Isn’t this a great representation of our north east wines? Which do you choose?

http://winefolly.com/update/washington-vs-oregon-wine-infographic/

If you liked the “Gruner” we tasted in class here is the link to a similar wine. I always enjoy Gruner so if you can not find the Nigel please taste another and share your notes.

http://www.skurnikwines.com/wines.cgi?rm=view_detail&wine_id=22923

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The retail shop I chose is nestled in a little shopping center off the highway in Fresh Meadows. The name of the shop is called Franny Lew Wine & Liquor located at 198 – 29 Horace Harding Expressway Fresh Meadows, N.Y 11365. I frequent this retailer often because the owner, Steve, is extremely friendly and knows his stuff. I went in there one day and set up an appointment to come and interview him and take photos of the shop, which he had no problems with.

I went into the shop early on a Monday and the owner gave me his full, undivided attention. I asked him why he got into the business and he told me his father was also in the wine industry, and from a young boy he always loved wine. I asked him how he goes about procuring wines and he said through customer requests and tastings he chooses the wines.  Next, I asked how he goes about selling new wines to customers, and he said through conversations with his customers he recommends the new wine and for the most part the customers will buy and try them. I asked the best and worst part of the job and he said the best part was being able to do what he loves and working for himself and that the hardest part is managing the inventory.  He provides wines from 22 different countries( old world and new world) and has a price range from $6 to upwards of $800. A typical customer buys the average bottle rounding around $22.  He told me that quarterly he has tastings for his customers to try new wines, and offers sales throughout the year. He has a mailing list and sends out emails about the new and exciting things going on at the shop. The shop doesn’t only have wines along the right side wall and behind the register he has spirits,mostly the well known and some very old scotchs’, but interestingly enough also has some craft spirits.

The set up. He set his store up with to the right spirits and aisles and aisles of different types of wines. On the left walls are the red wines and have about 11 aisles of reds, whites, roses and sparkling wines. In the back there is a refrigerator with some ready chilled whites. There is also a cellar in the back for the really good wines.  There is an in house sommelier and they also deliver. All together I believe this wine shop is amazing, and offers many attributes. The weakest attribute I would say is there is too much to choose from, and if you are new to wine, you might get turned off. All in all, it was a great experience and I highly recommend  this shop to anyone who is in the neighborhood.

Cellar located in the back of the store.

Red wine wall

Champagnes and Sparking Wines

ALICIA  ABAD

Prof. Karen Goodland

Retail Beverage Shop Analysis

The wine shop I went was Grand Wine and Liquor at 30-05 31^St, Astoria. I call the store in advance to make appointment with Manager but they told me that the staff will be able to help me out, so when I got in the store I meet one of the staff members he was a very knowledgeable pleasant to show me everything and answer all my questions. This store has large variety of wines and small variety of liquors, its very organized and welcoming every section is very organized, clean all the wines with their labels where customers can see clearly.

The store has two long wines racks one side are distributed American wines from California, New York, Washington, Oregon and more the other side of the rack are French wines Italy wines are distributed by region Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire, Tuscany, Campania and more. He show me something very interesting, all wines are display in each shelf from upper are the higher price from lower shelf lower price. The other long Wine racks are Greek wines also are distributed by region grape variety and price. The small racks are display wines between Argentina Chile and Australia they have different variety of red and white wines, and the sparkling wines, champagnes are pretty much a great variety

I had the pleasure of visiting two well-established wine stores recently. Both have had long standings in the wine selling industry. The first store I visited was the Morrell, which has been established since 1999 at Rockefeller Center, the second Heights Chateau in Brooklyn,
which was founded in 1986. Although both wine stores have been around for at least a decade, their styles are completely different.

Store Front of Heights Chateau

When I went to Morrell the product handler, Gus, helped me to navigate my way around the store. Upon first arrival it was obvious that there was a separation of the red wines from the white wines, and the champagne from the liquor. Morrell is an upscale wine retailer who’s wine prices range from $19 to $8,000. The wines were not only separated by type, but also by country and price range. The red wines were along the wall, while the whites were head in the center of the store. The champagne was displayed in the storefront window, and the liquor had a display behind the cashier’s desk. The average price for a bottle of wine sold on site is around $100. This is because most of the wines are sold through salesmen, marketing to the local businesses or online. Due to the fact that Morrell is an upscale wine retailor the associates focus on selling wines at higher price points, rather than selling large volumes of wine.

A red wine display at Heights Chateau

The setting at Heights Chateau was the total opposite from Morrell. Heights Chateau sells over 2,000 varieties of wines, and it shows in their displays. After talking to the sales associate, Amanda, I was informed that the prices of a bottle of wine ranged from $6 to $5,000, however the more expensive wines were kept in the stores underground cellar. This is yet another way that Heights Chateau contrasts from Morrell, who kept wines from a range of prices out on display in their in store glass cellar. Like the Morrell, the bottles of wine were also separated by country; however there was not as much of a separation as there was at Morrell. Heights Chateau also had the wines organized by price. Similar to the Morrell, the bottom of the display held the cheaper wines and the prices increased as you worked your way up the display.

A white wine display at Heights Chateau

If I had to choose a wine store to go back to I would prefer to revisit Morrell. The overall appearance of the store seemed to be more appealing to me and not as overwhelming as Heights Chateau.

Wine bottle display at Morrell

For my wine shop analysis I decided to go to Heights Chateau, located at 123 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Lauren and I met up at school on Sunday to explore the wine shop. Their store sign was large and quite visible from afar. The front was all glass windows to make it easy for consumers to glance in at the many wines they have. As soon as we opened the door, we saw shelves and shelves of wine. The shelves against the wall were the height of the ceiling while shelves at the center of the store were shoulder length. We were glancing through so many different bottles of wine, it was a bit overwhelming. We asked the employee what was the most popular wine sold there? She replied by saying that they don’t really have a specific wine that sells exceptionally better than the others but she did mention New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc being a popular choice. She also told us that this wine shop has been in business for 35 years and that it was passed down from father to son, making it a well-known wine shop in Brooklyn. We then asked how they sold their wine? She told us that they encourage their customers to try new things. For example they would ask the customer what they usually like to drink and introduce something new to their taste buds, yet have elements of the previous drink that they usually like. We asked about wine trends and she mentioned organic and biodynamic wine, wine that didn’t contain pesticides and had to go through a strict process to get the acknowledged label of “organic” by the government. We also asked about prices, she said the most expensive wine they have goes for $3000 while the least expensive goes for $6.99. She also told us that they sell wine by country and region. At the end of our visit we decided to buy a bottle of wine to try at home. I bought a dessert wine called Chateau Petit Vedrines. I really enjoyed it because of how sweet it was. 

Gabriel Harris

As an inexperience wine student, I was looking forward to my first visit to a true wine and spirits store. As the assignment instructed, my group and I called a head of time to allow the store some time to get ready for our visit. We arrived on time for our appointment with many eager questions. However, upon entrance to the store, our delighted dispositions soon turned sour. The woman working at the desk in the front of the store was completely unreasonable with us. Apparently they were so understaffed that she wouldn’t be able to talk to us about any of the wines, at this point she tried her best to get us out of the store by telling us to leave our questions and email address and she would try and get back to us as soon as possible.

To say the least that my first visit to a wine store wasn’t what I expected. The inexperienced worker couldn’t stop us from exploring the rest of the store. As my group and I toured the rest of the store, our aggression seethed out of mouths and as it happened we stumbled upon another worker who was in the store. She introduced herself as Veronica and told us that she’d be more than happy to answer our questions for us. We were able to take ourselves on a small tour of the store. Veronica told us that we could ask her any questions that we had were….

1. What are your most popular wines or trends you see?

Many of the popular wines that they sell are Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Sparkling White Wine and one spirit by the name of Cognac Louis XIII.

2. How many bottles of wine are sold in a day? Week? Month?

The manager explained that it all depends on the season and what wines they stock up on. On a good day they can sell up to 300 bottles, and within a week its up to 2100 bottles.

3. At what temperature is it best to store an open wine?

Veronica explained that once a wine is opened, it must be kept in the refrigerator, it could be chilled and kept in 30 to 40 degree environment. She was able to take us into their wine cooler, which was a giant room where they stored all the wines. She explained that the floors are made out of rubber to reduce movement within the wines and that it is kept at a steady temperature of 40-50 degrees in order to keep the wine chilled properly.

It turns out that the employee we were talking to happened to be the manager. She was polite and gave the impression that she wanted us to be informed in all the information about wine. I would have to say that for my first visit to a real wine store, it was very productive. I was able to see what goes on behind the curtain with the collection and storing of fine wines. This experience also showed me how professionalism is within the real wine industry, although that one worker can not be held at the same standards as her anger, Veronica should reconsider her currently employees status at the shop.

This is the store Crush Wine and Spirits, when we originally walked by the store we couldn’t find it.

Wines from areas such as Syrah.

This is a cabinet of some of their expensive spirits.

This is the business card for Crush Wine&Spirits

Wines that include Bordeaux, Cab and Merlot