June 19 2006
A local wine shop called Grapevine Cottage puts out a weekly newsletter that is conversational and newsy—part blog, part legacy wine marketing. In general, it’s a pretty good read and it supposedly goes out to about 3000 people—its reach is pretty good.
Two weeks ago the owner of the shop was detailing a vacation to Winter Park, FLA and the wine scene that is growing rapidly. He went on to rave about a wine sampling device called the Enomatic—the wine tasting machines that are slowly but surely penetrating either coast and the Southeast.
I find this interesting for a couple of reasons—most notably because I am a huge advocate of taking the wine tasting room model to retail acceptance. It’s a no-brainer to me. And, while some state laws make it difficult—like Indiana for example—any sampling can occur only if you have a full liquor license (read: expensive to obtain—$100 - 200K +), a restaurant (in which case consumers can’t actually touch the wine while shopping), or as a winery (where you can only sell your own wine).
But, aside from individual state vagaries, the Enomatic is just plain cool. Imagine going into a wine shop and sampling EVERY wine before you buy—ensuring that you never get a bottle that is a letdown—because you tasted it. Or, imagine, sampling to your hearts content with a group of friends, scoring wines and seeing what your group winner is for the evening.
The article says this:
TheWine Room may represent the next big concept in wine bars. Back in 1983, I read a book that influencedmy career perhaps more than any other. In retrospect, Megatrends, by John Naisbitt, was filled with what Imight now term "blinding flashes of the obvious." One of his mantras was what he called"High Tech - High Touch," theconcept that people wanted the convenience of technology, but still wanted apersonal touch along with it. Rightagain… witness our store… order it on line, but everyone knows your namewhen you pick it up. The Wine Roomtakes that idea to the next level.
Thenthey inserted a completely computerized wine tasting system with over 150 wineavailable by the 1 ounce or 4 ounce pour… in your Riedel Vinum Bordeaux stem,of course. The selection spans thegamut from $.90 cents to $15 an
ounceand from Caymus Special Select Cabernet and 2001 d’Yquem to Chilean SauvignonBlanc and Bogle Petite Sirah.
Utilizing an Italianwine dispensing system called the Enomatic, (see the system at http://www.sheffimports.com- they’re not cheap) they have both wall mounted and free stand circular winepouring stations throughout the store that keep the wine at proper servingtemperature, and blanket it with inert gas to prevent oxidation. They are activated by "smartcards" that you purchase and are programmed at the front counter. Hand them your credit card, tell them howmuch you want to spend and they give you a smart card that can be used at eachtasting station.
I’m in love with this idea. It’s not being done in the Midwest, to my knowledge, outside of Chicago, but this is such a simple and easy wine to make wine not only enjoyable to shop for by consumers, but also a way for marketers to cut through the clutter of the wine wall.
Check out: http://www.sheffimports.com/sheffimportshome.htm
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