Free Advice To Restaurants: How to sell more wine and keep your customers coming back for more.

Two months back I was asked by a friend and restaurant manager who I’ve known for years for advice on her wine list. She asked how her restaurant (a mid-range restaurant in a nice area of suburban Detroit) could increase their wine sales and revenue since it had slowly been decreasing as the economy worsened. This was a great question and one that I feel is relevant for many fine dining restaurants in Baltimore and elsewhere in the US. In a time when the economy has many people eating at home and spending less on food and wine, how does a middle to high class restaurant survive? Here I offer advice some pretty simple advice for restaurants that either do not have a dedicated wine manager, or who could use a few ideas on how to sell more wine and make more money.

1. Reorganize your list - This is a big problem in a lot of restaurants and there is no real “rule” to how it should be organized. Lists that are organized by price make people feel uncomfortable as they don’t want to be the one ordering from the “cheap” part of the menu. I recommend using a list that ranges by type (sparkling, white, red, dessert), then by intensity (light, medium, big). This makes the list easy to understand for the non-connoisseur and takes some work off the server/sommelier. Another great option is by varietal: most people know that they like or dislike Merlot, or, if they are in the mood for a Bordeaux blend it can easily be found on the list. It is OK to include notes on some wines (i.e. “a perfect match for duck or other game birds”) but do not include any type of numerical rating or professional review. Finally, your wine list should be on separate piece of paper or a menu of its own, not in the food menu. This way you can leave wine list with the client after they order their meal (if they’d like) and it will be much easier for you to update your list when new wines come in (which should be frequently, see #3).

2. 375 mL - I’m talking half-bottles. Talk to your wine reps and tell them to bring in everything they offer by the half-bottle. Shoot for at least a few sparkling/Champagne half-bottles, 5 White wines and 5 Red wines by the half bottle. Even if your list isn’t that extensive, you should have a nice selection of 375 mL bottles across many price ranges. Most people are more likely to spend $40 on a great half-bottle of wine, than $80 on a 750 mL bottle if I know they are both marked up 3 or more times retail price. Keep in mind that people like to try different wines, have different tastes, don’t drink due to pregnancy, and a ton of other things- half bottles are an attractive option for a couple in any of these situations. Having more half-bottles sets you apart from the rest of the pack and is something that diners will take notice to.

3. Rotate your selections - Many restaurants in Baltimore have the same wine list for 6 months, a year or more. WHY????? Is it laziness? Is it that you are intimated by change? Are you not creative enough to keep new wines coming through? Whatever the reason, get over it! The best restaurants have dynamic wine lists that keep up with trends, what people are drinking, the economy, etc. Every few months sit back, look at your list and figure out what is selling and what is not selling. Take the bottom 20% of wines, put them on a “20% off list” and then seek new wines to replace them. This does two things: gets people to buy these wines because they are a good deal, keeps you moving wines through your inventory while the current vintage is on the shelves. On a side note, while it’s great to have big name wines that people can recognize, offer a more eclectic mix and you’ll be certain to make a good impression on your clients. Introduce new varietals, labels, and wine regions and be sure to promote these wines as being “great values”. If you need help with keeping your list up-to-date or with diversifying your selections, hire a consultant (Will work for wine!).

4. Lower your prices! - Sounds counterproductive right? You want to make more money, so charge more? Think again. People will be more likely to buy another bottle of wine, come back, recommend your restaurant to friends and be willing to try nicer wines if you’re not charging an arm and a leg for an OK bottle of wine. Diners expect to pay more at a restaurant than at a wine shop, but who figured that 3-4 times retail was an OK markup? Consider a markup of 2 times retail. Your customers will notice and will not only come back, but will tell their friends (and wine writers will notice and tell the world!). If this approach sounds a little too extreme, consider offering weekly or daily wine “specials”. Have a half-off wine night, or half-off bottles on Mon - Wed for parties of 4 or more. Promotions work! Whatever you decide to do, keep in mind that by putting yourself ahead of the pack with wine prices will make people more likely to come back when deciding on a few of their favorite places for a Saturday night dinner.

5. Educate your staff, provide good stemware - If you are unwilling to change your wine list because you just plain like it, then at the very least be certain you are providing good wine service. Each and every server should have an understanding of how to open a bottle of wine, decant a bottle of wine, pour the right amount of wine into a glass, when to refill, etc. You should have a training session in which all servers attend and watch a demonstration on these things. Take time to have each server present a bottle of wine, open it, pour it, etc. People who love wine, the ones who are most likely to spend a lot in your restaurant, really take note of and appreciate great wine service. Before you put a server on the floor, be sure they have a basic understanding of wine and can answer simple questions about any bottle you have on the list (i.e. How dry is this white? Does this red have big tannins?). Servers who are unprepared for these questions sometimes talk out of their behinds, which is not only annoying but misleading to a paying customer. Finally, you don’t have to serve wine in Riedel Sommelier series glasses, but please use the appropriate glassware for sparkling, whites and reds.

For more information or wine list consulting send me an e-mail: michael@foodandwineblog.com!