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MANAGEMENT MARKET WATCH Chasing Trends in TIM TEICHGRAEBER Off-Premise Sales Wine retailers across the United States weigh in about what's selling what's flying off the shelves and what's not moving. That's exactly what we did. NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT We'll kick this survey off in New Haven, Conn., at The Wine Thief, a 700-square-foot shop that caters to Yalies and an otherwise reasonably well-heeled set, with annual sales of more than $1 million per year. Even the reasonably well-off are looking for deals, reported manager Giuseppe Volpato. "I would say the big thing is not Photo: Thinkstock aking the pulse of retail sales in the United States is a little like trying to take the pulse of a freshly caught octopus – it's slip- pery and more than a little bit frustrating. Different areas of this fine country have distinct cultural quirks, weather patterns and local mini-trends. The boutique mom- and-pop shops are pretty good at pushing the envelope and selling what they're interested in, while big-box stores are more passive and tend to give people what they came to cart-up on. And besides that, within any major city there are many differently situated wine retailers catering to vastly different clientele. At the end of the day, all you can do is call a lot of stores and see what they have to say about WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM the particular wine, but the close- outs and deals," he said. His shop takes advantage of overstock items and presents them as extraordinary values. Volpato said customers off the street are often looking for pinot noir and pinot grigio, "either color," and that "Some people will never come back if you don't carry Woodbridge Chardonnay." Volpato and his staff are Euro- SHORT COURSE We surveyed retailers across the country to find out what's selling and what's not. What excites retailers and staff isn't always what customers are most interested in. Customers in some regions seek out "buttery" chardonnays, while those in other areas want less oak. Moscato wines are good sellers across the country. Tim Teichgraeber cut his teeth in retail wine sales before becoming the wine col- umnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Today he is a contributor to the San Fran- cisco Chronicle, Tasting Panel, Opus Vino and other publications, when he's not working as an entertainment lawyer in San Francisco. philes with a particular interest in Spanish and Italian wines that offer classical proportions at a rea- sonable price. Volpato is currently excited about offerings from Portu- gal, Uruguay, Hungary and Greece. "I can sell a good assyrtiko from Santorini that's as good as an $18 albarino," he said. ATLANTA, GEORGIA Ansley Wine Merchant is an active and popular retailer located just north of Atlanta, which offers abundant European wine supplies and has a bit of a preference for that sort of thing. "Our custom- ers are moving away from over- the-top, high-alcohol wines," said store manager Katie O'Connell. "I would say our top sellers are pinot noir, Rhone wines and inexpen- sive Spanish wines. Most people are staying between $15 and $25, although there is the under-$10 group." Customer requests are "all over the board," she said, but there are a lot of requests for pinot noir as well as wines from southern France. Lately, grower Champagne has been particularly exciting for O'Connell and her staff. "We have a particular distributor with an incredible portfolio of boutique wines. They also carry a number of German and Alsace reds, but we can't bring most of those in because they are still hard to sell to consumers," she said. Asked which wines seem overly represented, O'Connell had a quick response. "Malbec. It is amazing how many distributors and import- MAR - APR 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 23