Hi,

I'm looking at promoting the sale of wines by-the-glass in the form of wine flights at a number of venues in Australia.

I've read some US articles online from the late 90's which talked about the uptake of wine flights at venues around the country, as well as a specialized carrying tool designed to carry the flights. Evidently this tool allows a waiter/waitress to carry a number of wine flights at one time with ease.

Does anyone have any info on these things?

I'm also very keen to hear if there has been much development in the proliferation of wine flights at venues in the US. Has it become a common thing?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

A local restaurant here offers many different wines by the flight, along with the same by the glass or bottle. The flights are four small pours (1.5-2 oz aprox) of wines with a theme (four different Pinots, chards, non-standard whites, etc.). It's a fun way to try differnet wines. I especially like it with dinner, where you get to try different wine pairings with food and still be able to drive home.

As for the carrier, all I can tell you is that it's a wire carrier that cradels all four glasses in a row. They carry it over and set them all down nice and neat. No clue who produces, etc. Hope that helps?

Thanks for the feedback.

I am very keen to find out more out the carrying devices if anyone has any leads.

I think the idea of wine flights is excellent for a large number of reasons, but I'm wondering if 4 wines is too much for the average punter?

Appreciating/assessing the wines takes some level of focus, and thus a large flight could be viewed by some to be overly intrusive on their evening.

Are wine flights in the US something that are only popular with "wine-buffs" and at specialty wine bars, or are they also finding popularity with a broad audience?

a restaurant around here uses these types of carriers to bring multiple glasses of wine to a table; it sounds like what you are asking about. The restaurant is Zibibbo Restaurant in Palo Alto California. They also have a sister restaurant in San Francisco "Restaurant LuLu" and they also use these carriers. You might want to get in touch with Zibibbo or Lulu- I believe both have a website.

Hey Jack Shiraz, please drop me an email on peter@peterhowlandwines.com
pete

www.peterhowlandwines.com

Jack,

Most of the places that offer wine flights in my area offer 3 two ounce pours which I think is perfect. The flights are priced based on the quality of the wines in the flight. There are not a lot of places that have wine flights but I do wish there were more. As far as the carrying device for the wines, I've never seen one here but if a place specializes in wine flights I would think it's a good idea.