October 2005:
Wine Sense Featured in Beverage Retailer Magazine!
We have a new cover girl at Wine Sense. Our own Kristin VandenBrul is featured on the cover of “Beverage Retailer” a widely read industry publication. Accompanying Kristin’s glamour shots is an article about how she started the store and her business philosophy.
Oddly, the writer must have had a bit too much wine because she writes that Wine Sense is located on Park Avenue in New York City. No, we haven’t moved. She just perhaps didn't remember that she and the photographer came to Rochester to interview Kristin. Stop by the store to read all about Kristin’s adventures in the Big Apple.
Insider March 12, 2004:
Cheese Shop A Woman's World
The wine sellers at Wine Sense are making it clear that winemaking isn't a man's world.
BY STAFF WRITER ERICA BRYANT
For all you ladies who have ever felt slighted when the wine menu is automatically set down in front of the men at the table, the wine sellers
at Wine Sense are making it clear that winemaking isn't a man's world. Wines made by female viticulturists, also known as winemakers, are marked
with a big orange star. "Wine Sense is a women's business," says Kristen Vanden Brul, the shop's owner. "We like to highlight women's products."
And for anyone, male or female, who has wondered which wine to serve with anything from barbecued ribs to filet mignon, the Park Avenue wine
shop provides a cheat sheet for every bottle it sells. The cards offer you complete information about who made the wine, where it was made, what
to serve it with, how to say it (don't act as if you've never needed a pronunciation key for those fancy French labels) and when it will taste
best. And Vanden Brul won't make you feel stupid if you ask what it means when a wine has "great structure."
Wine Sense offers selections from around the world, for about every dish you can think of. Making Tex-Mex? Try a Villa del Borgo. Just having burgers?
There's still a wine for you. Try Rojo Cabernet Sauvignon from the Odfjell vineyards in Chile. Or if you're into funky names, try Woop Woop, a Shiraz
from Southeastern Australia, named after a phrase that means "in the middle of nowhere."
Even if you don't buy a bottle, you'll get an education just walking around Wine Sense, especially if you go during one of its free wine tastings,
which are held from 4-7 p.m. Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
And in case you were wondering, having "great structure" means a wine is not too tannic (dry), too fruity or too acidic. In other words, it's just right.
Copyright © 2004 Gannett Rochester Newspapers. Reprinted with permission.
Democrat & Chronicle
March 2001:
Wine Sense savors its mission
Owners of the just-opened Park Avenue store see selves as teachers.
BY STAFF WRITER DANIELLE KOST
At Wine Sense, a customer might ask for merlot but leave with chardonnay.
If the wine doesn't suit the meal, co-owners Kristin VandenBrul and Wendy D. Webb will say so. They would rather steer customers toward the right grape than condone a faux pas.
"We're teachers," said Webb, 41. "We want people to learn about the wines, not be intimidated."
At Wine Sense, 749 Park Ave., these two connoisseurs are trying to develop neophytes' palates and enlighten longtime drinkers. Though there are countless
other liquor stores in the area, Wine Sense differentiates itself by specializing in wines and organizing its stock so that it's user-friendly.
To Dr. Robert Harrison, a Park Avenue area resident and regular customer, Wine Sense enhances the personality of a neighborhood that prides itself on eclectic tastes.
"People chose to live in this area because of that urban richness," he said. "One thing that it hasn't had is a true wine shop."
Wine Sense's more than 400 varieties of wine are organized by grape type, from light-bodied to full-bodied. Rieslings are separated from bordeauxs, burgundys from chablis.
Above each wine rack, a large maroon sign not only describes the grape's origin and flavor, but also suggests compatible foods and when to drink it."
I really wanted a wine store than would sell itself," said VandenBrul, 40.
So far, that strategy is working. The store opened on Labor Day weekend and sold 2,500 bottles of wine at prices from $6 to $80 a bottle –
doubling what the owners anticipated in sales. And October's sales are expected to be more than 3,500 bottles.
Though owners declined to give specific dollar figures, VandenBrul said
that the store made a profit in its first month - a surprise for two entrepreneurs with limited wine-selling experience.
VandenBrul and Webb, both longtime wine appreciators, had aspired for years to open a store that would cater to wine lovers. VandenBrul, who
is also a real estate agent for Judy Columbus Realtors Inc., started working at Napa Valley Wine Co. in Pittsford to learn the business. Webb, meanwhile,
operated a massage therapy practice and took culinary classes at area colleges on the side.
After two years preparing, they formally uncorked their plan and secured start-up money through loans, licenses and a popular location.
VandenBrul and Webb credit their initial success to their personal sales approach and promotions.
The owners taste more than 95 percent of their wines. They try to learn their individual customers' tastes and challenge them to try new flavors.
Their Case of the Month Club, which packages and ships between two and 12 assorted bottles to customers
each month for a fee, is gaining new members each week. The two have also started holding private wine tastings at customers' homes.
Next year they plan to offer classes, and eventually they want to open a second store.
Copyright © 2001 Gannett Rochester Newspapers. Reprinted with permission.
