RETAILERS TOAST CONSUMERS AT WINE-SAMPLING EVENTS

STEPHANIE FAGNANI / Additional reporting: BARBARA MURRAY

SPRINGBORO, Ohio -- Dorothy Lane Markets symbolically toasted its customers for their support during its sixth annual Holiday Food and Wine Show, pouring 82 different wines for 400 attendees.

According to Todd Templin, director of beer and wine sales for the independent Dayton, Ohio-based chain, wine stations were set up throughout the store during the event, held recently at the unit here. Customers were sent home with Riedel crystal glasses that were given to them for the tastings.

"We have a show book, a pamphlet that lists all the wines they are tasting, with space for them to write their own notes. It's long but narrow, and can fit in a pocket," he said.

The event also included live music and a vast array of food-sampling stations on the store's two floors in the wine, meat, seafood, deli and produce departments. Featured items included carved beef tenderloin and the store's own artisan breads. Tickets were $60, Templin told SN.

The retailer purchased all the wine for the event, but received some manufacturer support for the food items it served. For example, Euro USA, Cleveland, supplied most of the vinegars and cheeses at the event.

Dorothy Lane is not the only retailer to use wine as the main item in its consumer-focused holiday events. Felpausch Food Centers, Hastings, Mich., recently hosted a five-course French dinner featuring five wines. At $50 per person, "we filled the building," according to an executive at the store. Invitations were submitted to customers found on the client list of Felpausch's wine expert, Mark Reincke.