The storefront of Hunter’s Point Wines & Spirits had a very beautiful and simple look to it. There is a window bench seat with pillows at the front of the store and a couple of potted plants that that relaxed vibe. The walls are lined with shelves and when you walk through that front room you enter a short hallway or corridor where they have crates set up where they have a few varieties of sparkling white wines from different countries. The next room is larger with more shelves and at the tops of the shelves are small metal signs signifying where the wines are from. They had the major wine countries represented at the beginning of the shelves like France, Italy, and Spain; then there was a small section for wines from the United States. Next are a set of unlabeled shelves that hold wine from an array of different countries that may not be typically known for their wine like Serbia, Croatia, Republic of Georgia, South Africa, and a few more. The two men were very helpful making sure I knew I could ask them any questions I had.
When I finally took them up on their offer for questions I spoke with Marco. I asked him how the store was organized and he explained that they actually organize the shelves by country rather than type or grape. I thought that was very interesting; it was different than I had seen before. He explained that they do this so that the customer can see more of the variety of the store. If they organize the store by type the customer is limited to what they come in for. If they are looking for a chardonnay that is all you will look at. You will come into the store grab a wine from that section and proceed to the register rather than browsing all the interesting things they have to offer. He also explained that at the front of the store they shelve the everyday wines that regular customers will come in and grab for a regular night, while the pricier wines are shelved at the back of the store. I asked if they every change that set up for any reason and he said no. Maybe if there is a new product, but typically it’s kept that way. I asked him if there is a wine that he finds sells most, but he said that they have such a variety that there isn’t just one kind that sells best. I was happy to hear that because that means the organization that they went with for their store is working; people are seeing all they have to offer. He also explained how they pick the variety that they have in the store. He said that they don’t really have much from the United States because they quality of wine you can get from oversees for an affordable price point like $20 for a bottle is nowhere near the quality you will get from let’s say California for the same price. What you get from the U.S. for $20 will basically be a bottle pf expensive juice. That was a very interesting point to make. Over all it was a great experience. Will definitely go there again.
This is a red wine from Spain
This is a sparkling wine from Croatia
This is a wine from Georgia Country. More interesting to me because I recently met someone from the country.
This is a hand-written shelf talker for a wine from Austria
This is a wine that I bought to try at home. It was described as a semi-sweet with vegetal notes from South Africa.
