Buying the right wine can be intimidating.
Whether in a liquor store or an upscale restaurant, choices can be overwhelming, and the risk of embarrassment or abject disappointment runs high.
Vino 100 hopes to do away with all that. The franchise wine shop, which opened a store in Owings Mills in October, was created to take the intimidation and guesswork out of wine shopping, and focus on the enjoyment of the grape.
Tim Patton, who owns the Owings Mills store with his wife, Shirley, said they like helping customers abandon their misperceptions about wine. Zinfandels, for example, are not all alike. They can be fruity or dry, lighter or more full-bodied. Vino 100 uses a proprietary evaluation tool called the Barometer to place each wine on flavor and body continuums. Most people, even wine neophytes, know their preferences in these categories, Vino 100 founder Gary Blumenthal said.
Once the Pattons know what their customers like, they enjoy introducing them to new wines ? including some varietals they had previously thought distasteful. Vino 100 stocks at least 100 wines costing $25 or less, and if a recommended wine fails to please, a full refund is offered.
It also stocks cigars, gourmet food items and gifts.
In addition to helping customers select wines they will like, Vino 100?s owners take pride in finding superior offerings from smaller, lesser-known wineries.
Blumenthal, a serialentrepreneur, started Vino 100 in 2003 and now presides over 60 franchises from his Bala Cynwyd, Pa., headquarters. Stores are planned for Baltimore and Frederick in the coming year, he said.
The Vino 100 franchise fee is $30,000, but the average total investment, including site improvements, fixtures and inventory, runs from $150,000 to $245,000, according to the company?s listing with Franchise Direct.
Wine consumption in the United States is at an all-time high, according to the Wine Market Council. Americans consumed 259 million cases of wine last year, or approximately 2.9 gallons per person. In 2000, consumption stood at 200 million cases.
In addition, because today?s young adults show an interest in wine that their parents did not manifest until their 30s, projections for continued market growth are excellent, the council said.
If you go:
Vino 100
» Where: 9419 Common Brook Road (near Lakeside Drive), Owings Mills; in the Brookside Commons shopping center
» Hours: Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday
443-394-8466
» Info: vino100owingsmills.com
