High-end retailers are raising their glasses to the success of in-store wine tasting events.

The chance to sample popular varietals paired with complementary fare, such as crackers, dips, spreads, olives and chocolates, is not only driving incremental traffic, but presenting retailers with lucrative cross-merchandising opportunities.

Spokane, Wash.-based Yoke's Fresh Market typically hosts such events twice a month in its four locations that are licensed to do so, noted Russ Martin, corporate category manager for the 13-store chain. “We're able to showcase our vast selections — not only of wine, but of our premium offerings throughout the store,” he said. “In stores with wine departments, we typically carry 1,500 or more wines, which range in price from $8 to the over-$100 range.”

Some supermarkets offer tastings of ordinary table wines on their sales floor, while retailers like Yoke's take advantage of more formal store space. The retailer's events take place in a presentation facility located on the second floor of its stores.

Attendees — who must sign up for Yoke's wine sampling gatherings in advance — are often more knowledgeable wine shoppers than those who participate in store-floor gatherings, industry sources note. The more formal events allow for exposure to new vintages and let tasters compare wines to determine what appeals to their individual palates.

Yoke's charges customers a $10 admission fee, and tasters get to keep the glass they use during the sampling. (State liquor laws often require that supermarkets charge a nominal fee any time wine is tasted.) Occasionally the proceeds from a Yoke's event will benefit a local charity.

In addition to featuring wine, Yoke's displays a wide array of cheeses, deli meats and breads at its sampling events. Samples of olives, crackers and spreads that complement the varietals being tasted are also provided.

Beringer, Robert Mondavi, Terra Blanc, Canoe Ridge and Yellow Tail are among the brands that have been featured. During the tastings, consumers are urged to pair white varietals from these vineyards with fish, chicken and creamy pastas, and red wines with red sauces, meats and turkey.

“We typically get a nice bump in sales from the events,” Martin said. He declined to elaborate.

AJ's Fine Foods, a division of Chandler, Ariz.-based Bashas', is also toasting the success of its wine tasting events. It has been hosting the in-store samplings since 2003, when AJ's first introduced a store-within-a-store department called the Wine Emporium.

Each Wine Emporium stocks between 2,500 and 3,000 bottles of wine, priced from less than $10 per bottle up to $70 or more for premium or special-occasion wines.

Wine Emporiums, which are typically located adjacent to the cheese and dairy departments, are equipped with glass washers, sinks, refrigerators, a cuvée wine pouring system and a glass storage area to accommodate wine tastings. The events take place two or three times a week, on Friday and Saturday afternoons, in seven of the chain's 11 locations, according to Alice Itsell, chief wine buyer for AJ's Fine Foods.

“Our customers like the ability to taste the wines before they purchase them,” she said. “At AJ's, we sample wines that are very unique in style or varietal, which gives our customers the ability to learn and understand the wine before they purchase it.”

At events held earlier this month, Hungarian wines, including Bock JÓzsef kékfrankos and Malatinszky Kuria chardonnay, were tasted. French wines, such as Domaine de Sainte-Marie rosé de Provence and Red Blend, were sampled at another June event.

Department managers at AJ's locations work with local sales representatives to decide which foods will be cross-merchandised during wine tasting events. Whenever possible, crackers, sauces and dips that are being offered at a reduced price will be featured.