With the Super Bowl upon us, it’s only natural that we turn our attention to wines that work with typical tailgating fare. A tall task, indeed …[level-members] While some might argue that Buffalo wings are the ultimate in football party foods, there’s no arguing that the Bills haven’t been near the Super Bowl since I […]
Archive for January, 2014
Food & Wine Pairing: Wines for Super Bowl Tailgating at Ho
January 31st, 2014What Your Wine Shop Customers Are Reading: Wine Spectator 1/31/
January 30th, 2014We’re on a roll! Since we’ve started our discussions of adventurous drinking, we keep stumbling across more of the same. This week, it’s the latest issue of Wine Spectator. Must be something in the water, er, wine … [level-members] The cover article in this issue is their editors’ picks for “Wines to Discover in 2014.” […]
Wine Shop Marketing Tips: Educate or Entertain Your Custome
January 29th, 2014If you can’t educate your clients, at least entertain ‘em. That’s the only way to consistently get any audience’s attention. Yes, you can sell – sometimes. But too much promo and too little info of value to them leads to an unengaged audience. [level-members] In fact, here’s the kind of funny you can find quickly […]
Retail Wine Business Tip: Where’s the Profi
January 28th, 2014Where’s The Profit? Not “where’s the profit?” as in “I’m not making any.” “Where’s the profit?” as in, are there items or categories or types of customers that account for the lion’s share of my profits? [level-members] If your shop isn’t profitable, that’s another question entirely, of course, but knowing where your profits are coming […]
Retail Wine Industry News: Wine in China, Red Sparklers Gain Tracti
January 27th, 2014It’s not just the highly-placed party members buying super-premium French wines. There is a growing appreciation for and interest in wines across Chinese culture. There’s also an increased interest in red sparklers here in the US. [level-members] Even though the powers that be have reined in some of the too-conspicuous consumption by the most connected […]
Friday Food & Wine Pairings: Winter Adventur
January 24th, 2014We’re going to keep going with the theme of adventurous drinking, this time we’re combining it with … winter. [level-members] And someone’s already done the heavy lifting for us. Gregory Dal Paz at Snooth recently posted a piece about two wines, that while hardly unknown, aren’t usually included in the roundup of usual suspects: Carmenere […]
What Your Wine Shop Customers are Reading: Bon Appétit Feb 20
January 24th, 2014Modern comfort food, including “What to Cook on a Snowy Day,” leads things off in the February 2014 issue of Bon Appétit. Let’s take a look. [level-members] It’s actually dubbed the winter survival issue, which makes sense when you’re talking stew, chili, etc. Or, better yet, Fondue. You can make it even when the power […]
Retail Wine Marketing Tips: Create Fun, Risk-Free Wine Adventur
January 23rd, 2014A bit more than a week ago we devoted our Friday food and wine pairings column to adventurous drinking. Here’s another look at that idea from a marketing perspective. [level-members] Encouraging your customers to try new things is a win/win situation. You may sell some more wine immediately, but the long term benefits are broader. […]
Better Wine Shop Business: Improved Customer Conta
January 21st, 2014Is there a better way to greet your wine shop customers, one that neither sounds like an empty phrase nor comes off as creepily over-familiar? There is. [level-members] “Hi! Can I help you?” It’s not quite as bad as, “Hi, I’m Justin and I’ll be your server tonight” but it’s up there. It’s conversational white […]
Retail Wine Industry News: Feds Shopping, Wine Market Gro
January 20th, 2014According to an article on the Dealbook blog, the US Treasury department is on a shopping spree. It’s a pretty long list they’re working through: every alcoholic beverage sold in the US for off-premise consumption. And according to Impact Databank, the US wine market continued to grow, with a 1.5% increase for 2013. [level-members] First […]