Just got back home from D.C. Didn't have a drop of liquor on my business trip, but read all about it this morning. According to the Washington Post, a D.C. metro gourmet supermarket has decided to display it's vino wares in an atypical fashion - not by region or varietal, but by pairing:
Shopping for wine can be intimidating. In many supermarkets,wines are organized by country or type, which doesn't always help the novice wine buyer. But at the sprawling Wegmans in Fairfax, wines in the first-floor wine department are organized by the type of food they complement.
Above a selection of reds, for example, the wines are divided into three groups: pizza and pasta wines, chicken and fish, and beef and lamb. A sign with colorful pictures of each type of food -- a plate of pasta, a fish, a cow -- is displayed over each group. Within the group, the types of wine are arranged by price.
It's an idea that the Wegmans chain first tried in Virginia -- initially at the Sterling store in 2004, then at the Fairfax store, which opened last year. It's proven so popular with customers, says wine buyer Mike Riley, that last summer three of the chain's New Jersey stores also started doing it.
"We got the idea because we always seemed to get the same question: 'I'm serving this, what do you suggest?' Organizing wine by food just made more sense," Riley says.
Hmm...Not sure it just doesn't dumb down the consumer so they never experiment with wine choices. The whole system doesn't really promote an individual palate. Or what about complimenting particular cuisine, like Chinese or Mexican fare? Would the folk at Wegmans have paired the robust ZInfandel I imbibed tonight with the spicy, flavorful Indian dinner I had at Tabla's Bread Bar? For the sake of their customers, I certainly hope so.
But I bet is sells more wine to people who wouldn't ordinarily buy. Then, maybe, they'll develop a more educated palate and branch out on their own. In the meantime, Wegman's is probably making a bundle.
Posted by: B'gina | January 19, 2006 at 04:54 AM