Doing this project was interesting. I thought we had to pick and just walk into any beverage store. As, what I ended up doing, but the class received a list that made things simple. I say this because, these were likely retail stores that already went through the process of students calling and asking do conduct their interview with them. I went to three different beverage stores to ask. Two of them was by my Alma-mater. The first one I chose was Chambers Street wines and spirits and the other was a new wine and spirits store on Greenwich. They both said yes. I didn’t choose neither one of the two do conduct my interview with. I didn’t choose them due to not having enough time to go and conduct it. So, I lucked up and found one near the College, about two blocks from my job. Which I found to be very convenient. I chose York Cellars wine retail beverage store. I didn’t ask face to face, I called and asked, they were the nicest. I was very pleased with my choice. They were supper pleasant and happy to be able to help me out with my interview.

Nervously, I called York Cellars wine and spirits beverage shop located in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, I spoke to a young lady who was very pleasant but very abrupt and short with her answers but as I continued talking to her she softened up and told me if I can make it by 2:00 pm she would be able to help me out with my interview. It was 1:15 pm. I made it by 1:30 pm ready for the interview.

The retail shop is not too far from where I work and from NYCCT. It’s walking distance. When she told me at first that, this is not a good time for me to do my interview due to it being too busy. I thought something else because it is never busy when I pass to go get my lunch every day. I just figured she did not want to be bothered. I thought she was going to brush me off and tell me to email the manager as the others did. But thankfully that did not happen.

I entered the shop and the ambiance of this store was unbelievable. I walked into a store front shop surrounded by different colorful well stocked wines, soft music playing just high enough for you to hear what is playing but low enough to hold and hear your conversation. The lights were dim enough to still be able to see the writing on a bottle of all the delicious wines displayed. Glowing candles illuminated the entire store with a hint of vanilla aroma filling the air. As I looked to my right, the young lady whom I just spoke to on the phone was at the register ready to greet me with a nice big bright smile. “Hello”.

I introduced myself and started the interview. I asked her my first question, how do you store your wine? She answered, without pause, they order their wine from a warehouse that is in New Jersey, but the import company works with the warehouse for the delivery’s. They work with five different importers that all arrive on one truck. When the wine reaches the shop, they receive them in crates already bottled. They are immediately place them out on the shelves by regions. The leftover bottles re stored in the back area of the store on shelves also by regions and kept in the cool temperature of about 64 degrees. My second question, As the expert, what is your drink of choose? As the expert, she prefers more natural type wines. As she explained, she stated that most wines have at least 70 different types of additives and as you drinking you know that it is not inoculated with lab yeast. It uses natural yeast from the earth which of course is a great and better part of the fermentation process, she added there is minimal intervention which allows nature to take its course and the grapes to do its thing naturally. Natural wine is a greater expression of the grape. Third question, how are your wines labeled on the shelves, for people that have no idea about wines? Our wines are labeled and shelved by region. Within the region we try to keep the grape variety together. We often keep two tables that are labeled and shelved by grape variety of “red” and “white” and by regions and these wines are called out “weekday warriors”. These wines are the best variety of wine the manager chose that are under the price of $17. If a person does not know what they are looking for we have a set of question we try to ask the customer to see what type of taste they are reaching for. My final question, I wanted to know how do your shop impact the community? She answered, the shop owners which was discovered is husband and wife took it over from another liquor store owner that was not doing so good. They renovated it into what it is today. The last shop was not fully stocked and did have any variety. They were not attracting the business to keep them going. Now with the cluster of choices they are big in business with a lot of commuters as customers. The area is more of a business area not residential.

However, the shop has some weaknesses that can be pointed out. The area they are in is under construction, so there is scaffolding cover their shop. It looks closed when you pass. The windows are tinted. They should have a billboard that sits on the sidewalk with their specials and times of operation. They have a billboard on the outside of the wall in addition that does not catch the eye.  I was searching online to learn some history about the shop, and I discovered they do not have their own website. They are on social media but not their own website. I am not sure if they have delivery service to their customers but having their own site would boost their fan base even higher.

In conclusion I was satisfied with my interview. The young lady was very pleasant. And very informative. She mentioned to me that she was a sommelier and worked in different restaurants around wines. She also read a lot about different types of wines, but she learned about wines by attending lots of tastings.  The environment was warm and welcoming. Going in make you feel like you want to stay for a little while. Make you feel like you can take your time and browse the shop. Buy more than one beverage. I am sure that is what their mission is. If not, it should be.