Hunter’s Point Wines & Spirits is a modern classic wine shop located in Long Island City, Queens. The owner also has lived near there. He expected that this area would develop, so he opened this shop in 2006. His expectation was correct. Now many people have moved to this city and I’m one of them. I contacted with the manager, Tony. I interviewed him to know more about the shop.
The manager, Tony
When I got in the entrance, wines and spirits were arranged neatly. The inside of the shop is moderate light. A tunnel is between the entrance area and the main wines section including tasting area. After passing through it, many wines from different countries such as France, Italy, Greek, US, Chili and more are organized well and lined up elegantly. Shelves for wines are wooden; it looks like boxes for wines are lined up. Wines are separated by countries. There were two workers with casual clothes at that day. During I observed the shop, the employees talked to customers friendly to know what they look for and what sellers can help.
A large wine cellar next to a tunnel
One benefit of this shop is that it provides wines, which are organic or are used the biodynamic method, which is a non-chemical viticulture method, by small producers all over world. I recommend the person to visit if one wants to find limited wines which are high quality and treated very carefully. Due to infamous winemakers, notes for each wines help customers to know details of the wine. These contents are gathered from internet sources, providers and wine tasting by employees. Furthermore, Tony has a culinary background, so he can suggest the food paring with qualified wines. On the other hand, if someone wants to have popular or famous wines, this store is not a right store. Also, the store doesn’t have many sparkling wines. There are also a variety of spirits arranged. However, spirits are mostly famous brand; there was no Pisco, which is a kind of spirits from Peru, in this store.
The main wine section both reds and whites
When I asked Tony which wine is the most popular, he said, “Surprisingly, it is the Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.” He explained the reasons could be the demographic of this area and the fruity taste of the grape. California Cabernet Sauvignon and also Italian Pinot Grigio are also popular in the shop. After the interview, I bought the wine from New Zealand to learn the trend. The sent was very fruity and flowery. I could not believe it was Sauvignon Blanc because the characteristics of the grape such as crispiness and dryness were not obvious in the beginning. It balanced sweetness and acidity. Overall, I liked it very much. Through this experience, I knew a few unique wine shop concepts, the wine marketing and the trend of the wine around my neighborhood.
The most popular wines
I really like the designation of this store because it looks so delicate and it makes me feel like they are not just selling the wines as products, they also present their wines as arts.
Very interestingly the wine store has a large celler showed in the picture. I should have gone to that store for my analysis. The wines are displyed in a aunthentic way of how i would imagine a wine shop would be.
The wine shop looks very traditional and the manager seemed to be detailed in his explanations about wine. I would be convinced to go to this wine shop if I wanted to buy wine carefully for an event. Also, I feel like it would be really helpful that they have notes describing the wines using information from the internet and employee tastings.
Providing not only a selection of grapes and regions offering organic and biodynamic wines helps to extend the offerings to a broader clientele.