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"Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, steve.
> says...
>>
>>Dear all
>>
>>The small sports club I am treasurer of are looking at the possibility
>>of introducing a wine list for the more formal gatherings of the
>>members (Ladies nights, Annual dinner, etc).
>>
>>I am looking for some help with regards to creating a wine list from
>>scratch. As far as I am aware, none of the memers (or their wives)
>>are wine experts and basically anjoy a good glass (or two) of wine
>>with their meal. It is only a small club, and the average number of
>>people at evenings such as this is about 50 spread over eight or nine
>>tables.
>>
>>Plus, we are based in England.
>>
>>Some of the questions I wouldn't mind having answered a
>>
>>How many different wines should we look to include? (i.e. 4 bottles of
>>red and white, or whatever)
>>
>>Should we stick to the basic wines (I am assuming this is yes) and
>>maybe have one or two bottles of 'different' wines on offer.
>>
>>What would be the make up of the list - for example, say the general
>>consensus is to have 4 wines of each type, would you have say, a
>>bottle of French, a bottle of Italian and two bottles of New World
>>(Australian, Chilean, etc) or something different (also apologies but
>>I'm not sure what bracket American wine comes in - is it classed under
>>New World?)
>>
>>Plus any other tips or thoughts would be most welcome.
>>
>>Many thanks in advance
>>
>>Steve Flanagan
>
> Steve,
>
> Sounds like a fun project. I'd suggest that you look at the wine list in
> two
> parts.
>
> First - take a good long look at your menu. Work with your chef to come up
> with a small wine list that pairs with the food, as flawlessly as you can.
> Here's the fun part - you and the staff get to hold mini-tastings of that
> menu
> with wines that you think will work well. Pare that list down to about
> four,
> which you (and the staff) KNOW will work well. Get your distributor to
> work
> with you on the wines for the food. Many will even comp the wines for your
> tasting exercise and should be invited to participate. Don't start out
> with a
> preconceived notion of varietals, or place of origin. Let the menu dictate
> what you try. Be brutally honest in your assessment of how well the wines
> work
> - you want HITS, not just OKs.
>
> Second - get to the membership and talk to them about the wines that THEY
> like. You might get lucky and have some overlap from your list in part I.
> If
> not, then pare down list 2 to about four wines with the most general
> appeal.
> Start with the two lists being available, but maybe add your
> "recommendations"
> for wine pairing to each dish on the menu, in hopes that the membership
> will
> try those. Monitor the sales of the wines on your two lists carefully. If
> the
> membership is still not buying the matched wines, you might even offer
> special
> pricing (loss leaders) just to make sure they are actually trying these
> with
> the food.
>
> After you have worked with these two lists for a bit, doing everything in
> your
> power to insure that the membership is actually trying the recommended
> wines,
> start eliminating the wines that are not selling. Giving this method time
> to
> work, start replacing the no-sale wines, one, maybe two, at a time, with
> other
> wines.
>
> Even if a food/wine match is made in Heaven, it does you no good if the
> members will simply NOT buy those wines.
>
> You could possibly end up with an all Italian list, or all French. Don't
> worry
> about that. You are not the distributor - you are only trying to make the
> members happy. Heck, you could even end up with 8 selections of White
> Zinfandel (God forbid), but it THAT is what makes the members happy, so be
> it.
>
> Then, you can start bringing in a "new" wine, say once a month. Offer it
> as a
> special, and monitor its sales. Replace it with another new wine, and
> monitor
> the requests for the old special.
>
> Your list should be a living thing, very dynamic, to reflect new dishes
> that
> the chef adds, or subtracts. Go for the best pairing, and see how it goes.
>
> Most of all, have fun, and good luck,
> Hunt
>