We are in the process of opening a wine and craft beer bar in San Juan, PR. Craft Beer is our main business so we are pretty solid on that side. As part of our research into the wine bar we would like to hear what you believe are best and worst practices for wine bars in your neck of the woods. We are already looking at wine preservation systems and of course proper glassware. The bar will not serve any food as it will be part of a “Eataly” like concept and food will be offered elsewhere in the same space.
Thanks in advance for your comments and look forward to welcoming you one day.
Hi Carlos
It might be others selling the food, but chat to those people and arrange a shared staff tasting session. It’s impressive if you can suggest options from experience.
Getting the balance of safe vs. unusual, cheap vs. pricier is an important one, but it will be you that makes the call, taking into account what people say. It might even be possible to set up a ‘tasting flight’ or at least matched pairs, if you’re attracting an enthusiastic and enquiring clientele.
For higher end wines, would recommend 1oz, 3oz, 5oz pour options. I’ve paid $30 for a small pour of a great wine, and Berns does it, so it has to be good. Flights are a great way to do it. 3x3oz pours.
Carlos–First of all, good luck on your new venture.
Second, if craft beer has been your main business, then you have to decide what your customer base is (or is likely to be) in terms of the wines you would pour for the wine bar business. Are people looking for small tastes to try a number of different things, or are they more likely to just want a single glass of wine? Is your customer base interested only in certain kinds of wines (price points, regions, varietals, etc.), or are they more adventurous?
You may want to start off the wine bar aimed at the most general demographic that you think is likely to order wine, and then branch out depending on what sells and what doesn’t sell. You can have the best idea possible for a fantastic wine bar with an incredibly diverse selection, but if you don’t have the customers for it, it won’t be successful.
Thank for the comments so far. Our main business is craft beer distribution, this is our first foray into the bar side of things. Wines will be served at the proper temperature for sure. Room temperature in PR is not a good idea for sure!
That is a fun thing about Puerto Ricans, there is no such thing as too cold…
Agreed, red wines not too warm, white wines not too cold are the two most important things. Then decent glassware. They don’t need to be Zalto but they can’t be mason jars.
Honestly, the worst problem I have with local wine bars is their lack of creativity regarding wines by the glass. Just putting in a few out of the box selections really makes a difference. I hate it when wine bars phone it in with shitty, boring selections.
Wine and beer draw different crowds. I would be open to abandoning one if you find your business trending in the other direction. Don’t get married to a dream.
As far as wine, keep it interesting. Change often and be different. Just back from a small place and they had three wines I’d never had. Tried them all and will return. No Conundrum or Meiomi.
One of my pet peeves, and it may not apply, is not actually showing the bottle from which the pour comes, and just bringing a glass over to the table. If it is Coravin, or something similar, understandably, this is not always possible, but it sounds like you may be going the other way, and I, at least, like the bartender or wait person to bring the bottle over, present it to me, and let me taste a little in the glass, and, if it’s good (ie the right temp and not having sat there for a week or more) filling it the glass to the proper level.
Had dinner at a wine bar last friday and the main thing that was irritated me was the lack of knowledge among the staff. The waitress barely managed to share that her suggested wine was a Primitivo from Italy, and she admitted that her knowledge ended there. So make sure your staff knows what they are selling would be my suggestion.
Furthermore I agree on glassware, good wine mix between classics and novelties and serving temperature. I can also alway apreciate cost free water and maybe something small to nibble on, the French and Spaniards are kings in that!
Small pour choices is an excellent idea. I had my first well aged Vega Sicilia at a wine bar like that in Palma. I got a one ounce pour just to check it out. I even had a half ounce pour of an 1840 Madeira at that place we don’t talk about and I was glad I did. I didn’t like the Sercial at all, but I got a chance to try it without breaking the bank.
What! At the Marine Corps museum, they serve a red wine at the cafe called Jarhead Red out of Mason jars! It was an excellent glassware pairing. I think having different types of glass for different wines is a bit overrated, so I suggest that you not go overboard, but two or three different glasses would be nice.
I think that choosing wines that are appropriate for the climate is important. I spend a lot of time diving in the Mexican Riviera. A lot of the wines available are just too “big” for the climate. Chardonnays, Malbecs, Cabernet, etc. I would go roses, Southern Rhones whites, Sauv Blancs, Grenache, lighter Zins, etc. It’s just too damn hot for high alcohol, super extracted wines, particularly reds. The problem, I suspect, is availability int he distribution channel. Also, if it is what people will buy, what can you do…