ALICIA ABAD

Retail Beverage Shop Analysis

The wine shop I went was Grand Wine and Liquor at 30-05 31^St Astoria. I contacted the store in advance to arrange an appointment with the Manager, but they told me the staff would be able to help me, so when I got in the store I met one of the staff members his name is Michael, who was a very welcoming, knowlegable and pleasant to show me everything and answer all my questions. He starts showing me the wine section from each country, region he knew all grape varieties and what to pair with. The store has large variety of wines and small section of liquors, the store is very organized very clean and the wines shelves is labeled in a small selection of wines from different regions, Something interesting for each wine section have little cards notes are written positive feedback from customers another notes are details about wine  where new customers can see clearly.

The store has two long wines racks each side are distributed American wines from California, New York, Washington, Oregon and the other side of the rack are French wines Italy wines are distributed by region Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire, Tuscany, Campania and more. I have also realized 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 from Argentina Chile and Australia they have different variety of red and white wines, and the sparkling wines, champagnes.

I liked at the back of the store they have big section of white wine, champagnes and the Zinfandel wines in the fridge ready to go, I think it is very good for the customers when they need something ready for especial occasion. The store has something interesting every 3 days of the week for few hours the manager choose each week 3 to 4 different wines from different variety and country so the customers have the opportunity to taste the wines.

The store is located in a great neighborhood people from different parts of the world, but especially people from Europe, Greece, and French. The most popular wines here are red wines from Greek, also the French and Italy red and white wines are the second selection, the most expensive wine can cost $400 or more, it was very interesting to visiting this store have a lot to offer their customers.

Over the weekend, my friend Jessica and I visited two Brooklyn wine cellars; Slope Cellars and Scotto’s Wine Cellar. Scotto’s Wine Cellar is located at 318 Court Street and Slope Cellars is located at 436 7thAvenue. Both cellars are located in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, which was perfect for me to commute from one to the other with any hassle. Upon arrival, I assessed the outside appeal of both cellars. Scotto’s Wine Cellar had a rustic, yet modern feel to it. However, Slope Cellars had an old soul. Slope Cellars was slightly larger than Scotto’s. I personally feel like it was because of the way they had their wines set up and displayed. Scotto’s was more cluttered. I noticed that in both stores, there were more reds on display than any other wine. At Scotto’s, I introduced myself to Kim and we started to chat right away. Kim’s customer service was exceptional. She was very interactive and extremely helpful. She’s an excellent salesperson. So excellent that she even got me to buy a bottle of Moscato. At Slope Cellars, I was greeted by a gentleman named Ben, but he told me that he was kind of busy to answer questions at the moment. While I was taking a few pictures of the display, a guy named David came over to me and told me that he’ll help me answer any questions I had regards to the store and wines. David was also helpful and good at answering my questions. And I really appreciate him for coming over to me and allowing me to give him a brief interview because he was in the back of the store and didn’t have to do that at all.

As stated before, at Scotto’s I was happily greeted by Kim. Kim was happy to answer all of my questions. I found out that Scotto’s opened in the year of 1934 and has been in the same location ever since then. Kim has been in the wine industry and working at Scotto’s for 12 years now. She started out working part-time after school, and then started to really get involved with the business going to several wine tastings and other events. At this point, her love for wine was at an all-time high and she started working full-time. Now Kim is the Manager at Scotto’s Wine Cellar. At Scotto’s, the most popular wine being sold are Rose. This is because of the time of the year that it is. In the winter, Red wines are mostly brought by consumers. At this wine cellar they have a wide variety of wines coming in from all over. For example wines from France or Italy to California or New York State. Here the amount of Old World Wines and New World Wines are equal. When I asked about the discounted wines, Kim told me they are on sale because the distributer wants to bring in a new vintage of their product. Right before I left the store, I asked about storing wine and Kim showed me a gas called “Private Preserve” that can be used to preserve wine. I found that really cool.

Spirits at Scotto’s

This is a gas used at Scotto’s Wine Cellar to preserve wine.

Scotto’s Sparkling section

Scotto’s Wines of Spain

My next stop was Slope Cellars where I spoke to David. David told me he started in the restaurant business then merged into the wine business. He said working with wine is much less stressful than working in the restaurant business. David said the fastest wine that they sell surprisingly to me is the Yellowtail Syrah. He said this is because it is cheap and still tasty. At Slope Cellars, they have a larger section of Old World Wines than New World Wines. He said this is because they are more food friendly. The coolest thing David said to me was that wine is “Drinkable Art” and I agreed with him 100%.

Rose selection at Slope Cellars

Red wine Display at Slope Cellar

Spirits at Slope cellar

Visiting these two different wine cellars was a great experience and I’m kind of glad I had to do this assignment. It gave me the opportunity to speak to two different wine professionals that comes from different cultures. After today, when I do drink wine I won’t just drink it, I’ll now drink it and be a critic at the same time.