In an effort to increase interest in their wine programs, bars & restaurants have found success with hosting events. These can feature selections from the regular program, introduce new selections and suppliers, or even provide clients with allocated and rare bottlings.
In the few months it’s been open, Manhattan’s La Compagnie Wine Bar Flatiron has thrown a ‘Jurassic Park’ Jura wine party; $50 all-you-care-to-drink rosé wine party; $75 Oysterfest offering all-you-care-to-eat oysters with a glass of Champagne; and from its premier site, a continuation of its Wine Boot Camp education series and a daily Mystery Wine offering. In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, foods and wines will be featured from Central & South America.
Amongst all this busi-ness, La Compagnie also hosted an event promoting the soon-to-open Heroes bar. Heroes’ Owners Kenneth Crum and Matt Turner poured nine wines paired with La Compagnie’s food menu. “We love collaborating and sharing our space, and the opportunity to work with two great friends by giving them another platform to promote their story was a no-brainer,” says Beverage Director Will Taylor.
Wine Director Regan DeBenedetto oversees both Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas’ locations in New York and New Jersey, where she’s instituted weekly wine events highlighting the Italian-based wine program. To enhance typically slow Mondays, Benedetto says, “Our Bin Night features wines from all over the world at a discounted price along with blind tastings. We pour glasses from a different magnum bottling every Thursday, with the third Thursday [featuring] a $45 per person walkaround tasting starting at 6:30 pm where we casually teach the guests about the different wines they’re tasting, paired with our kitchen’s tapas.”
DeBenedetto once offered bi-monthly seated, themed dinners at a higher price point, but she found her guests wanted more frequent, lower cost events. Both Spuntino locations run the same program, with New Jersey making the wines available for purchase (New York State law disallows it)—an additional profit center.
“We’ve many regulars loyal to these gatherings who bring their friends, and by socializing with them, I learn about other wines they might like—Spanish, Australian, wherever—and tailor future tastings to align with their desires,” says DeBenedetto, noting it gives their kitchen a chance to vary from its Italian foundation. That said, Spuntino’s still finds a place for visiting winemakers from its Italian roots with Veneto’s Buglioni having made a recent appearance.
With 80% of its 640 members active wine consumers, Jupiter, Florida’s Loxahatchee Club was always a wine-centered operation. In November 2021, Eumi Lee was hired as its sommelier. Seeking to highlight the prestige list already in place, Lee initiated monthly tastings featuring new, eclectic offerings, gathering two complimentary bottles of each wine from distributors to pour in its lobby foyer at a pre-dinner service with no pressure to purchase.
“I was first met with some intransigency from members accustomed to better-known producers,” says Lee. “Many people in my position wouldn’t try to change tastes in this situation, but due to a combination of our customers being passionate, inquisitive, and intelligent about wine, it allowed me to slowly introduce newer wines. Looking back, I’m proud of how it’s grown, and the lobby tastings were key to that.”
In late October, Lee and her manager Dan Myers will host Philippe de Rothschild as he showcases curated selections from his Bordeaux estates, followed by a second appearance by California Grace Family’s management. Lee’s also stretched out to the general public at Jupiter’s new Ara restaurant, featuring the work of Chef Steven Fondu.
The internationally renowned Academy of Magical Arts is another private members’ club, notably home to The Magic Castle, a performance space housing a considerable kitchen with an impressive wine program. Its monthly wine events have been a staple for over a decade, with Director of Food & Beverage Janeen Puente taking the reins in 2023.
“We do three full-on, coursed dinners annually with the remaining nine with themes such as Women in Wine, where we host several female winemakers to pour and talk; celebrating Pride Month with LGBTQ-owned wineries; and geographically defined ones like Spain and Italy,” said Puente. “Typically held on Tuesdays in a small room sequestered from our main stage area, we always sell out our 35-person capacity dinners and the 40-person limit tastings.
“We try to keep things interesting by including wines from places as unusual as Switzerland and Lebanon, but also do more typical ones featuring the many great wines from our native California,” continues Puente.
Until last month, shuttering its 40 Pearl Wine Bar, Michigan’s Brengman Brothers Winery competed with Founders Brewery as one of the best drinking spots in Grand Rapids. To highlight the Leelanau Peninsula’s terroir, it staged “Blind Tasting Thursdays,” offering six examples of a single grape variety that was comparable in prestige, price, and the reputation of the region or producer with one of theirs. Tasting and crib sheets were provided, with scores tallied and revealed at its conclusion followed by a discussion over small plates. At $40, it allowed the winery to offer its AVAs alongside comparable examples. For example, its Pinot Noir with others from France’s Burgundy and the USA’s Oregon. Winemaker Robert Brengman and crew still host popular weekly oysters with wine gatherings at its Traverse City operation along with less frequent seated dinners.
Since 1986, David Furer has served in the on- and off-premise trenches in his native U.S. and former adoptive homes of Great Britain and Germany; directed & hosted international wine business conferences in Europe, Asia, and online concerned with its future and climate change; and contributed to wines & spirits media outlets in the U.S. and Great Britain. He also provides marketing & communications expertise to organizations throughout the world from his New York home while somehow finding time to host the consumer-facing podcast Drinking on the Edge. You can reach him at rerufd@gmail.com.
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