The Potential for Wine in Bars

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Guest article by Roland Graf (for KALK&KEGEL)

Sommeliers’ ignorance about cocktails is shocking but bartenders’ knowledge about wine also still leaves a lot to be desired. But nowadays there is movement on these two “fronts”.

Wine has been used in the bar world since time immemorial. Especially the most iconic cocktails – just think of Manhattan, Martini or Negroni – all also contain wine-based ingredients – let alone Champagne; although the latter is often only used to top up many such classics as the “French 75” and did not feature more widely. So it’s not that easy with bars and wines. Particularly people with a thirst for red wine suddenly kicking in will only be able to quench it at bars with the few drops contained in a “Boston Sour”.  A choice of vintages is reserved for whisky at best. Asked about the grape variety of vermouth, even seasoned mixologists often fall silent.  

Though serving both wine and vermouth holds some potential here. Nerds like it! For instance, you can tell “Noilly Prat” is made from the rare Piquepoul Blanc variety the second you have the straw-dry white wine from Southern France in your glass. This kind of revelation is often made where France is located basically “round the corner”: “One Trick Pony”, the celebrated cocktail bar in Freiburg/Breisgau, not only serves elaborate long drinks but also boasts a satisfactory wine list. “Guests either drink cocktails or they come to us to drink wine,” says co-owner Boris Gröner, for whom the numbers add up. However, hardly anyone “commutes” between the two drinks worlds at the “Pony”.

He found a simple way to solve the pricing problem: “I should mention that we only sell wine by the bottle not by the glass.” This means: no €14 cocktail is served next to a tight-fisted wine spritz drinker who spoils the whole turnover for the evening. Cocktails are even perceived as the more inexpensive option. In Freiburg, however, the bar operators also worked on their competencies. Gröners’ business partner Andreas Schöler had the privilege of “brutally” immersing himself in the wine topic and drinking the wines. He now takes care of the complete wine selection.  

Equipped with this knowledge they even set up a wine merchant’s during the pandemic. This “test balloon” launched in 2020 was then kept on and today comprises approx. 150 different items. Gröner refers to this as “not sooo many”. Instead, natural wines are a big theme in the world of the “One Trick Pony”. “At our shop and in the bar we sell I reckon some 80% of natural wines.” And currently they are looking for a venue in Freiburg – a dedicated wine bar is to follow in the Pinot Grigio capital. 

© One Trick Pony

Joie de vivre instead of terroir adoration

With this move, however, they are no longer an exception – an “indomitable Gallic village” as it were. Wine options are also flourishing in cocktail bars – beyond the ubiquitous wine offerings. Not least because wine is a markedly lower-alcohol alternative to cocktails, which not infrequently contain 18 to 25 vol alcohol – without many drinkers being aware of this. A look at the proud beer city of Munich makes this clear. “When I got started with 60 wines twelve years ago everybody laughed at me,” reports Kristijan Krolo on the change that also has to do with customers.  

In his case the wine-friendly focus is all the more remarkable because his “Loretta” bar in Munich already had two focal ranges: during the day top-class espresso was served to the neighbourhood while from the “blue hour” Amaro reigned – with Europe’s largest choice including even the vintage segment of bottles no longer available. But “Kris” Krolo is also the founder of “Balis” lemonades and has recently expanded the range to include two wines (Frizzante or rosé from the Veneto region). “Another white wine and red wine are to follow,” says the Munich-native.   

He is already making plans to expand because this offering suits the current mood and is also more easily accessible than the cocktail world. The labels featuring a diver with a moustache on his rosé / sparkling wine “rokko” are more reminiscent of craft beer – deliberately so! “Because you drink this on a whim, to have fun, not because someone has given you a 10-minute lecture on proper vermouth.” Until today, the Loretta menu features some 100 bottles of wine. “And they sell very well,” as pioneer Krolo confirms for Munich at least.  

With his own brand he is also targeting a new clientele. Depending on how big your ego as a sommelier is, you might describe them as clueless, unspoilt by education or curious. Kristijan Krolo does not elaborate on acidity and vintage specifics but instead just asks the question: “Why can’t you link good quality with fun and give a frizzante or rosé wine a face and name people remember?” Seen this way, wine is synonymous with joie de vivre without taking itself too seriously. 

Bars double as exquisite wine shops

In view of this blatant contradiction between Bavaria’s relaxed approach and Vienna’s reservations as regards wine, we should probably turn to more neutral territory. Next stop: Switzerland, Zürich, at the waterside location Stadthausquai. “Our wine business accounts for some 15% of total turnover,” calculates host Dirk Hany at “Bar am Wasser” – who sees himself as the sommelier of this bar located a stone’s throw from Lake Zurich. “But I always seek inspirations with our suppliers.” 

© Bar am Wasser

Although many bottled wines in the uncontested premier league (Hany mentions Château Pichon-Longueville, Bodega Pintia and Château Pétrus as examples) are served here, he also says there are three key considerations at play for any top-notch bar in Switzerland:

1) Customers rarely switch between cocktails and wine.

2) As a matter of principle, Hany selects “value-for-money” wines that cannot be purchased in retail.

3) He also makes sure they don’t offer the same range as their neighbours.

This has resulted in a regular customerbase for wines who only come to the “Bar am Wasser” because of its specialised offering. Attracting them all the more so because of the bar’s focus on 140 different Champagnes. This move came about through “Les Bulles“, the Swiss trading company for vintner Champagne – Dirk Hany being one of its four founders. According to the company’s profile, his role is determined by the cocktail bar: “He knows what customers like and how to introduce them to something new.” And that can also be a wine!