Hunters Point Wine and Spirits  

Tasting room and more wines from another country.

Wines are divided by Countries and regions.

Inside of the store, everything looks organized. 

Best Rosé Champagnes & Sparkling Wines

The wine retail shop that I went was “Hunters Point Wine and Spirits in Long Island City.” The wine retail shop been opened for nine years and people go there depend of the neighborhood. I went with my classmate on Saturday and my first impression was good. We called to make a reservation and the employee told us that we can go anytime of the day. The environment of the store was gorgeous with some classic music from the 70’s that makes someone relaxes.

The first person who we talked to was an old man who works there and we told him that we had an appointment with Tony. Tony is the manager of the store and gave us a good welcome greeting and asking us if we wanted to do the questions first or take pictures of the store. We took the pictures first and looked around the store. The wines were divided by countries and regions. Some of the wines had little notes with them that explain where the wines come from, year, grape varieties, and others notes. I found that very interesting and helpful for the customers and people who do not know about wine. We went to the wine tasting that was in the back with others wines. We asked Tony some questions and he said that some of the customer knows what kind of wine they are looking for and some people ask for grape varieties and the year. He said that people ask more for Italian and French wine. He also recommended two French white wines from Burgundy and the grape variety was chardonnay. The most expensive wine in the store cost like $450. Tony also told us that in the summer, they sell a lot of Rosé because it is fruity, light, it can be drink it with food and itself and also the season is another reason. The most expensive Rosé wine cost like $30. After we finished the tour and questions, we asked Tony to recommend us some wines that we want to buy. My classmate bought a Rosé champagne and I bought a French red wine from 2009 and the grape variety is cabernet sauvignon. He recommended this wine to me because I wanted the wine with less tannin, full body that dry the mouth slowly. The wine was not for me that is why I asked him for his advice.

Overall, Tony was professional and polite when we asked all our questions. He did not look like annoying as we asked the question and also told us to call him or go back if we need any other questions. It was a good experience and the retail store was so peaceful with the music.

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

My first ever wine retail experience was quite exciting, where I got to spend it with my college friends in experiencing it together. This experience is something I would never forget, since this was my first ever walking into a wine retail store.

When I first saw the front of the store I couldn’t believe that it was actually a wine retail store because the signs and surrounding was not some place I would’ve thought a wine retail store would be placed. Next to the store were hotels, high end restaurants, and a wide range of clothing stores. However, when you look at the front they have writings and displays of wine glasses that cashes your attention of what their wines they sell inside. The sign was light pick and in big fonts “Crush Wine & Spirits.”

So, has you walk inside the automatic doors open for you and you see a lovely display of spirits in front of you with different grape varieties from France to the red side of the wall. As I looked around I tried to find someone whom I might’ve spoke to on the phone before going there; all I saw was a woman sitting in the front on the computer. So, as I approached her I asked her I called a day before to ask if we would get a tour of the place and ask questions about wine. All she could say was oh okay, but let me see if we have anyone available.

This gave me the impression of unsatisfied customer service and a bad hospitality service to someone who clearly was supposed to communicate with other staffs before leaving for the day. This led me to an unpleasing first impression of the place; so as I said okay then… can we at least walk around and take pictures for our assignment. Even though, she gave us permission to walk around, I was still unsatisfied with so many questions of what is the most expensive wine, what are some wines customers buy most, where do you store all your wines, and how much to you sell roughly every week?

Each questions were answered by their manager; Veronica Stoler said as followed:

1. What is the most expensive wine?

The store manager Veronica Stoler told us that customers buy the Louis XIII do Remy Martin all because of the brand name. The name of the wine is what the customers are buying, not the taste of the cost of the wine itself.

2. What are some wines customers buy most?

As for the wines customers buy most are really depending on the years they were produced or the grape variety they are produced by, is what the customers mainly look for. So, she said the wines that she has seen so far was the 2009 wine that people enjoy most because during that time the weather and climates were the best. Which made them the top sellers.

3. Where do you store all your wines?

Well, as for storing their wines, she brought my friends and I to a glassed room with rubber floors and a cooling machine that keeps the wines cool and moist in every wine bottle. As for the rubber floors, it is to keep the vibrations when walking, from affecting the wines inside the storage.

4. How much to you sell roughly every week?

Veronica Stoler couldn’t really give use an actual amount, but when thinking carefully she said about 2,100 bottles. Which includes both online and in store sellers.

As you can see, Crush Wine & Spirits is a store that shows both grape varieties and spirit wines from France. Each part of the store shows that they are mainly about France wine which is one part of the worlds wine. Veronica Stoler is a well knowledge manager that was kind and respectful enough to answer our questions and curiosities. I am very thankful to her for providing more knowledge for my friends and I about wine. Overall, my experience to visiting a wine retail store was exciting and informative to learning about wine.

The wine shop that I went to visit with my fellow classmates Gabriel Harris, Jamesha Andrews and Cindy Li was Crush Wine and Spirits located on 153 E 57th St New York, NY 10022. From the outside of the store it has feminine features with a lilac color sign and and the “h” in the word “crush”  in the shape of a wine bottle. There are also specific separate doors for the entrance and exit of guest. Along side them are ads of wide glasses, reviews and a display of Louis XIII Remy Martin illuminated. When we entered the shop the store was completely empty besides the  employees moving around boxes of wine and one retail clerk at the register who was on her phone. Cindy went up to the clerk at the register and explained that she had spoken to the manager over the phone thee day before and was expecting us to give a tour and answer our questions but she seemed completely loss and admitted that it would not be possible because the manager that we spoke to was not in and they were under staff to conduct a tour. She then told us that we can just send an email to them and that they will answer any questions we had and then dismissed us.

We did not leave right away, instead we walked around surveying all the wine and and taking photos for the assignment when Jamesha started to vocalize how incompetent the worker was that even though there were no other customers they couldn’t answers some simple questions about their store. During this time we were able to get a good look of the wines and spirits. At the top of the shelves labeled are wines form five different countries. This shows that they have a diverse variety of wines and not just only from France. While taking pictures of the wine, over hearing our displeasure of their customer service another manager came up to us and said she would gladly help us with our questions. The manager informed us of the most popular wines to be Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Sparking white wines and Spirits. The most expensive item in the store is the Louis XIII Remy Martin that is worth $2,900.00. When asked about why some of their wines sell bottles for discounted prce she anwsered by saying ” Price Postings, if the wants to sell a bottle for a cheaper price we buy in bulk or something happened to the wine and its been discontinued.

We also asked about how many wines are sold in a day, the manager said about 300 bottles a day and that during the winter and holiday season that they sell the most wines. Another question that we asked was what is the best way to store champagne once its open and she gave us the answer to basically try to finish it or buy a top snapper and after two days its done. Lastly we asked what at what temperature is it best to store an open wine and she explained that we should keep it in the refrigerator so it can be chilled to about 30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Over all, I gained lots of information and was satisfied to see that the manager was friendly and was gladly their to help us.

My classmates/friends and I visited Crush Wines and Spirits located on 153 East 57^th street. We had quite an interesting journey from start to finish. For starters, Cindy had called the wine shop in advance, the day before, and made a reservation with a manager to get a tour and to be able to ask questions. Unfortunately, when we arrived the next day, it was a totally different story. When we walked into the wine shop, we were very amazed at all of the wine selections on the wall and at all of the wines we had covered in wine class. We then began to talk to the cashier about having a reservation and she exclaimed that the store was super understaffed and we can email them any questions we might have. Instead of leaving right away, we decided to look around, and as we did this we talked about how frustrated we were. Veronica Stoler, the manager, overheard us and asked us what was wrong and that she would be pleased to help us with any questions we may have.

After all of the mishaps we encountered, it turned out to be a lovely experience. We learned that they mostly sell vintage French wines. To better understand their wine store and selection of wines we asked a few specific questions. Such as:

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

• Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Sparkling white wine, and spirits ( mostly cognac- Louis XIII)

2. Do you have more old world wine or new world wine?

• More old world French wine

3. Why are some of your wines at a lower or discounted price? In what moths do you               sell the most wine?

• Wines are lower or discounted because if the store wants to sell a bottle of wine for a cheaper price they buy a bulk of wine. Or it could mean something happened to the wine or it has been discontinued. They sell the most wines in OND which is October, November, and December.

We then asked her the question, at what temperature is it best to store wine or an opened bottle of wine? This is where the real tour began. She then took us into their cellar located inside of the wine shop. She showed us that the temperature is supposed to be between 50 and 57 degrees. She also showed us that the floor was made out of rubber, so that the vibrations do not mess with the cork. We also learned that the bottles lay flat, so that the cork in the wine can stay moist. By the way she hated the word “moist”.

Overall, I can say that my friends and I had a great experience and that we left the wine shop more knowledgeable about wine.

The front of Crush Wines and Spirits

                           Spirits Section

Loire Valley, Sancerre, and Sauvignon Blanc

Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot

North End Wine and Liquor Located Close to the Bronx Zoo.

Crush Wine and Spirits Located in Midtown.

Wine is playing an important role in more and more people’s lives nowadays. The majority of Americans think that drinking wine will make their lives more joyful. People’s meals will be more delightful by pairing up the wine with different foods; their parties will be more pleasurable by cheering up with friends. People start to love wines and it causes more and more wine shops to be opened by wine lovers or business investors, and you will see a wine shop almost every few blocks in Manhattan, New York City. I have visited two wine Retail shops recently. One is Crush Wine and Spirits located in midtown Manhattan, the other one is North End Wine and Liquor store located around the Bronx Zoo. These two shops are very different from each other in many ways. However, the differences between these two shops are both caused by where they located.

White Wines Display in Crush by Regions and Prices.

Red Wines Display in Crush by Regions and Prices.

Sparklings in North End.

Sparklings in Crush are displayed in the Box because they are Everyday Beverages.

White Wines are Displayed in North End within the Wine Section.

Red Wines are Displayed in the North End Within the Wine Section as Well.

Products from Crush and North End are all organized by the types of the target consumers for each shop. Crush’s target consumers are varying in large scale because it is located in midtown Manhattan. The neighbors of Crush are residents and companies. Residents around there are more likely to purchase pricy drinks while the companies prefer to buy some less pricy wine for their own parties. The range of prices for wine is varied, it causes Crush to organize products by their prices and regions, and within the regions the prices are ranged from high to low, starting from the top of the shelf to the bottom. North End is located nearby the Bronx Zoo. As we know, the rentals around that area are a lot cheaper than the rentals around midtown Manhattan, so young people become North End’s target consumers. Since they are young and they have less abilities to afford pricy beverages, most of wines from North End are priced around 10 to 20 bucks. The shop has less abilities to sell the pricy beverages, it limits the varieties of the wine in the store. And it also causes the shop to only organize their products by separating different types of wine and beverage into different sections. For example, they store all of white wine and red wine in one area without categorizing them by regions or something else because they don’t have enough variety of wine. The presentations of wines and beverages in both wine shops are very different from each other, and it’s because their locations already determine what kind of customers each shop has to deal with.    

Locations also control the ambiences of wine shops and what kind of experience that its customers will have when they visit the stores. Since Crush is located in an area that has more rich residents and more companies, the store is designed to have more elegant decorations, and the speed of music in Crush was a bit slow it also made me feel like I became a rich person when I visited. Unlike Crush, North End was playing some kind of pop music in order to fit what young people like. Customers of different areas have different treatment too. Crush provides better wine and a peaceful environment for its neighbors for tasting events using their own budget, but North End provides wine for tasting events only when some of the wine companies provide the free wine for its customers to taste.

Crush has A Well Provided Tasting Room While North End has None.

The differences between Crush and North End are huge. I think it is not caused by which manager has better abilities of managing a store, but it’s because of where the store is located.  Having more varieties of wine and beverages is a strength for Crush. However, it can be a weakness for North End if its manager also gets many varieties of wine and beverages because having more varieties of beverages means the price range of the wine shop will have to increase. This will be a waste of product because consumers will only continue to purchase the cheaper wines. Also, having less varieties of wine can be a strength for North End, because young people may prefer to buy wine from the store, but it can never be happen in Crush because Crush deals with varying types of customers that purchase varying types of wine depending on the events.

The wines are labeled by grape variety and the section of the world it is produced.

Red wine, displayed together because each wine has cabernet sauvignon as the grape variety.

Spirit Wall displaying vodka to Whiskey.

The wall of wines displaying wines from all around the world.

Rose wines, all from France.

The wine shop I went was 34th Wine and Spirits shop located on 34th and tenth avenue. My dad was the person who set up the experience because I am not twenty one yet. He explained to Kenny the owner of the store that I was taking a wine and beverage course in college. Kenney seemed more excited than I was to complete the project because I he told me to come to the store early morning before customers would start coming in. The outside of the shop seemed plain and simple, it did not have any busy overwhelming advertisement that would distracted you. As you walk into the store the walkway is wheelchair accessible that lead to a dark strained hard wood floor. The overall store had a welcoming vibe that made you want to come in, instead of being one of the huge cold spirit shop that does not understand their product. On the right hand side, were the pocket size spirit bottles leading up the traditional size bottles. The wall of wines first began with the red wines leading towards the white wine and then at the bottom was the rose wine and sparkling wines. When I first seen the wall of wines I felt overwhelmed and interested at the same time because some of the wines I negotiated from class. In the middle of the store was large rack of wine laying out a mixture of sparkling wines and red wines. The one negative effect of the store is the location because it is out of the way where you would think a wine and spirit store would not be located. However, the owner who was is super friendly and knowledge about wines and spirits. When I was in the store one of his clients from the building called in an order, and Kenney was asking specific questions such “what you are you in the mood for?”, and “are you going to drink or cook with the wine?.

The wine experience turned into a wine class because Kenney was starting to give me the history and details of each wine. For example, the wines from Chile have a fruity taste to them, the country produces red and white wines. Spain specializes in red such as Tempranillo and Crianza are aged for at least twelve months and Iroja is aged longer. Patagonia wine is a white wine that is a fuller creamy fruity wine. I also learned the certain red wines from France can be chilled to fifteen, twenty degrees. Once the wine is poured into either white or red wine glasses depending on the wine slip the wine first and then slip again after five minutes because the wine will have a different taste. Kenney had given me a wine opening experience by taking a bottle off the wall and showed me and then I had to open a bottle. The wine I ended up getting from the store as a gift was a 2013 Rapa Nui from the center valley of Chile.