Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/51989
By Harriet Lembeck Tastings in Your (Small) Store I n-store tastings are a great way to generate customer camaraderie and goodwill, besides ensuring repeat visits. Even if you don't have a lot of space, you can create an efficient tasting area. When my husband Bill and I built our NYC wine classroom, our space was very small, and our plans were ambitious. We had purchased a historic building, and they didn't make them very big in those days (c. 1789). Before that, our wine classes had been held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where space was no problem. Here, we had to get out our micrometer and a shoehorn. Starting with glassware and Three cabinets with four glass racks each at back of Harriet Lembeck's wine classroom. glass washing, there are a lot of options. We bought an under-counter commercial Hobart dishwasher, which accepts standard glass racks, which not all brands do. The Hobart washes glasses in a four-minute cycle. They are rinsed with required 180° F. hot water that's created by a built-in booster, and the glasses come out so hot that they air-dry. For reasons of space, we needed racks that could hold 36 glasses each, in a 6-row by 6-row configuration. (Incidentally, once the racks are filled with used glasses, the rack is rested on the dishwasher's swing-down open door, and the glasses get turned upside-down and go into the dishwasher. When finished, they get turned right side- up and, staying in the rack, go back on the shelf.) We went to a restaurant supply store and purchased the French Harriet Lembeck, CWE*, CSS** hlembeck@mindspring.com is a prominent wine and spirits educator. She is president of the renowned Wine & Spirits Program, and revised and updated the textbook Grossman's Guide to Wines, Beers and Spirits. She was the Director of the Wine Department for The New School University for 18 years. (*Certified Wine Educator, **Certified Specialist of Spirits) 'Arcolac' brand of all-purpose 'Bordeaux'-shaped glasses that hold 8.5 ounces. A good choice that's smaller, are the 5.5-ounce INAO glasses, which are used by MW candi- dates. They could be washed and stored in a 7-row by 7- row rack, which equals 49 glasses in the same space as the 6 by 6. An even simpler choice would be styrene cups. These are clear, rigid, and disposable. I once took a beer class at Anchor Steam in San Francisco, and Professor Joe Owades poured our beer samples in styrene cups. When someone asked about them, a little disdainfully, he said they were often cleaner than standard glasses! Poof – no dish- washer needed. We store our glass racks in IKEA base cab- inets that can hold four racks, which we've hung on a wall. (For more storage, we've also used IKEA wall cabinets and have stood them on the floor, bolted down, and also bolted to each other.) For refrigeration, we splurged on the under-counter Sub-Zero two-drawer model. Chilled bottles roll out to you. This is much better than bending over a small frig with a door, and reaching all the way in for your bottles or mixers. Further, you won't have to allow space for a door to swing open, since the drawers don't have to be pulled out all the way. We also wanted to do a bit of demo cooking, and pur- chased the extremely thin Miele two-burner electric cook- top module, which is one of several from Miele. The top surface is smooth and flat, and with a protective piece of Lucite that we had cut to size, we didn't lose any counter space, and could put things on top of it. For any cooking, of course, we remove the Lucite. At a class on Wine and Chocolate Pairings, guest lecturer John Scharffenberger slowly heated a pot of milk with broken chocolate pieces, and by the time everyone arrived, the air in the room was filled with hot chocolate. This cook-top, by the way, sits on one of the wall cabinets that we put on the floor, and stored inside is a very small microwave, and a slightly bigger expresso machine. We have our priorities. Further, a small built-in stainless steel bar sink has been fitted with a pull-out spray faucet, and an instant hot water maker. For dimensions and/or model numbers, please send me an e-mail and I will get you the info. 8 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • January/February 2012