About a year ago, I stopped at my local Whole Foods on a Friday evening to find the place packed with adults milling about, sans shopping carts, nibbling canapés and sipping wine amid unmistakable cocktail party chatter. I almost turned around, thinking I’d wandered in on a private event, but no, there were a few cart jockeys picking through the produce, and toddlers in their jammies helping Mom pick out crackers.
This was simply Whole Foods’ regular Friday night wine tasting, where for 10 bucks or so you could sample five wines along with specially prepared dishes to accompany each pour. Participants moved through the store from station to station – and while it made things slightly more challenging for us mere shoppers, it certainly created a festive environment as I worked through my list.
This year, I’ve seen promotions for wine (and now beer) tasting events at every grocery store within a 20-mile radius. Now, across the country, some are taking the concept even further, by inviting shoppers to belly up to a real-live bar, have a seat, and enjoy a pint, a glass of wine or even a cocktail. Whole Foods Market is one; its new, massive Lincoln Park store in Chicago features seven specialty “eateries,” including DaVine Wine and Cheese bar, an adorable little oasis where you can take a break from comparison-shopping brands of canned corn.
In Philadelphia, you can do a mini market pub crawl, starting at the Cold Point Pub in Plymouth Meeting’s Whole Foods, which features beer and wine both on tap, and moving on to The Pub inside the Wegmans supermarket in Collegeville. Wegmans really commits to the concept, seating 63 in a natural quartz stone and cherry wood environment, complete with flatscreen TVs and a full roster of wine, beer and spirits. A second Pub is planned for another Philadelphia-area Wegmans opening in June.
State laws vary widely regarding liquor laws for supermarkets, but these are getting a closer look everywhere as tasting events become more popular. Washington state conducted a year-long pilot program for beer and wine tastings in 2009, monitoring the effect on public safety considerations, and found no discernible increase in violations.
Grocery stores are uniquely poised to take advantage of the growing consumer desire to embrace our communities more, connecting the dots more clearly between what we buy and where (and whom) it comes from. Want to get to know your neighbors better? Meet them for a drink. Oh, but don’t forget to pick up some toilet paper while you’re there.