Your Dream Wine Shop

[Rebel Rose]

I just came back from a sales trip to southern California. While there, I visited a wide range of wine shops and wine bars. Some, like Wine Steals in San Diego, were so hopping on a Tuesday night I was hoarse at the end of a two-hour tasting. Others were . . . well, there was one shop that had blackboards advertising "90 plus" point wines, and very snooty owners. And, I noticed, there were no customers. Very sterile.

As a winery owner, of course I would love to have my wines in upscale restaurants and stores. But as a person, I enjoy calling on the friendly, kicked-back, muddled inventory, family stores. They're always so . . . happy! To my great delight, there were also some wine bars with beautiful interiors, eclectic inventories, and a modern, democratic, fun approach to wine.

My dream wine shop would have:

* A book corner, with two tall bookshelves of books, and a small sofa corner with a coffee table for tasting while book browsing

What would your dream wine shop have?

[JohnL]

I just came back from a  sales trip to southern California.  While there, I visited a wide range of wine shops and wine bars.  Some, like Wine Steals in San Diego, were so hopping on a Tuesday night I was hoarse at the end of a two-hour tasting.  Others were . . . well, there was one shop that had blackboards advertising "90 plus" point wines, and very snooty owners.  And, I noticed, there were no customers.  Very sterile.

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gee "no customers" i thought people only want to buy wine based on scores these days!

are you making a statement about people who use scores being "snooty?"

[Florida Jim]

Mary,

Mine exists; the Asheville Wine Market, in Asheville, NC. Its bright, open, done in light woods, super clean, efficient and has a large footprint cellar directly below. Even the check-out counter is arranged for maximum effciency. Although, if it were mine, I might change the inventory a little, the store itself is perfect.

Best, Jim

[Carolyn Tillie]

They are few and far between, but I love stumbling on wine shops that have selections of older vintages.

[JohnL]

I would opt for friendly, knowledgeable sales personnel who understand that the key principle in sales is to first find out what a customer wants and then using one's knowledge of what they sell, providing what the customer is looking for.

All the physical stuff-shelving and atmosphere etc is secondary for me!

[Florida Jim]

All the physical stuff-shelving and atmosphere etc is secondary for me!

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I agree.

And that's another nice feature in Asheville - a truly knowledgable and enthusiastic staff.

Best, Jim

[Rebel Rose]

are you making a statement about people who use scores being "snooty?"

 

Yes, I think I am! From experience, I know that some stores and buyers will always look down their noses at winemakers and distributor reps . . . I'm used to absorbing condescending comments about Paso wines, and worse. But when I leave these places I think . . . it's Tasting Tuesday, for pity's sake. (Most stores and restaurants meet with wine reps on Tuesday, traditionally a slow day for customers.) If you didn't want to waste your time with us, why didn't you say so on the phone? So clearly, they just want to waste OUR time acting superior.

And that lead me to wonder how my customers would be treated, if they came into that store and asked for a Dover Canyon release. So I've been doing some clandestine scouting in our distribution area, and yes, I would have to say that as a woman shopping for wine, I much prefer 1) the small, stuffed warehouse geek places that look unorganized but really aren't, and where the staff wear name-embroidered mechanic's shirts . . . 2) the "friendly market" type wine stores with a young, exuberant staff that will answer YOUR question, not reply with a canned $130 answer . . . 3) newer wine bars with a fun, irreverent attitude and especially the ones with alternative lifestyle staff (they're a hoot, and very effusive hosts).

[JohnL]

are you making a statement about people who use scores being "snooty?"

 

Yes, I think I am! From experience, I know that some stores and buyers will always look down their noses at winemakers and distributor reps . . . I'm used to absorbing condescending comments about Paso wines, and worse. But when I leave these places I think . . . it's Tasting Tuesday, for pity's sake. (Most stores and restaurants meet with wine reps on Tuesday, traditionally a slow day for customers.) If you didn't want to waste your time with us, why didn't you say so on the phone? So clearly, they just want to waste OUR time acting superior.

And that lead me to wonder how my customers would be treated, if they came into that store and asked for a Dover Canyon release. So I've been doing some clandestine scouting in our distribution area, and yes, I would have to say that as a woman shopping for wine, I much prefer 1) the small, stuffed warehouse geek places that look unorganized but really aren't, and where the staff wear name-embroidered mechanic's shirts . . . 2) the "friendly market" type wine stores with a young, exuberant staff that will answer YOUR question, not reply with a canned $130 answer . . . 3) newer wine bars with a fun, irreverent attitude and especially the ones with alternative lifestyle staff (they're a hoot, and very effusive hosts).

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I didn't realize there was a bias against wines from Paso Robles!

It this a West Coast thing?

I think that most wine shops are local businesses that cater to people who live nearby. Unfortunately, a lot of them are run and staffed by people who don't take the time to understand their market.

The wine business has for too long tried to sell a complex product by "hiding" behind the complexity and actually confusing already confused consumers even further.

This is changing (it has to) as the industry realizes that making wine easier to understand for consumers means it will be easier to sell. So we are finally seeing wines sold in new and interesting ways.

I also think that the industry suffers from retail stores trying to operate on lower and lower margins (the internet has really exacerbated this) which translates into low pay and less focus on salespersons. The same industry that wails about scores and critics is the industry that relies on these scores and critics to sell their wine. It is the wine shops that plaster scores all over their shelves and distributors and wineries that post their scores on websites and provide point of purchase materials. These folks then turn around and complain that they can't sell wines that are not scored or are receiving low scores.

The real problem is not the scores or the critics, a score and a critic are merely additional pieces of information, just part of the picture not the whole picture. A good sales person can sell wine with them or without them.

I have also found that as new approaches to selling wine emerge a lot of the wine snobbery that infects the industry is disappearing. You are correct, I believe, in assuming that shop owners/management who treat you poorly are most likely prone to treating their customers with the same arrogance. I find that wholesalers who understand what an owner/manager is looking for become more helpful--wine shops need to have a dialog with wholesalers and wineries--taking a few minutes to do this reap a lot of benefits to the retailer. A good sales person at retail or wholesale needs to understand their customers!

Unfortunately there aren't that many savvy retailers (this seems to be changing though).

Edited March 28, 2007 by JohnL (log)