Bubbly by the Glass: Beyond Special Occasions
Champagne and other sparkling wines mark celebrations in style, but operators can profit by showing guests that any occasion is perfect for these cheerily effervescent beverages. Introducing, and more importantly, promoting by-the-glass selections is a simple place to start.
By Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, February 21, 2008
 Olive Garden recently added prosecco, a popular Italian sparkling wine, for $6.75 a glass. |
Champagne and other sparkling wines mark celebrations in style, but operators can profit by showing guests that any occasion is perfect for these cheerily effervescent beverages. Introducing, and more importantly, promoting by-the-glass selections is a simple place to start.
“We’ve gotten more sophisticated with food and more sophisticated with wine, and as we continue to get more sophisticated, champagne is going to play a bigger and bigger part,” says Jake Kosseff, consulting wine director for Yarrow Bay Grill in Kirkland, Wash.
The fine-dining restaurant and its more-casual sibling, Beach Café, recently boosted by-the-glass champagne and sparkling-wine choices from two to four after purchasing a preservation system that recarbonates bottles in special pressurized cases after they’re opened. The system, which costs $300 for the initial investment and another $100 for each pressurized case (which holds one bottle), allows the restaurants much greater flexibility not only in how many but what kinds of sparkling wines they can sell by the glass, since they no longer need to restrict choices to splits or worry about pouring out what’s left unsold at the end of the day.
Current selections at Yarrow Bay Grill range in price from $9 for an Oregon sparkling wine to $25 for a vintage champagne, and Kosseff rotates choices regularly to expose customers to a broad range of flavor profiles, quality levels and of course, price points. The best way to get diners comfortable with the idea of sparkling wine as an everyday drink, he says, is showing them how naturally it pairs with food.
 Pops for Champagne serves seven champagnes by glass on top of 70 champagnes and 25 sparkling wines sold by the bottle. |
“Sparkling wine has a really great combination of acidity and richness, and those are two of the key elements in pairing food and wine. The bubbles add a nice textural element, too,” he says. “The best thing to do is have servers armed with ideas so they can say, ‘This goes wonderfully with champagne.’”
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Just as consumption of sparkling wines shouldn’t be limited to special occasions, their availability needn’t be confined to high-end restaurants, either. Yarrow Bay Grill’s sister property, Beach Café, also offers four sparkling wines by the glass, though Kosseff selects lower-priced varieties more suited to the menu.
Even well-known national chains are paying heed to sparkling wines’ potential. Dallas-based Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon offers a sparkling brut from California, while Orlando-based Olive Garden recently added prosecco, a popular Italian sparkling wine appearing on menus, to its list for $6.75 a glass.
Champagne bars offer a treasure trove of single-serving options. In Chicago, Pops for Champagne serves seven champagnes by glass on top of 70 champagnes and 25 sparkling wines sold by the bottle. The Bubble Lounge in New York and San Francisco offers full-sized and tasting portions of champagne and sparkling wine, while Swanky Bubbles pours at least 10 champagnes and sparkling wines by the glass at locations in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, N.J.
Suggestive Selling
Michael Muser, wine director at The Peninsula Chicago hotel, says guests are starting to order champagne and other sparkling wines where they once would have chosen white wine.
“Overall, I think we are winning the war on the idea that champagne is only for celebration, when in fact champagne is a beverage that can be consumed with any meal,” he says. “One of the cool things about offering these items by the glass is that especially with higher-end champagnes, they can be really expensive. Many people may not feel like they can get a whole bottle, but many of us can afford a by-the-glass pour.”
This philosophy holds true not just at Avenues, the hotel’s high-end dining venue, but also at The Lobby restaurant, where customers can indulge in a chocolate buffet on Friday and Saturday nights for $19.50 per person. Instead of the hotel’s hefty master wine list, they receive a more-succinct beverage card tailored to dessert. Five or six sparkling selections by the glass—heavy on the sec and demi sec varieties on the sweeter end of the spectrum—headline the list.
Not surprisingly, though, the most champagne and sparkling wine sells at Avenues. Muser estimates that an impressive 95% of diners start their meals with a glass of bubbly, thanks in no small part to the restaurant’s unique, attention-grabbing champagne cart.
The elegant presentation begins shortly after guests are seated, when the captain rolls the cart to the table and describes each of the four-to-six choices available by the glass that day. Muser seeks to highlight selections from different regions around the world, but showcasing a broad range of flavor profiles is most important.
“It’s really on the captain to know the choices in and out and explain how each is different and intricate in its own special way,” he says. “After that, it’s really tough for the guests not to be excited and want to order something.”
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