Wine School Curates Philadelphia’s First Grocery-Store Wine Selection

A précis of Arthur Etchells’ Sept. 8, 2016 article, “Philly’s First Grocery Store with Wine,” published by Philadelphia Magazine.

When Pennsylvania changed its liquor laws in 2016 to allow grocery stores to sell wine, Philadelphia’s first supermarket to take advantage of the new rules turned to the Wine School of Philadelphia for help.

The Richmond Bottle Shop, located inside the IGA Super Market on Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond, became the first Philadelphia grocery store on the state’s initial list of retailers approved to sell wine.

To build its selection, the shop brought in Wine School founder Keith Wallace as its wine consultant.

Wallace curated an opening assortment of about 100 wines, designed to cover a broad spectrum of customers and tastes — from pink Moscato to Syrah — with plans to expand the selection as the program developed.

There was another unusual element to the arrangement: Wallace was doing the consulting work pro bono.

His only stipulation was that once the Bottle Shop became profitable, it hire one of his Wine School students.

For the Wine School, the project extended its educational mission beyond teaching people how to taste wine. It placed the school directly into Philadelphia’s changing retail wine landscape while creating a pathway for a student to turn wine education into professional experience.

Etchells’ article captured a particular moment in Pennsylvania wine history: as supermarket wine sales arrived in Philadelphia for the first time, the Wine School of Philadelphia was helping determine what went onto the shelves.

Original article: https://www.phillymag.com/restaurants/2016/09/08/phillys-first-grocery-store-with-wine/