Savor the season
This is the year to sit outside and sip wine; here’s where
If ever a year called for wine, this is probably it.
As wineries in Wisconsin and around the country handle this year’s harvest season, they’re also working to keep connected to consumers.
Just like everything else, the landscape for wine tastings and selling wines has shifted a bit. If you’re looking for a good wine or a way to support local winemakers, wine bars and shops, there are plenty of options.
Start by getting outdoors. Patio season is in full swing, and the outdoor option is popular at the MIlwaukee Public Market’s Thief Wine Shop & Bar, Vino Etcetera, Corvina Wine Company in West Allis, and wineries including Pieper Porch in Mukwonago.
Space, and lots of it, are part of the appeal at Pieper Porch Winery, S67-W28435 River Road, Waukesha, where they’re offering wine by the bottle to drink at the property or carry
out. They’re also using disposable glasses for their wines and alcohol slushes by the glass.
“We’re doing no inside seating, only outdoor seating,” said Kathy Pieper, who runs the winery with her husband, Todd. “We have 11 acres, and we have people who bring their own chairs, their own tables, they’re distancing themselves all over the acreage.”
“The busy season is usually September and October, but this is an unusual year,” Pieper said. “Normally people are busy with summer vacations and festivals, and when fall arrives people hit the wine trails. This is not a normal year.”
“We’re staring to bring in some tasting flights on our less busy days, which are Fridays. It is a completely new system for us, because we can’t have people standing at the tasting bars describing the wines one on one. We pre-selected the most popular,” Pieper added.
Pieper Porch’s experience is reflected in wineries around the state. Owners say people are buying wine, but where and how much varies. By the glass sales are down, while curbside pickup, online orders and virtual events are drawing people in and keeping wine sources afloat.
Greendale’s Vintage 38 has eight tables outside, the wine bar seating indoors is removed for easier access to ordering, and they’ve added canned wines.
“On the by-the-glass wine menu we’ve added some canned wine options as well, which is two glasses per can,” said Jennifer Lyden, owner. “They really are making exciting, wonderful wines in can format now.”
Frank La Susa co-owns Corvina Wine Company with his brother, Joe La Susa. Both are certified sommeliers, and along with the outdoor seating and patio as a must, La Susa sees a new normal for wine tastings: virtual events.
“We’ve gotten into virtual tastings, where people can come in and purchase their wines and we can do a Zoom meeting and do a tasting that way,” he said. “There are not a lot of winemakers visiting right now.”
La Susa also sees opportunities, particularly with wine clubs. Corvina’s starts at $25. “That will continue to grow, and with a lot of the restaurants being closed, there are a lot of wines available that are allocated, so now we’ve been bringing in some unique things.”
“You can’t travel, but you can experience these regions and travel through the wine,” La Susa added. “There are a lot of different wine regions and a lot of good wines out there.”
Going virtual is connecting with customers, notes Phil Bilodeau, owner of Thief Wine Shop & Bar at the Milwaukee Public Market.
“Obviously, our physical tastings have been canceled,” said Bilodeau. “We generally have done two really big tastings per year. Our spring and fall tastings get over 200 people and it is an awesome event, but that is not going to happen for the foreseeable future.”
Bilodeau’s smaller in-person tastings, typically with about 15 to 20 people, are also on hold for now. Technology has turned out to be the next big thing when it comes to tastings.
“We want to be safe and smart, so we are doing Zoom,” said Bilodeau. It’s a format he’s found useful.
“We pick out three or four wines. People have the option to buy them if they want. They can buy one, two
or the set, or just not buy any and listen in for free,” Bilodeau said, noting that options have also expanded as wines that have primarily been available to restaurants are now finding their way to shops.
“Once we get back to whatever the new normal is, we’ll have physical tastings, but I’ll still do the Zoom tastings because I think people do like to sit outside and have it over dinner instead of in the shop and a more formal setting. That’s been an unexpected bonus, a new format to reach our customers.”
In Oconomowoc, Brian Borkowski added a virtual bingo to have fun with customers at Vino Etcetera, where they have an affinity for both wine and bourbon.
QR Codes and online ordering
Vintage 38 is incorporating technology to keep customers stocked up and allow customers go contactless when in the wine shop. Using the Cash Drop app from a smartphone, customers scan a QR code at the table and receive a text when their order is ready for pickup.
“While we have always been a wine bar primarily, this time has shifted us more to a destination as a wine shop,” said Jennifer Lyden, owner of Vintage 38, 5690 Broad St., Greendale. “Our customers have enjoyed that we stock our entire wine inventory online. They can shop from home and then stop by to pick up at their convenience.”
Spring City Wine House, 336 W. Main St., in Waukesha, also made its entire wine list available for online ordering and pickup, along with offering virtual tastings.
Keeping in touch with customers but going contactless was also a concern for Bradley Kruse at Nonfiction Natural Wines, 800 E. Potter Ave. Not even six months into their new business, Kruse and his wife, Allison, had to reconsider the way they sell wine.
“The biggest thing was just being able to offer curbside pickup and give people the option to not come in, have as little interaction as possible,” said Bradley Kruse, who owns the shop with his wife, Allison. “That’s also tough when you’re trying to sell new things and things people don’t know as much about some of these wines.”
Wine clubs, which typically allow consumers in on specially selected wines, have been another way for shops and wineries to keep a flow with customers while the landscape for inhouse events is still in flux. Corvina and Vintage 38 have both seen an uptick in interest in their wine clubs, as have wineries that do shipping around the country.
In August, Nonfiction Natural Wines also launched a wine club. “People can do two or four bottles selected each month. The first Friday of the month is the pickup date,” Kruse said.
Additionally, restaurants have shifted gears to reach consumers. Some, like Third Coast Provisions, have opened up their wine collections to consumers to take home. Others, like Story Hill BKC, 5100 W. Blue Mound Road, created a shop in the restaurant space for retail sales. They also offer curbside pickup of select reds, whites and sparkling wines from their collection, and continue to do so although the restaurant is now open for dine-in.
Deals are offered by a number of producers to entice shoppers, too, making it easier to support Wisconsin businesses while exploring new sips at home. Cedar Creek Winery in Cedarburg, the sister winery to Wollersheim Winery & Distillery in Prairie du Sac, marks its 30th anniversary this year. Its incentives include a free bottle added to any order of 12, making it a lucky 13.
Lautenbach’s Orchard Country, a draw for visitors to Door County, offers free shipping on a case of its wines (and ciders), which are made with grapes grown on the property. The family-run winery continues to welcome customers for tastings daily, but this year they shifted everything outdoors. Tastings and flights are ordered at an outdoor window and served in disposable cups on the patio.