motivated employee. Greg has less knowledge about wine because this is first job dealing with wines, he said, but he seems highly motivated and has knowledge about liquors and beers. Overall, I think the retail store keeps everything neat and on point. I would still go shop at this retail store over other wine retailing stores in the neighborhood.

I went to Astor Wines and Spirits for the retail project. Its located at, 399 Lafayette St, New York,  just around the shopping areas in SoHo. It was very easy to find the location, it was not far from the train station at all either which is always a plus, they also had a specific wine tasting at the time which was free also, it was from 5pm – 8pm i believe that day. Walking into the store i did not expect it to be so big and organized It felt good walking inside, it almost seemed like i was at a supermarket but for wines and alcohol. Most of the wines were located in sections of regions if not the countries that produces the wines. There were so many sections to look at, the French aisle had all the important regions like Rhone, Loire, Burgundy as well as other countries like Italy. It was a great experience to recognize so many regions, because i study wine. Most of the wine sections had shelf talkers hanging above the bottles, they were descriptive about the type of wine the region focuses on, for example if they are dry, red, the dominant grape variety, what to expect on your palate and a little positive line about the quality to basically sell the wine. They even include a picture and/or description of where the region is located which makes it very helpful for those like me that study wine. Doing research, on their website you can actually have a full google tour of the store as well, i strongly recommend it, if you are planning on going but want to check out the store online.

I also found myself exploring the unknown and looking at the South American wines, wines from Spain and even Sake. It was interesting because i saw countries that i wouldn’t think to produce wines like Australia. Looking at the price ranges of the store most wines were around $13 – $30, some wines from more important regions like Burgundy had wines for around $30 to $60 on the shelf. I saw wines that were new from Portugal, Chile and Spain, they did not cost much either, i wondered if they were just table wines or experimenting with new producers. While walking around I asked an employee that was very friendly and helpful some questions. I asked if they had any very luxury wines that are not available on the shelf, which he replied with a “yes” and pointed at a sealed room on the left side of the store and told me that they have very expensive bottles and high quality mixed wines there. He said they can range from $75 – $100 to thousands depending on the vintage or and producer, like wines from a well know high quality grand cru, some are not presented to the public either unless is asked for. I also ask if they make orders for customers if they want a specific wine that is not in stock, and they definitely do he said. he informed me that they do delivery and pick ups at the store as well. I had a wonderful experience coming to Astor, i even bought a Riesling wine. The only drawback was just the fact that there ware so many options and vast variety of wines and other beverages, it can be difficult to find something to buy unless is something specific that you’ll want, but the employees are very helpful and knowledgeable so they can help.

Argentinean wine from the South American Wines, Malbec and Cabernet Saugvinon dominant.

Burgundy was my favorite French Region, the shelf talker gives the a great description of the region.

French Sparkling Wines made just outside the Champagne region, referred as a “Cremant”

New Portuguese wines, Fernao Pires, Casa De Pacos and Coventual Portalegre 2014.

Located in the Bronx’s “Little Italy”, at 2355 Arthur Avenue Bronx, NY 10458, La Cantina Wine and Liquor has been the been providing their excellent service and expert knowledge to the Bronx for 20 years. La Cantina provides wine, liquor and spirits from various countries and regions, prices ranging from $5.99 to $700 a bottle. They are surrounded by Italian bread shops, seafood, produce and butcher shops, which is perfect for them and the customers, everything you need for lunch or dinner in one area, if you don’t plan on going to work the next day throw in a bottle of wine. Even with the perfect setup, La Cantina also delivers from their online website for those of us who can’t make it out there and for those who are buying by the case. The shop was quiet and had dim lighting, they organized the wines by country, region, and grape variety. When I arrived, I was greeted by Anthony, who gladly answered my interview questions and surprised me with some of his answers.

 Q: What does your typical customer look like/ who shops here? What makes you different from other retailers, such as North End Wine and Liquor?

“All kinds of people, there’s no specific type, we get people from the area, and tourist whether they’re from out of state or from another country. it’s one of the perks of being in a destination part of the city. We are however community conscience we do not sell certain products, because we believe it brings around certain kinds of people, like alcoholics, people who buy wine and liquor to get drunk, which results in bad decisions and bad behavior. So, products like yellowtail and those two dollar mini bottles of liquor we do not sell here. We also pride ourselves in customer service and product knowledge, unlike a place like North End, where you walk in buy the cheapest thing you can find or the most popular brand out their today, and you’re out. Which brings out the undesirable customers I just spoke on, because they’re only interested in getting drunk. We only buy wine and liquor we like, we want to be able to recommend our product and speak on its attributes, the taste, body, and food pairings. Even after the vintage is up I won’t buy the next vintage until I’ve tasted it, all wines don’t taste the same, even if it comes in the same bottle. So, everything you see on the shelves we have tasted, unlike other retailers who put the most popular wines and liquors at the time because it makes them money. We also do wine tasting every Saturday so people, can give us their opinion.

Q: Has the recent natural disasters affected/ will it affect your business? How?

“Well, due to the hurricanes shipments have been late. The wildfires are the most pressing though, because we’ll see an increase of California wine, but quality and taste will be in question. We have those customers who love California wine, but if we don’t think it’s good, we won’t sell it.”

I love that even though the store is small and only two people work there, they knew their wines, and they wouldn’t sell you something they wouldn’t buy themselves. I of course could not leave empty handed, Anthony recommended a dry red wine Ramitello Molise Russo, for my lobster and pasta dinner.

La Cantina’s Best Seller by recommendation Vin dei Fratelli Nero d’Avola & Corvo Nero d’Avola

Wines of Argentina

Sparkling Wine

For my retail beverage shop analysis assignment, I visited Henry’s wine and spirit shop located on 69 central avenue Brooklyn, New York. It was not one of the many that were recommend on the list but I stumbled upon it walking home one day and actually decided why not visit a shop where you live so you can build a relationship with people in your neighborhood. The person I spoke to wanted to stay anonymous but was very nice and had a lively personality. I wanted to just ask normal questions such as what is the most popular wine bought in this area and etc. without saying it was for an assignment to get the real experience of buying wines. I told him about my assignment after he answered all my questions and I wanted to ask to take photos he said it was perfectly fine and actually recommended some wine bottles that he thinks would be good to talk about like a Malbec from Mendoza Argentina and Divy Rysak which I found to be interesting because it is a product from Croatia. It was my first time in a wine shop and I was very excited just to see how someone else would explain certain wines. Henrys wine and spirit is not a big shop but they really know how to make a small space look bigger than what it is. One question I askedabout was what is your most popular wine He answered with a quick response and pointed to a cabernet sauvignon made in Columbia valley Washington state. He said a lot of people love wines from Columbia valley and ask from this specific grape smith & crusher producer as well. My second question was actually one that I came up with at the spot as I wanted to know what influenced the shop to buy all the whacky wines as he explained earlier. He answered with that the owner wanted to move away from a lot of restaurant type wines and stick to what he thought would blow up which is naturalwines. It was a great shop to visit and the owner believes that he is responsible for the change happening in the neighborhood we both live in which is very diverse with many different kinds of restaurants in the surrounding area.

Divy Rysak – Wine from Croatia

[caption id="attachment_3162" align="alignnone" width="300"] Bellwether – Riesling
This wine I actually bought and found it to be very interesting that this was made in the Finger lakes just like the wine of the new world class at city tech

Grapesmith & Crusher – Cabernet sauvignon from Columbia Valley , WA

The retail wine store that I visited is Astor Wine & Spirit. It is located on 399 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003. I went on a Wednesday afternoon around 2 PM. When I stepped in, I was quite surprised with how huge their store is. Before I spoke with a retail store employee, I walked around the store first. It was clean, bright, and very well-organized. The selection of wine is amazing. You can find almost any kind of wine here. I saw all different types of wine from different region. Then I introduced myself to one of the retail store employee. His name was Charles, he was extremely attentive and knowledgeable. I let him know that I am a current student from New York City College of Technology studying wine and I would like to ask him a few questions.

He was extremely friendly and was pleased to answer my questions. The first question I asked was “What is the most popular wine that you sell?” He didn’t really say a specific wine because he says that every consumer has different taste in wine and that majority of the customers are buying their wine by regions. That is why you see their wine categories into different region and below each region you see will have a staff picks suggestion. (Pictures below). Which then lead me to my second question, “How is the wine set up?” He said that the store is set up mainly into two different parts. The back of the store is more of “New World Wine” (United States, Australia, South Africa, China, India, Japan, Argentina and New Zealand) while the front of the store is portrays more “Old World Wine” (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Germany)

This is an example of how the wines are organized. They are separated by region, so all wine below this sign is from the Loire Valley.

Staff pick (Their suggestion): “Les Argiles,” Chidaine
Great Deals ON SALE Moutiouis suc chidaine NOW: $29.97 WAS: $38.96

Wine from Rhode Valley

Staff Recommendation: 40eme Rugissants Estezargues

The last question I asked was “What is his own personal favorite kind of wine?”

Charles personal favorite wine is Riesling. To be more specific, he recommended Riesling by Dr. Loosen 2016 or 2013 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett Nahe. Riesling by Dr. Loosen is an entry level, off-dry Riesling a hint of peach flavor. But if you like a Riesling wine with more sugar, sweetness, and high acidity, the 2013 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett Nahe would be perfect. I eventually bought the Riesling by Dr. Loosen 2016 to give it a try and because it was pretty cheap ($11.96) compared the other one which was (~$23).

Riesling, Dr. Loosen 2016 ($11.96)

2013 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett Nahe ~($23)

The place I decided to use for my retail wine assignment was Ambassador Wine and Spirits on 54^th St. and 2^nd AV in Manhattan.  This Store is located around the corner from where I work and the person I spoke to is a regular customer where I work so it made it easier to walk in there and ask the questions I needed to ask. A friend and I stopped by on a Monday around 2:30 in the afternoon. We spoke to Lenny and we were told by him that they weren’t allowed to answer questions based on the store itself, however when I showed him my questions and he could answer 2 out of the 3 questions I had. The one question he couldn’t answer was “what is your typical client like.” However, based on the type of people I see/ saw that went into the shop it seems like there clientele is mostly aged from 30- 60.

The two Questions he answered was how he got into the wine business and what sort if wine they specialize in. Lenny explained that the reason he got into wine was that all of his family has been in the wine business in one way or another and he grew up watching and experiencing with his family and so naturally it just became something that he was interested in and it helped that he is a Biochemist by trade.
As for what kind of wine they specialize in he said they specialize in everything, there’s no specific type of wine they focused on. They have wine from Japan, France, Italy, Spanish etc… they also have Vodka, Tequila, Bourbon, Gin and Sparkling wine. He said they have one of the largest selections of wine since it was a 2-floor shop, he said we could have a look around downstairs as well and if we had any questions he could answer he would to the best of his ability. My friend and I went down to the basement we toured the whole place took pictures and we saw that they had some large designated rooms for different kinds of wine. There is a whole room designed for special champagne that one can make an appointment to have it all explained and shown. Lastly there most expensive wine that I saw was also downstairs with a locked shelf and it was a 2003 Ch Mouton-Roth Pauillac at $700 and they also provide wine tasting Thursday-Saturday from 5-8 pm

Spanish Region Wines

French Margaux

$700 2003 Ch Mouton-Roth Pauillac

Coessens Rose Sparkling Wine

These are wines from New Zealand, one of them came from Oyster Bay and is a Chardonnay and there is Sauvignon Blanc as well.

I visit a retail wine store called “GI Wing Spirits.” It is located at Willoughby St, Brooklyn. The store itself looks like a local retail shop, not a very big one but they have wines all from different part of the world. Some of the wines that I found interesting are the one from New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Africa, South America and even Brooklyn. When I first walked in, I told them that I studied Wine from New York City College of Technology. The worker asked their manager outright the way because they said he has the knowledge and he is a wine professional. I was very excited to meet him.

Wines from France there are Pinot Grigio and some of the wines are from Vallee Du Rhone.

I though a listed of questions that I wanted to ask him but because he has a costumer I asked a few that I’m really interested in. I asked him what is the best wine your store offers he react immediately, he said “there are no such thing the best because everyone has a different taste, you might like it sweeter than the others it was really hard to say what’s the best. But we can say what is a high-quality wine instead.” Then he talked about what the local market, he told me because the area becomes a very diverse place they included a lot of different wine from the different part of the world. People in this area came in to purchase all type of wines, some people are daily wine drinker which they liked cheaper wines. He didn’t mention about a fine dining restaurant, so I assume that most of his business are mostly focus on local daily drinkers. I asked him I love Chardonnay which one you prefer. He told me there are Chardonnay from different places for examples Brooklyn, New Zealand, and France. Every place has their unique characteristics. I told him I tried Naudin Varrault, Chardonnay, Mâcon-Villages, Burgundy, France, 2015 the other day from a restaurant it was amazing I paired with Maine lobster it made that lobster when to a whole other level. Unfortunately, they don’t have that one in store but he shows me another interesting one that is from France. I had a great time talking with him but I didn’t have a chance to ask his name and business card because he had other business to take care.

Wines from Spain and some of the Spain region that I discovered is Rioja.

Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

I think one of the weaknesses of this store is their location.  Its located in a business area and a lot of schools are around, so I think in terms of marketing they only focus in daily drinkers around the area. I think it would bring them greater business if the store is open in another area. Also, I realize that there is only one person which is the manager has knowledge about wines and when I walked in I have to wait for him, he is super busy it was really hard to focus on every customer, they should have at least one more person that has the knowledge.

For my retail beverage shop analyse assignment i visited Discovery Wine shop.Which is located in 16 Avenue B,Manhattan,NY 10009.It was very easy to find the store is in the corner of Avenue B.,I called the wine shop before and Arranged a meeting time with the manager.The manager Jessica Compton was really nice and humble.i had few questions she took her time and explained me everything.She had good knowledge of wine and spirits.I asked her if it was ok for me to take pictures they allowed me to take some pictures of their wine collection.I told manager the purpose for my visiting their wine shop.she was happy to know that our school offers wine and beverage class.It was my first time ever visiting a wine shop so i was very excited to learn about wines and walked around the store explored everything.Discovery wine shop is not that big store but the atmosphere was pleasant.Their wine selection is pretty diverse.they import wines from all over the world.

Discovery wines voted best wine shop in NYC -village voice 2010.This picture above is taken by me in their store.all the wines at this shelf is from France.France is the 3rd largest growing region for wine.their wines this shelf has some syrah,pinot noir,cabernet franc,merlot,gamay,grenache etc.

so in this cabinet they stored some of their expensive wines.i asked the manager what is the oldest wine they have in their collection and how long its been stored there for. she said the oldest wine they have is called “Lafitte Rothschild” from 1990. Unfortunately i couldn’t take picture of that wine bottle because they stored it in their store basement.i also asked what kind of customer do they get.she told me recently a lot young people come to shop wines. and for their store mostly females.

this is their testing area.Every friday and Saturday from 6pm- 8pm they have new wines for testing.which i found very interesting and if you like any wine from the testing and you want to purchase they give 10% off for the customers.They offer free delivery and they also ship.

in this shelf they have all white wines from around the world.stored nice and neatly.The store was very organized. Theres sauvignon blanc,semilon,pinot grigio,riesling,chardonnay,moscato you name it and they have it

.in this shelf they have some wines from Austria and Germany. Austria makes less than one percent of all the wine in the world.they make about 28 million cases per year.their wines are mostly dry and sweet.overall it was a great experience for me.I learned about some of wines.Discovery wine have big selection of organic bio dynamic and sustainable wines from all over the world.