Alina Almonte’s Retail Wine Shop Analysis

Title: Wine Journey after Sandy’s Visit

October 3, 2012 was Halloween, and also the day when I visited the “Riverdale Vintner” retail wine shop. I was just wondering how I would get there after the disastrous hurricane Sandy stoke New York in the past two days. With all of the train not working due to flooding, my only other alternative was to take the bus, which was free from Halloween till Friday. From that point on my adventure began, and with me on this journey I brought my older sister so that she would purchase the liquor if we decided to buy something because I am only 20 and not yet legally able to purchase alcohol in the United States.

First we walked a few blocks to get to the bus stop, after we took the 17 bus, then the 9 bus, then the 7 bus, finally to arrive at 549 west 235^th street where I finally found “Riverdale Vintner”. Before I even got to the wine shop I talked with my sisters about what I imagined it would be like. We both imagined it huge, old fashion, with wooden shelves and we imagined the clientele to be wine professionals and elderly to middle aged people. In the search for what we thought a wine retail shop would look like we missed the actual wine shop, and had to ask for directions, only to find out that what we imagine completely contradicts what the retail shop was really like.

My first reaction upon arriving was “wow this is very small”. Then I said, well its okay because the size does not matter, as long as they have good wine, and by the look of the front of the wine shop, it seemed like they did. From the outside, it actually looks a regular liquor store, with the exception of a “Lillet” poster of a butler and two margarita glasses, and a display of many different wines both red, white, and rose. As I walked in, a bell alerted the man in charge of the wine shop. He approached us, and introduced himself as Frank, then we told him all about this assignment and he agreed to show us around. While going around the wine shop, I noticed that everything was perfectly organized and easy to access. It was amazing, because it went in order from most full bodied red wines, so softer and lighter wines. The regions that we have been touching upon in wine class were all in the wine shop. Regions like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, California, Chile, Argentina, etc. All of the regions were separated, and each one had its own small section of wine. I felt as if I was traveling through all of the regions as I explored the immense amount of wines and grape varieties of each region and country. They also had a list of the top 12 wines in the wine shop, which includes one of my favorite that I tasted in class which is a Riesling.

I do not know if this service is for everyone, or if it was just because I am a student who studies wine, but my sister and I got to try some of the wines that were there. We tasted a Cabinet Sauvignon, and my favorite a Riesling from Germany which my sister also loved, and actually bought two bottles for thanksgiving dinner. This was so convenient and was not even expensive at $30 a bottle for a Riesling. Put that was not all, their prices vary from $12 all the way to $500 or more a bottle. This was incredible because I never thought that here in the Bronx we could find sure a wide range of wine at different prices, just like the ones I saw in France, but does not compare to the 76,000 Euros a bottle, which I think is just wow!

Frank was very helpful, and the lady that was there was also very friendly and helpful. I would recommend anyone that want to get good wine, and a fantastic learning experience to go to this retail wine shop. I loved the service, the employees were very charismatic, and I specially loved the setup, layout, but most importantly the wine. This is a great place to visit, especially if you are a hospitality student willing to learn, because we study wine!