The wine shop I went to was Caesars Wines at 6715 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11204. The reason I chose this shop because it is close to my house. The day I went to the store are a random day that I passed by the store, because of that I had not contacted the store in advance to arrange an appointment.  

The store is not really small but not big too. When I walked into the store, I was kind of shock by the way they put their wines. I expected to see an orderly place but the store is full of wine everywhere.  It is really mean “everywhere”. The wines are around the wall and in the racks, and the racks are all over the store. It really looks disorderly to me.

The employee was very welcome and friendly. When I walked around the store to take some pictures, one employee came to help. After I told her about my situation. She shows me around and explains to me the how they put the wine. According to the employee, their wine is separate by country name. The wines that are on the wall, they will have the label of it the country name and the one on the racks, on top of racks, they will have the flag of its country. Also, in each section for the country wine, you can find they also separate their wine by red, white and spirits. I can tell the store really have a lot of variety of wine from a different country. The most common price over there are around 10 to 20. Some wine may be more than that but only a few sections.

Country: French

Region:Rhone

Grape varietal: Grenache blanc

Winemaker Notes: “Garnet red in color, this wine emits aromas of red fruits such as Morello cherries and spices of licorice and grey pepper. In the mouth, this wine has a great structure with firm and silky tannins.”

Country: Chile   

Region: Maule Valley    

Grape Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon     

Red wine

For my retail beverage analysis I visited Astor Wine and Spirits. The store is located 1020 2^ndAvenue in Manhattan.  The store carries a very large selection of wine and liquor. I would assume that approximately 80-90 percent of store is filled with wines (both new and vintage) from all over the world. Throughout

the store, there are three main sections for wine, including imported, domestic, and a special temperature-controlled wine roo

m. In the imported wine section, there are varieties of wine mainly from Europe. For their selection of French wines, Astor displays bottles by region, such as Burgundy and Loire. In the back of the store there is also a section for domestic wines. Astor’s domestic selection includes bottles from both West Coast and East Coast vineyards throughout the United States. Valuable and vintage wines are stored in the temperature-controlled room.

I have been to the store a few times in the past, and I have always wondered how they store vintage wines, so I asked one of the employees how they keep these wines in good condition. The employee told me that they keep the store room temperature at 65℉, and 55℉ for the temperature controlled room. He also mentioned that wines need to be kept in the right temperature in order to keep wines fresh, though it is almost impossible to keep all the wine fresh. In my own past experience, I drank some wines that were corked and had gone bad. I asked the same employee, if a customer buys a bottle of wine and finds out that their wine is no longer good and wants to return it, is it possible to return the item? He explained that the customer can exchange the wine, but it needs to be exchanged within 30 days. He explained that the customer needs to exchange the wine within 30 days because the store cannot control how customers store the wine.

Riesling Feinherb” from Müller-Catoir 2016

Before leaving, I asked for his recommendation for a bottle of Riesling. He asked me what kind of taste. I told him I usually like on the drier side, but not too dry, and something around $30. I also requested a German wine since we were studying German wine at the time. He recommended a bottle of “Riesling Feinherb” from Müller-Catoir, a 2016 vintage from the Pfalz region. I purchased the wine and tasted at home. The wine was fantastic. It has a fruity aroma with notes of peach and lemon with a dry finish. The wine is still water, but when you sip the wine, you feel a bubbly feeling on the tip of tongue. The wine he recommended to me was one of the best Riesling wines I have ever tasted.

I highly recommend going to Astor Wine and Spirits for every bottle. The staff is welcoming, friendly and very knowledgeable. If you are looking for a wine, you should definitely ask for their recommendation. They carry a large variety of wines, from reasonable bottles to expensive and rare wine. They will undoubtedly help you find what you’re looking for.

Lenz Cuvee, Methode Traditionelle 2012: Sparkling wine from New York

Saperavi, Babaneuris Marani 2016, from Georgia

Saperavi, Babaneuris Marani 2016, from Georgia

Priorat “Clos Fonta,”Mas den Gil 2012

Priorat “Clos Fonta,”Mas den Gil 2012

I decided to visit Astor Wine and Spirits. It is located on Lafayette Street, Manhattan. This is not my first time when to this store. My aunt took me there to buy whiskey sometimes. All the stuff there are very knowledgeable. This time of visiting Mr. Yacka was nice for us to walk us through the store and answered our questions. Doug Yacka, who is the sale manager went through all the questions that my friends and I had and explained in detail as much as he could. The questions that I asked are very basic questions for a wine beginner.
1. What type of wine that easy to drink for the beginner?
Mr. Yacka suggested that start with single grape variety wines. first, because of it less complex that blended wines. Blending will improve the aromas, color, texture, body, and finish of the wine.
2. What is the best way to store wine bottle?
For a customer who does not have a wine storage which is most of us, Mr. Yacka suggested keeping wine bottle in the dark, cool place would do. The ideal way to store wine is keeping wine in dark and temperature control. He walked us to the temperature-controlled room which was a room that stored vintage wine bottles. Some of the wine bottles were tilted and some were placed in horizontal. He said that to prevent wine from contact with air.
3. What type of white wine that has a fruity favor the most?
Since I like fruity flavor wines, this question is a personal question. Mr. Yacka recommended a wine from Rhone Valley if I like fruity flavor.

It is a room with temperature controlled. They set the temperature at 60 Fahrenheit. In the picture, it how they store wine bottles with shelf takers on the side.

This is a sparkling wine from Lombardy, Italy. On the Shelf talker describes its flavorful of citrus fruit from lemon zest and fresh cut pineapple.

Red wine comes from Valencia, a southern part of Spain. It is a full body wine, good pairing with meaty dishes.

A white sparkling wine from Piedmont, Italy. Before this wine class, I have not had a wine from this region before. It is a sparkling wine made from Nebbiolo with aromatic of flowers and the palate of strawberry.

As a wine connoisseur and current Hospitality Management student, it’s important to comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of a retail beverage shop. 54 Wines and Spirits, located at 408 West 55^th Street, carries a plethora of alcoholic beverages to choose from. Roger, the store manager, was extremely helpful and his patience made the overall experience run seamlessly. In addition, he was able to answer all questions without hesitation since he has studied wine for over fourteen years. 54 Wines and Spirits made an everlasting impression because of its ability to organize hundreds of wines from over fifteen different countries in a way that is easy for a customer to understand.

Compared to other wine stores visited in the past, 54 Wines and Spirits arranged their inventory along the walls and in the center of the store, which is typical for a beverage shop. However, Roger disclosed that they wanted to create more of an open-concept when designing the layout, so they implemented rows. This makes it easier for several consumers to browse wines at once, without a certain area getting overcrowded. Each area of the store is designated to a particular country. From there, each country is broken down into appellations, grape varieties, and the style of wine. Along the back of the store are spirits and the most expensive wines. Roger explained that the priciest wine they were carrying is a red wine from Bordeaux, France for $525. This 1963 Mouton Rothschild is a Premier Grand Cru and is extremely rare. The most expensive item they ever carried was a $1,500 bottle of whiskey.

Along with the exceptional customer service and organization, 54 Wine and Spirits had great natural lighting, which is essential in a retail beverage shop. Reading fine print and finding the perfect bottle would be impractical in a dimly lit store. Additionally, the location of this establishment is a great benefit. Because it’s located further West, Roger and his employees are able to dedicate genuine time to each customer who walks in. Although they do not get a lot of foot traffic, each customer leaves with at least one bottle of wine and a smile on their face. “We have a lot of regulars. It’s what keeps ou business alive” he explained.

Unfortunately, a drawback of the store was the fact that they didn’t have any “Shelf Talkers”. Roger affirmed that they do not do this because he wants customers to engage and ask them questions about the products in the store. Having a “Shelf Talker” can sometimes lead a consumer to purchase a wine they do not necessarily end up enjoying. Roger appreciates being involved in the customer’s buying experience by helping them explore all options, instead of buying the first product they see. It is imperative for a store to maintain customer loyalty in order to survive.

This mini bottle is La Marca Prosecco from Veneto, Italy. D.O.C. This wine is crisp and light. It contains 11% alcohol.

Enate is a red Somotano Wine from Salas Bajas, Spain. The grape variety is Tempranillo.

The only “Shelf Talker” in the store was the grey goose bottles displayed on a stand that read “World’s Best Tasting Vodka”.

This Zacharias Cabernet Sauvignon is from Peloponnese, Greece. It has hints of red fruits, tobacco, and spices. It’s a full-bodied wine, balanced with tannins. I was surprised to see a Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Peloponnese, considering it’s an island off of Athens.

Grand Wine & Liquor founded in 1933 is a family owned retail store; it is located at 30-05 31st St, Astoria, NY 11102 and is a large neighborhood store which offers a variety of wines as well as a full selection of spirits.

On arriving at this shop after getting a little lost I met the Store Manager Jamie Anulawicz who had given me an appointment on receiving my email. She was very informative and went the extra mile to make sure she answered all my questions. She has been in the wine business for 6 years and still enjoys every moment of it, she did a course called WSET course at the International Wine Center to advance her knowledge of Wines.

I asked her many questions like, what wine was most popular now? She mentioned that Mionetto Proseco was the most popular wine that was selling, on asking her the reason why it was so popular she mentioned that it was a big brand with national advertising. She also mentioned that Bordeaux’s were also in demand and a hot selling wine among most people and they were willing to spend anywhere from $20 to $50 on a bottle. Their top selling wine was Coppiere Pinot Grigio that cost $8.99 a bottle and was light –bodied and refreshing; it would pair well with delicate white fish.

She showed me around the store which was I think well organized with wines from various countries like  Spain& Portugal, Germany & Austria,  Italy, South Africa, Australia & New Zealand, France, Argentina, Chile and American regions like California, Washington, and Napa Valley. There are racks of sparkling, red and white wines on display. They have a great selection of wines which are presented with prices along with tasking notes and best food pairing. They store wines which are not on the main floor in the basement and attic which are temperature controlled to 55 degree F. Red & White wines are stored together since they sell quickly. There is a section for kosher wines Dry Red Wine, Dry White Wine, Dry Rosé wine bottled by Greek wine cellars D Kourtakis S.A. Near the entrance of the store they have a table displayed with Rosé from different regions and ranging from different prices which they call “Rosé Avenue Station”.

Since most of their customers are regulars they introduce new wines to them. They cater to their customer needs and also have wines from Greece, Croatia, Georgia, and Romania it’s like almost impossible to not find what you’re looking for. The store carries one 750ml bottle of their most expensive wine from France Leroy LesBoudoi Nuhs St Georges 2005 which cost only $1300. To end the evening I embraced my inner oenophile and purchased a bottle of Rose.

1. Shelf Talker

Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Sub-Region: Brunello di Montalcino

Grape Varietal: Sangiovese

Type: Still wine

Classification: DOCG

Brunello di Montalcino is a wine made with 100% Sangiovese with Italy’s highest DOCG classification. This is the Sangiovese that most wine critics cite to be the best in all of Italy. –  Wine Folly

2. Red Wine from Spain

Country: Spain
Region: Jumilla
Grape Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon,Mourvedre

Type: Still wine

Tasting Notes

Intense and dark cherry red color with purple edges. High layer. Clean and bright. Dense tear that lightly dyes the glass. On the nose it is powerful, very intensefresh. Initially, the elegant notes of the Crianza appear, toasted and balsamic. When opened, exploits the black fruit touch of very ripe red fruit, almost jam, at some point liquorice with spicycreamy lactic. Fine floral tobacco touches. In the mouth it is powerful, well- structured, fresh and very sweet. Surrounding entry with a smooth and rich taste.

Wine Maker notes

Selected vintage from low production vines of more than 40 years old, located at 900m altitude. It is hardly harvested in 15 kg boxes at its optimum ripening point, going through the selection table before the vinification. We conduct separate vinification processes for each variety. The malolactic fermentation is done in French and American oak barrel. Once the process is completed, the wine settles for 18 months in those barrels.

3. Sparkling Wine from Spain.

Country: Italy
Region: Veneto
Sub-Region: Prosecco
Grape Varietal: Prosecco

Type: Sparkling

Tasting Notes:

Light-bodied, with crisp acidity and flavors of green pear, melon, fleur de sel and lemon zest. Clean and fresh, with a modest, lightly floral finish. – Wine Spectator

4. Red Wine from Plenkovic Hvar Croatia

Country: Croatia
Region: The Coastal Region

Sub-Region: Dalmatian Background

Grape Varietal: Non-Varietal Red Blend

Type: Still wine

High-quality dry wine Plavac Mali from the localities of Sv.Nedjelja. This wine aged in large wooden barrels (volume 40, 96 and 130 hl) and stainless steel a year and after filling in the bottles another 4 months. Dark red in color and has a rich structure and a long persistence. The wine is dark ruby in color, with a rich and layered, pleasant, and deep aroma that has undertones of Dalmatian herbs, spices, minerality, saltiness and dark fruit. The wine is warm and comforting on the nose, which is typical of Zlatan’s wines and has given them a specific identity and cult-following in Croatia and Europe. It is immensely structured and balanced and possesses a refined, complex, and an exceptional presence on the palate that is followed by a long and persistent finish. It is said that Zlatan’s wines are traditional drink of fishermen, farmers and the inevitable detail of the best restaurant tables. – Wine & More

On October 15,Monday afternoon, while I traveled through the streets of NOHO I stumbled upon a small wine store called Taste Wine Company. I decided to make my assignment based on this store since it was located in such high volume area. Upon entering the store I introduced my self to a young lady behind the register. I explained to her the purpose for my visitation and asked if I was able to speak to a manager. At the moment it seemed like the only manager who was available was busy, but she gladly accept my offer to ask her a few questions. My first question to her was; which wines did her customers showed most interested on and at which price points. She responded by mentioning some of the more common varieties of wines such as Malbec, Merlot, Carbernet franc, Sauvignon Blanc and so on. She said that when it came to a price point customers rarely went looking for the higher priced bottles, but never the less they were still available. She also mentioned that there was a demand for organic and American wines. American wines specifically from the Napa valley region of California. One of the other questions that I asked was, how do they promote new wines introduced to the store? She said that they send out emails to their regular customers, and post on their social media, and also host their wine of the week and display by the window where customers can easily see it. The store is only about three years young, so they are still making a name for themselves.

Walking around the store was very interesting, I got to see and recognize wines by their regions and grape variety. I also got to see wines from interesting regions such as South Africa and Austria. The most interesting to my self was reading tags of some of the organic labels and to find out where these practices are being performed. Organic wine does not only cover a small percentage of the wine industry, but instead it is practiced from Italy, to Oregon, to many other places.

Red wine from Italy

Sparkling Wine from Spain

Red wines from the Napa Valley, California

Red Carbernet Sauvignon from South Africa

ME, proving that i actually visited the store……

Heights Chateau is a neighborhood store located at 123 Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn Heights. The store has a classic, simple design with options of carefully selected wines from around the world, as well as spirits. Customers have the option of choosing wines from a wide variety off the shelf or from the temperature-controlled cellar. Heights Chateau has been featured in many magazines and newsletters and is not only known for their huge variety of wines but for their wine tastings and food pairings.

Upon walking into the store, the employees were very welcoming and friendly. Wines were located neatly along the sides and the center of the store and the spirits were located to the back. While walking around I realized that different countries have a different way of organization. All the wines are neatly categorized by the country they are from. On the right side of the store, are foreign wines organized by different regions and the left side of the store, is organized with domestic wines from all around the USA organized by the different types of grape. Heights Chateau chooses their wines in three different ways: firstly, by a list of classic wines that are expected by customers, secondly, their own desire to explore new wines and thirdly, wines that are brought to them by their provider.  They also try to keep their products at a standard level temperature of 71° – 72° in store and the cellar is held at a temperature of 43° – 44°.

When introducing a new wine to customers not much marketing takes place there. They are not really interested in the idea of samples or tastings. Their key concept is just trying to have everything organized. In general, they try to place the more expensive wines at the top and the least expensive ones to the bottom so that way they would be able to make more space for the new ones. Due to their huge inventory they do a newsletter called “What’s New” that they send out every week just to inform customers of all the new wines but most times marketing their new products are done by word of mouth from employees to customers. It is essential that employees get familiarized and informed about the different wines that they offer.

Cremant is a sparkling wine made from pinot noir grapes in the traditional method.

Cremant is a sparkling wine made from pinot noir grapes in the traditional method.Cabernet Sauvignon from Jerusalem Vineyard is a dry red wine with aromas of field berries and vanilla.  It is also known as a Kosher table wine.

Retail Analysis Blog, By Veronika Lisetska

  Buying a bottle of wine that you would like could be a challenging job. Going to the right store where a person that knows enough about wine and would be able to help you is very important. As for my retail wine shop project I chosen  a store “Smith & Vine”  that is located  at 317 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231. They also have a webpage https://stinkybklyn.com/wines/#!/price_range=942

     This store is highly organized and has a big selection of different type of wine. It is easy to locate different countries wine like Italian, French, German and so on. Each wine label that this store has says where particular wine is from, region, vintage, grapes variety and tasting notes. Very often when you walk to the liquor store there is a lot of wines but it is hard to choose because sellers do not know enough about wines.       

     Expensive wine in this store are located behind a little cage and can be assessed by a seller. In the middle of the store there is an “ island “ that has the most popular or any new wines that the manager brings in. What I likes the most about this store is that the owner knows what he is doing. This store has different prices starting from around  ten dollars a bottle and goes up to two hundred dollars.

     This retail shop has nice design and friendly atmosphere in side.

-Label that explains Region, Grape variety and has some tasting notes.

-Sparkling wines that are not from France. -Those three wines are from Italy.

-“Shelf Talker” wine -It is from Italy

– Wine from Spain

Retail Analysis

G&I WIne and Spirits Retail Store
The G&I Wine and Spirits Store located in Brooklyn NY on 48 Willoughby Street. This retailer provides numerous opportunities to achieve large profit margins, while the operations also put forward specific challenges. Furthermore, apart from the additional requirements faced by the liquor store, the owners also ensure that they pay attention to the inventory control, security and loss prevention, and age verification precautions. Below are some of the attributes of the wine liquor store:
Full inventory control
Even though G&I wine and spirits wine store is relatively small, it carries thousands of the SKUs in a numerous variety of kinds. This ranges from the individual bottles to the cans to the multi-packs, kegs and much more. According to Boardman (2014), the Point of Sale for the liquor store with the inventory tracking is designed for the different ranges of the products which are aligned with the integrated barcode scanning of the different UPCs with the fast precision and efficiency.  This assures the wine liquor store of up-to-date knowledge of the current and where it is located, the selling points and the urgent orders.
Sales Reports and Analysis
Based on the G&I Wine and Spirits retail store is backed up with the complete and precise inventory control. The Point of Sale for the retail shop has a system with the data that is required to offer detailed and accurate reporting of the sale of products.  This is shaped into different datasets such as broken down into the specific day, month and year the products were sold. The system also singles out the high-profit generators and the seasonal favorites. The store can also track the individual employee’s sales and the fast conversion rates.
Pure Liquid Wine & Spirits
Purchase order generation
The Pure Liquid Wine & Spirits is located in Manhattan, NY and is complemented the solid inventory control for the production of the purchase orders as the wines run low. The store also incorporates the type of functionality which allows the operators to manage the controlled system of the alcohol distribution industry efficiently. The store creates, sends and tracks the purchase orders in line with the management of the receipts of the deliveries and the related payments.
Age verification
The Pure Liquid Merchants Wine Liquor Store entails the age verification unit through the swapping of the purchasers’ driver’s licenses. This facilitates the compliance to the existing liquor laws. This prevents selling liquor to the minors and related tobacco products. This includes identification of the information manually that is fed into the system to assure that the customers are of legal age. This is done by employee training. A major weakness is the lack of the age verification technology which makes the store liable to face fines in case of a sting operation.
Loss prevention and surveillance
The Pure Liquid Wine & Spirits store has state of the art security details to prevent loss in case of break-ins and defaulting customers. The store has an advanced system that overlays the video surveillance to different stations with the generation of text data on customer receipts. This allows the managers to link the malicious activities from the station location. It also prevents the cases of disloyal customers.

Below are some pictures for both stores:

This wine is from Pure Liquid and it is from Bekka Valley, Lebanon it is a 2014 white wine

This is one of the few ways Pure Liquid showoff their popular wines. This is what they consider their “shelf talkers”, Most are red wines,

This wine is sold in G&I Wines and Spirits store, a product of Spain

Another wine from Spain from Pure Liquid. Red wine from the area called Ribera Del Duero and it is a 2015 bottle of wine.

A sparkling wine from Italy called cupcake.