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<\/a><\/p>\nSpending all these years with wine, either in a Retail, Wholesale or Private environment, I have picked up so many different scenarios regarding people and wine!<\/p>\n
I think at the beginning, I will have to talk about the retail environment.\u00a0 Here is when people come in looking at the inventory and when I asked if they need help.\u00a0 \u00a0One of their responses is I Dont like wine!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong> When I work with customers like this, I start to conduct a simple informal interview.\u00a0 I asked them what beverages they like, what they normally drink, what do they have with meals, etc.\u00a0 \u00a0They I asked them about their experiences with wine.\u00a0 \u00a0What wines they have had and what was it about them that they didnt like.\u00a0 \u00a0 I would say that over 70% of the customers I have dealt with regarding this, the wine they had was always Red and very dry!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>To me, that can turn off anyone who really hasnt tasted wine.\u00a0 \u00a0 I talked to them about the different styles of wines.\u00a0 \u00a0Do they like some fruity?\u00a0 a bit on the sweet side?,\u00a0 Red or white or rose?\u00a0 \u00a0Questions like this.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Then, I can narrow it down to a handful of wines that I think that they may like.<\/p>\n At times, I would open a bottle of wine that I think they may like for them to taste.\u00a0 With some customers, I would even buy a bottle for them, to bring home to try.\u00a0 \u00a0None of these wines would be over $9.99.\u00a0 \u00a0I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.\u00a0\u00a0 For those that liked sweet, I would start with some\u00a0 White Zinfandel.\u00a0 \u00a0Personally, I think that is just sugar water, but for many its so delightful.\u00a0 For those that like whites, I would go with a Chenin Blanc or Riesling, because I know there is enough grapy sweetness and low acidity that many will find easy to drink.\u00a0 \u00a0The reds are always the toughest.\u00a0 15 years ago, I would have had\u00a0 a much tougher time selecting one.\u00a0 \u00a0But in the past 10 or so years, many winemakers are making blends.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>These are almost always so easy to drink and are priced under $10.<\/p>\n So, now the customer has either tasted the wine in the store, or has tasted it at home.\u00a0 I wait until they come back again to find out their opinions.\u00a0 \u00a0Again, based on their feedback, and they didnt like it, I would go searching for another wine,\u00a0 or if they did like it, I would find another one similar in style for them to taste.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Something that I have always found so interesting.\u00a0 \u00a0Those folks that only loved sweet wines.\u00a0 They would drink it for years, you cold not get them to change the style.\u00a0 But after a while, they started to gravitated away from those really sweet wines, onto something not as sweet.\u00a0 Then after another period of time, could be a year or more, I found those same customers looking for drier wines!\u00a0 \u00a0To me, it was almost inevitable, that the progression of wine drinking for those folks that said they dont like wine is from<\/p>\n Sweet\u00a0 ->\u00a0 Semi-Sweet -> Dry<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE WINE CUSTOMER Spending all these years with wine, either in a Retail, Wholesale or Private environment, I have picked up so many different scenarios regarding people and wine! I think at the beginning, I will have to talk about the retail environment.\u00a0 Here is when people come in looking at the inventory and when … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/em>To me, in the retail business, that was a challenge.\u00a0 I have always believed that there is a wine for everyone, and that everyone can find a wine that they will like<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0This was a lot of fun for me, working with all the customers, plus it gave me the opportunity to earn their respect and confidence.\u00a0 \u00a0So, the next time, it would be much easier for me to recommend almost any wine..<\/p>\n