I was informed about these "10 Steps" by José Tomáz Mello Breyner, a portuguese friend who got it from the Cornell University's Newsletter, which he subscribes.
-Mário-
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10 Steps to a More Profitable Wine List
The wine list is an essential part of your profit strategy, and ultimately, it's about retailing another product on your menu.
More smart thinking and less reverence for industry hype will maximise your profits - if there are myths and mysteries about wine, use them for promotion, don't fall for them yourself. Good display, enthusiastic recommendations and care with stock holdings will boost your reputation and the bottom line.
1. Add short descriptions of each wine. These help sell more wine and can subtly steer customers towards selecting your more profitable items. Check wine labels, catalogues and wine magazines for words and inspiration. While we would love our servers to know all the wines and take time with recommendations, the fact is that most times the list must do the selling.
2. 'Our favourite' and 'everyone's favourite'. People love recommendations, so make sure all staff have them ready to offer. Increase staff knowledge with regular tastings designed across varieties, e.g. rieslings in one session and merlots in another, rather than just the offering of one supplier. The Wine Tasting Wheel from Aroma Dictionary is a great training resource.
3. Forget wine pricing mark-up myths. There's only one rule - offer great value and charge as much as you can. You may have bought a pallet of unknown but great-tasting wine for $4 per bottle - who says you can't sell it for $22?
4. Avoid comparisons. Most suppliers offer 'restaurant-only' wines - check the quality and choose these ahead of the brands offered at the local liquor store.
5. Create quality 'house wine' offers - not just the cheap choice, but several that have quality and value. It's surprising how easy it is to have these labelled, often in fairly small quantities while you test the market.
6. Check that varieties offered reflect customer enthusiasm. #1 white wine in Australia (and almost the same in the US) is Chardonnay, and #2 is...Sauvignon Blanc. Does your wine list reflect this? A smart list will have differently priced choices for the most popular varieties.
Don't forget to have several higher-priced offers (memo to clubs!). If someone is being taken out for a special celebration or to impress, the host probably wants something that costs a little more to show they care. What do you suggest?
7. Take extra care with wine-by-the-glass offers - if you don't sell the whole bottle within two days, it may be losing you money. How many half-full bottles do you have sitting there going stale? An investment in proper wine-storage technology may be a wise move.
8. Design the list order to maximise profitability. Listing from cheapest to dearest reduces profitability - the first bottle in a section will always sell more, so make sure it's one with a high profit-margin. The other important wines are your second dearest and second cheapest, so choose them with care.
9. Count, compare and count again. Cash, food and alcohol are all prime targets for staff with money or alcohol problems. Spot-checks will remind staff that you are watching and checking. Accuracy in Point-of-Sale use is vital, so close off the 'Open Item' key that's used when staff can't locate the correct key. Take great care with transfers between departments - the Transfer Book can be the source of much sleight of hand.
10. Measure stock turnover and set limits to the amount you hold. If you sell $2,000 (wholesale value) worth of wine in a week and you are holding $12,000 worth of stock, it's taking six weeks to turn the stock - too long for a small operation. Trim your stock-holding and order more regularly. Most operators don't actually know how much cash is in the cellar.
