For Drinks Magazine by Norrelle Goldring, Director – ShopAbility 
I don’t know about you, but I’m over sauvignon blanc already – and it’s only just recently knocked chardonnay off the most-drunk-wine-in-Australia list.
One of the grape variety’s strengths, when made in its Marlborough form by our friends over the pond, is its consistent high quality and similar flavour spectrums. Unfortunately this also makes it boring over time. A bit like Barossa shiraz, it’s comforting because you know what you’re going to get – but after a while you start to look for something a bit different.
Which brings me to the role of wine lists in the onpremise.
One of the top drivers for patrons visiting onpremise venues is the promise of a different experience from that which they get at home, or trying products they can’t get from their bottleshop. The onpremise plays a strong role in trial and experimentation. And at a time when onpremise traffic is down because people are going out less, you need to provide a strong reason to visit your venue.
But how many venues exploit this need for discovery?
It’s pretty easy to do without frightening the local natives.
Say you have a wine-by-the-glass list on tables and bars that has 2 sparklings, 6 whites and 6 reds.
Of the whites, 1-2 would be sauvignon blanc, 1 chardonnay, 1 pinot grigio (the fastest growing white grape variety) and 2-3 others covering regions and varieties, eg a Margaret River SSB, a Clare or Eden riesling, and maybe either a crowd pleasing moscato or an interesting smaller variety like viognier or albarino.
The smaller ‘discovery’ varieties should be supported with some simple information on/near the list about what it tastes like and what it goes with food-wise. If you really wanted to amp up the discovery and promotional factor, you might lean on the wine supplier for promotional teams to visit a couple of times to encourage sampling of the newer or lesser known wines. Or you might try having a additional, rotating wine of the month every month that focuses on the smaller varieties or lesser known regions.
Products on the wine list should be changed out a couple of times a year to give the regulars something to look forward to. Yes they like their old favourites, but they also look for what you’re doing that’s new, different and interesting.
By ranging some different brands in the onpremise from those that can be found in the offpremise, it’s also harder for patrons to make a direct price comparison with what they’d pay in the bottleshop, and your perceived value remains intact without you having to drop your strides or your glass wine prices.
It’s a balancing act – cover off the major crowd-pleaser bases, yes, but range products and experiences that provide an element of discovery, surprise, delight – that will keep them coming back.
Variety is the spice of life – more spice please!
