Wine retailers are keen to learn the preferences of millennial consumers. What do they like to drink? How do they like to learn about what’s in their glass? A local company takes a data-driven approach to these questions, and crowdsources feedback to stock the shelves of its first retail shop in the South End.
We’re talking about Wine Riot, a series of large-scale tasting events produced by Second Glass, aimed at enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s. Founders Tyler Balliet and Morgan First launched an inaugural event in Boston seven years ago, and now replicate the model across the country. These fetes are a far cry from your traditional walk-arounds. Think temporary tattoos, photos with your besties — feather boas! funny hats! — and always a DJ generating club-worthy beats.
At every Wine Riot, attendees rate wines they taste via a proprietary smartphone app. Ratings become part of a market researcher’s gold mine. The company uses those votes, plus other social media, to peer into the minds of millennials, a demographic whose numbers and burgeoning buying power make the cohort a force to be reckoned with. The company harnessed those insights to design its first brick-and-mortar shop, open since June.
When you walk in the store, located next to Barcelona Wine Bar on Tremont Street, you can’t miss the peppy wall graphics. Illustrated maps of wine regions and colorful collections of wine facts remind you of middle-school geography class with plenty of cheek. In one mural describing phylloxera (the aphid that ravaged 19th-century vineyards), a cartoonish bug gives the one-finger salute. As Balliet says, it’s about “learning about wine and having fun while doing it.’’
There is substance behind the splash. One chart provides a concise iteration of how sherry is made. Shelf-talkers include a helpful scale indicating the dryness or sweetness of each bottle. Daily tastings are conducted at a sleek counter by vivaciously scripted staff. Locally crafted pours are prominently featured among the 400 different products on hand.
Young consumers in the aisles clearly dig it. But what about customers older than the targeted demographic?
“Baby Boomers absolutely love the store,’’ Balliet says. “They say, ‘This is the best thing ever!’’’ Older customers, he observes, are slow to sign up for Wine Riot-branded barbecues or field trips associated with the shop, but they connect with the other features. No one needs to use the company’s app to remember wines they purchase. The store keeps in-house records for easy retrieval at the register.
Trend watchers are keeping tabs on this retail model. Will the shop’s curated wines, many selected by the votes of millennial enthusiasts, resonate with older customers with more experienced palates? How will this shop hook busy folks who simply want to grab-and-go and not ponder the walls?
This team is already figuring it out. We see one pert staff member educating a couple of Boomers about a particular bottle. Even in tech-rich environments, knowledgeable customer service never grows old.
Wine Riot South End, 519 Tremont St., Boston, 617-279-0085, www.wineriot.com
Ellen Bhang can be reached at bytheglass@globe.com.
