Image of owner Tom Geniesse standing by a colorful seafood display at Bottlerocket wine shop
As a wine lover, you may be curious about your options when it comes to buying wine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on the state where you live, it is possible to have wine shipped to your home address. Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit, based in New York City, is one example of a wine store that is making it easier for people to shop online and ship their order via FedEx.
Unique Online Website
Most wine stores have a website devoted to online sales. Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit is a bit ahead of the game. This is because the website was built to match the innovative theme of the store, which uses colorful island wine displays with food-oriented themes as consumer guideposts.
“Each display has a thematic icon on top of it, such as a cow indicating meat, or a chicken indicating poultry,” Mr. Geniesse explains. “Because takeout food is so popular in New York City, we built different takeout theme displays. We also provide detailed information about each wine next to the bottle. A consumer would only have to find the appropriate takeout icon, select one of the wines displayed beneath it, and pay for it at the counter.”
Assorted Chinese dishes in paper delivery boxes: sweet and sour chicken, dim sum, spring rolls, ... [+]
With the COVID-19 pandemic, regular Manhattan-based store customers shopping on the website will find the same familiar guideposts they have seen in the store. These website icons also make it easy for new customers around the USA to navigate the online wine selections. For example, a click on the website chicken icon will display an assortment of wines that will pair well with poultry, including wines as diverse as Domini del Leone Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore and “orange wine” from Weingut Schlossmuhlenhof. This wine is a blend of Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, and Saint Laurent.
“Though many people use the food icons when they visit the website, others just conduct a search for wine from their favorite country (such as Italy or Spain) to select a wine,” says Mr. Geniesse. The majority of the wines at Bottlerocket are priced from eight dollars to the mid-forties.
When asked how COVID-19 has changed his business, Mr. Geniesse says it is too early to tell. He speaks of a surge of initial panic buying, to the occasional lull, but is optimistic about the viability of his business in the long term. “Even though people are not going out to socialize, they are keeping up to date with friends during ‘wine and cocktail parties’ via Zoom or other online venues.”
Focusing on Employee Health and Welfare
Mr. Geniesse feels it’s important to mention accolades should be given to the “front line” people – the staff who are making the deliveries, coming to work on the subway, and trying to stay safe. He gives enormous credit for their willingness to serve the public in a time that one can rationalize just staying home, noting that customers are tipping more generously in this time of crisis.
The Future for Bottlerocket
Mr. Geniesse is satisfied that the design of the online website is working well during the COVID-19 pandemic, now the primary point of sales. In the future he hopes to improve it with more sophisticated food and wine pairing technology.
Going forward, he also hopes to continue to respond to consumer demand for organic, biodynamic and natural wines as well as interesting new varieties.
