ONLINE ORDERINGThree easy one-liners to upsell any wine!
If selling wine is a part of your job, don’t be intimidated (especially if you are new to it!). Here we offer you three tips on how to upsell across the range of wines on your list, from the first to the second wines listed all the way to iconic names and classic styles!
There are many ways we can encourage guests to get outside of their comfort zone and experiment with new, exciting and delicious wines. Here, to keep things simple, we focus on three key approaches. Principally, focus on quality, emphasize producer recognition, and the merits of ageing.
Below, we give you one simple sentence for each of these scenarios to use as a solid opening when suggesting a pricier wine. Why not challenge yourself during your next shift with a selected wine and see what happens?
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Quality: “this is a wine with depth and concentration of fruit flavour, balanced/offset by a pleasant freshness”
The factors that contribute to quality in wine are manifold but some unifying conditions denote quality in all cases. These are flavour concentration, freshness and balance. In really great wines, balance is achieved between concentration and freshness. To understand what this means, think of how we use lemon in cooking. We often squeeze lemon into rich sauces like hollandaise to add freshness to concentrated flavour. The ultimate ideal is to produce a wine with depth and concentration of fruit flavour, balanced by a pleasant freshness. The freshness in wine comes from the natural acidity in the grape. This simple one-liner perfectly describes a broad range of wines from varietals like Albarino, Picpoul de Pinet, Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon to classical styles like Sancerre or a top-end, youthful Bordeaux.
Examples from our range:
Albariño, Terras Gauda ‘O Rosal’, DO, 2020, Galicia – Spain
Pinot Noir, Gusbourne Estate, 2017, Kent – England
Muscadet Sevre-a-Mains, Domaine L’Archer, AOP, 2020, Loire – France
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Producer Recognition: “an iconic winery celebrated for consistently high quality, in-demand wines”
Knowledge around a few key producers on your wine list is really useful. Certain producers are celebrated for their trailblazing efforts in winemaking, with the result that their wines become archetypes of style. This type of knowledge is gold dust if upselling is a priority in your business and this is why regular staff training is so important. Customer training is a free service we offer and encourage, and from our experience, servers are more likely to make educated suggestions to guests that can really boost margins. If you know there’s a wine on your list from a renowned producer, here’s our suggested one-liner: an iconic winery celebrated for consistently high quality (see point 1!), in-demand wines. The high-demand piece justifies the price.
Examples from our range:
Priorat, Álvaro Palacios ‘Camins del Priorat’, DOQa, 2019, Priorat – Spain
Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, ‘Terre di’ San Leonardo, 2017, IGT, Trentino – Italy
Prosecco Spumante, Bisol ‘Crede’, DOCG, NV, Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Italy
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Ageing to Enhance Complexity: “A wine with the level of flavour complexity that is impossible to find in a younger wine”
Wines that have been aged for long periods of time e.g. Rioja Gran Reserva or Cru Bordeaux, have generally been aged and stored in oak barrels, a costly process that drives up the price. So why do winemakers go to all the trouble? The answer comes down to complexity in the finished wine. Let’s take Rioja as an example. A Gran Reserva has spent a much longer time ageing (60 months) compared to a Crianza (24 months). The additional time ageing increases the range of flavours which means a typical Rioja Gran Reserva generally displays aromas as varied as leather, mushroom, stewed red fruit, vanilla and upon opening, a damp earthiness that students of wine describe as ‘forest floor’. You can describe any aged fine wine as displaying the level of flavour complexity that is impossible to find in a younger wine.
Examples from our range:
Barolo, Gianni Gagliardo, DOCG, 2009, Piedmont – Italy
Rioja Grand Reserva, Bodegas Ollaurai ‘Conde de los Andes’, DOCa 2004 Rioja – Spain