How to Design a Successful Wine by the Glass Program

Serving wine by the glass is hardly a new concept, but it's surprising how many bars don't take advantage of the profits that can be gained with a wine by the glass program that really sells.

Creating a wine by the glass program will help you increase wine sales in a couple different ways.

First it allows customers to try different wines with a low risk, so they're more likely to sample different types of wines than if those types were only available by the bottle.

Second if you have a full menu in addition to your beverage operation, offering wine by the glass is an easy way to tack a beverage sale onto a food sale.

Third a carefully priced wine by the glass program can help increase your sales per customer because you can build a higher profit margin into your most frequently chosen price point.

And a fourth way that a wine by the glass program can increase sales is because it encourages interaction between customer and staff.

But these benefits can't be achieved by simply slapping a few wine choices on your menu. Designing a successful wine by the glass program involves a bit more.


Starting a Successful Wine Program

One of the great things about serving wines by the glass is that it gives customers the chance to try a variety of grape varietals, wine regions, prices and brands. The most successful programs give customers enough variety that they have choices but not so much variety that it's difficult to make a decision.

We suggest offering a range of grape varietals, regions, brands and prices. You can do this by overlapping the categories so your wine by the glass menu doesn't become too exhaustive - for example maybe you offer three different dry red wines from three different regions and brands at three different prices.

For pricing you should stick with a tiered pricing system, offering a lower, mid and high price range. For example, you could offer three different Chardonnays with prices of $5.25, $6.50 and $8.00.

More often than not, when presented with three different prices - low, medium and high - customers will choose the medium price point, so make sure that your medium priced wine has a decent profit margin.


Featuring Wine by the Glass on Your Menu

If you want your wine by the glass program to get noticed, give it prominent placement on your menu. Place your wine by the glass choices in the upper right or upper left portion of your menu. The upper middle area is the best spot but should be reserved for higher ticket items. Surround the wine choices by a colored line or place them in a special box to draw attention to the area.

Another way to highlight your wines by the glass is to pair them with food in your menu. Place wines by the glass beside the food items that they would compliment. You may even create a few special dishes (a selection of cheeses perhaps) that go especially well with the wines on your menu.

Two of the biggest barriers for customers to try a new wine are not knowing what the wine tastes like and feeling unsure about whether or not they will like the wine. You can combat these two barriers by providing a detailed description of the wine on your menu.

Give the brand name of the wine, the grape varietal used, the wine region and also describe how the wine tastes - breaking it down into flavors and aromas (like oak or grapefruit) and also tastes (like fruity or crisp.)

The description should also try to explain why one glass is more expensive than another. What is it about the higher priced wine that makes it better? Maybe the reason is that the wine is more sophisticated in taste or the wine is from a smaller winery that only produces a set amount of bottles or that the wine was aged longer.

For example, the red wine Brunello di Montalcino is much more expensive than Rosso di Montalcino even though the wines are from the same region and made with the same grapes. The difference in price is due to the aging process. Brunello is aged for a longer period than Rosso and that is why it costs more. Explaining the difference between the two wines makes the price difference more acceptable.


Marketing Wines by the Glass

A big part of the success of your wine by the glass program is marketing. You can't use a "build it and they will come" approach to your program. You have to make an effort to sell customers on ordering wines by the glass.

Table tents are a great way to let patrons know about your wine by the glass program. Since table tents can be set up on the bar or at tables, you can get customers thinking about wine before they ever see a beverage menu. Depending on the size of your wine list, you can feature all of your wines on the table tent or just highlight some of the more profitable choices.

Another way to market wines by the glass is to offer them as part of your happy hour - this is especially effective if you're trying out a new brand or a new varietal. Customers will try the wine at happy hour and then order it again sometime.

You can also run wine promotions like wine tastings or wine harvest festival parties to raise interest in wine among your regular customers and to gain new customers who order wine by the glass.

Whether you already have a wine by the glass program that you'd like to improve or you're just starting to build wines by the glass into your menu, implement these tips to take your wine sales to another level.

Remember that a successful wine program not only makes you more profits but it also benefits your customers and gives them a reason for a return visit to your bar.

In in we discuss:

• Low-cost marketing strategies
• Easy to implement bar promotions to increase your sales
• Proven ways to cut your pour costs and your overhead
• First hand insight into running a profitable bar business

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