A few days ago, we strolled over a newly restored footbridge in Central Park, surrounded by just-planted landscaping including lots of ferns. The air was unusually crisp for an August afternoon and the older vegetation’s vibrant greens had dimmed a bit, for us a sign that summer is drawing to a close. In the wine world that means we’re approaching peak buying season. So we thought it would be a good time to talk to some wine store owners because having a good merchant is essential to your wine journey. We asked them two basic questions:
1) What would you like to see your customers do more?
2) What would you like to see them do less?
Cork Wine Bar and Market, with two locations in Washington, D.C., and a third coming soon, is owned by power couple Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts. Gross is a former civil rights attorney and former general counsel to retired Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. Pitts is a progressive social justice activist who is a principal at Democracy Partners, a political consulting firm, and former national political director of the Sierra Club. They opened Cork Wine Bar in 2008 and it has morphed into its current two-story iteration with not only a wine bar but a wine shop and restaurant. Their second location, Cork Spring Valley, is a wine store. The third, opening this fall, Cork Cleveland Park, will be a wine store and wine bar.
1) More? We would love to see our customers ask more questions! We love talking about wine — it’s the fun part of the job, as is getting guests into a wine that they love because they’ve taken a risk with a varietal or region that they haven’t explored before.
2) Less? We would love guests to ask for “brand” name Champagne less! People are very familiar with all the big houses — but grower Champagne is where it’s at! We have over 20 different bottlings of grower Champagne in so many different styles, focusing on each of the primary varietals. We especially love Special Club offerings, which are perfect when guests want special bottles and they are often more affordable than the big, familiar names.
Happy Cork Wine & Spirits, Brooklyn, is owned by Brooklyn native Sunshine Foss, who is as ebullient as her name suggests. We met her in 2021 in Atlanta when Dottie was honored at the Hue Society’s Wine & Culture Fest, an annual event hosted by Tahiirah Habibi, a sommelier who founded Hue Society and co-founded the Roots Fund, organizations working to increase access and representation of underserved communities in the wine world. Foss founded Happy Cork in 2019 and it has become, she says, the source for the largest selection of Black and minority-owned wines and spirits. She and her husband, Remo Foss, also own Happy Buds, a wellness shop in Brooklyn that offers a wide variety of CBD products.
1) More? I’d love to see our customers explore outside their comfort zone a bit more — try that funky natural wine, a bold South African red, or a small-batch rum they’ve never heard of that sounds like it belongs on vacation. Ask us questions, let us pair something unexpected for you, and share your discoveries with friends. And of course… come back with the tasting notes only you could write.
2) Less? I’d like to see less of the “I just need the cheapest bottle” rush-shopping mindset. Don’t get me wrong—budget matters! But wine isn’t just a transaction; it’s an experience. Slow down, browse, chat with us, and let the bottle you choose be one you’re genuinely excited to open.
Harlem Wine Gallery, New York City, is owned by a long-time Harlem couple, Daneen Steele and Pascal Lewis, who started their business in 2016 after their children had grown up. We’ve gone to outstanding community-building events there and discovered some hard-to-find wines that the couple has somehow sourced.
1) More? We hands-down have the best customers! We love that most are open to suggestions and are adventurous and willing to try new varietals.
2) Less? The one thing that we would like to see less of is when customers don’t want any suggestions or help from the shop and prefer to look up the wine online on their phones instead of talking to us!
The Urban Grape, Boston and Washington, D.C. The stores, parts of Hadley and TJ Douglas’s now sprawling Drink Progressively Group, organize wines by body, not region or grape variety (think moving progressively from skim milk to cream). In 2018, they established The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color, a year-long education and training program to increase career opportunities in the wine industry. (Urban Grape just announced that its Washington location will close on Aug. 31, but the Boston store will remain open.)
1) More? We are very lucky that our customers are pretty adventurous, but in general we’d like to see more consumers embrace diverse varietals, regions and winemakers. It’s easy to get into the routine of buying the same bottle every week and branching out can feel intimidating, but smaller stores like ours know how to take the consumer on a journey that helps them explore. It’s always the right time to try something new!
2) Less? We want our consumers to feel empowered, but it’s hard when customers stand in a customer service-focused store like ours and use their phones to check reviews and prices instead of engaging with us. We are so excited to help you choose the right bottle for your palate, meal, experience, and price point, and can share so much more than an online review. Plus, online pricing is often deceiving and hard to understand. Every state has different pricing that is set by the wholesaler and out of the store’s control.
3 Parks Wine, two locations in Atlanta. 3 Parks Wine Old Fourth Ward and 3 Parks Wine Glenwood Park are owned by Sarah Pierre, who opened her first location in 2013 and named it 3 Parks because it was centrally located between Grant, Glenwood, and Ormewood parks. We met Pierre at the Hue Society event, too. Before launching her wine shops, which specialize in artisanal, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines, Pierre worked in and managed hot restaurants in New York City and Atlanta for more than a decade.
1) More? I have owned 3 Parks Wine Shop for almost 13 years and I can honestly say that the only thing I wish my customers did more is increase their visit frequency! We see many of our customers weekly, but a daily visit would be so much fun! I would also like to see more people join our wine club. I put so much love in curating our wine club packs, and while we have hundreds of members, I would gladly welcome more. It is the perfect way for our guests to explore the vast world of wine.
2) Less? What I would like to see wine drinkers, not necessarily our customers, do less is shop at big box stores. I have been preaching this since Day One. I completely understand that buying wine in a grocery store or big box may be the only option for many, but in most major cities, there are small wine retailers scattered throughout a city. Small businesses are the lifeline of a community. Without them, the neighborhood turns into a homogeneous, bland, incredibly boring way of life that lacks any sort of character. Sounds awful. I’ve always said that while I love my regulars, I think what’s most important is that they are regulars in wine shops, in general. In an ideal world, every bottle purchased would be bought at a wine shop. That way, we would all stay busy, and we would all have the support from the members of the community. If the businesses are anything like mine, they would then recirculate those dollars back into the community by supporting the schools in their district, donating to nonprofits of their choice, and hiring people who reside in the area. Imagine how beautiful that world of wine would be!
Pierre added this, which sums up our own view perfectly: “Wine shopping should feel like treasure hunting because when you take your time, you just might leave with a bottle that’s more ‘OMG this is amazing’ rather than ‘Well… it’s wine.’”
Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal’s wine column, “Tastings,” from 1998 to 2010. Dorothy and John have been tasting and studying wine since 1973. In 2020, the University of California at Davis added their papers to the Warren Winiarski Wine Writers Collection in its library, which also includes the work of Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. Dottie has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at The Miami Herald, The New York Times, and at The Journal. John was Page One Editor of The Journal, City Editor of The Miami Herald and a senior editor at Bloomberg News. They are well-known from their books and many television appearances, especially on Martha Stewart’s show, and as the creators of the annual, international “Open That Bottle Night” celebration of wine and friendship. The first bottle they shared was André Cold Duck. They have two daughters.
