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David Mastro Scheidt's avatar

We don't do enough of this in the US and we should. I "take-over" some of my closest retailers shops for a night or two, but I'd be happy to pour all week at a venue. We have festivals, which don't do much other than overwhelm people with brands and marketing. Doing it small, partnering with retailers and restaurants is how I like to do it. Cool model in Paris.

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Chris Sciacca's avatar

Thanks. I hosted a similar pop-up in Vienna last week for three days and the results were similar. I will post a substack article about some tips and lessons learned in a few days to hopefully encourage more people to host one.

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Eric May's avatar

Excellent account of a successful event, Chris. I particularly liked the demographic breakdown and the “time spent” element, very interesting. Your comment about banishing the pretentiousness and just “get out of the way” rings very true. This is a model for others planning a similar event and definitely one to build on. Congratulations!

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Chris Sciacca's avatar

Merci. I hope the idea can be rolled out in other regions to stimulate wine sales.

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Olivia's avatar

This is incredible! A replicable model that would open doors in so many markets to a range of consumers.

I'm curious about the effects you and Austrian winemakers are tracking/looking for after this event?

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Chris Sciacca's avatar

Hi, yes. In one month since the pop-up ended we already have results. A new wine bar has opened in Paris serving Austrian wines. In fact, the owner ordered 200 bottles of Austrian wine from 11 of the wineries who participated in the pop-up. In addition, I've been asked by the bureau of Austrian Tourism to come back to Paris next week to host another pop-up for one week. So if you are in Paris stop by Fringe, 106 Rue de Turenne - April 7-13 from 18-22hr. There are a few more wine sales on the table, but they are not final yet.

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Simon J Woolf's avatar

Sounds like an amazing initiative Chris! I am truly sorry I wasn't able to be in Paris to experience it.

I have two questions:

1) Isn't it Robert Camuto? I've not seen his name spelled the way you have it here before

2) Did you keep track of how many guests were French/even Parisian, and did you or any of your colleagues speak French or was English the lingua franca (ha)?

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Chris Sciacca's avatar

Indeed. Nearly 1,000 reads and you are the first to notice. Spelling is now fixed. Thanks. And to answer your question, yes, we estimate about 40% were French, but nearly all were living in Paris, with many of them from the European diaspora. The only big non-Parisian nights were during RAW and VinExpo Paris when we had lots of Austrians dropping by to pour their wine. As for languages, Donica speaks French and had some French speakers helping us, but to our happy surprise nearly everyone was happy to communicate in English or German in a few cases with guests from Alsace.

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Butane's avatar

Santé!

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Preston Mohr's avatar

Enjoyed reading your recap after the month. Very interesting takeaways!

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Eric May's avatar

Great account Chris - a model for the future. Thanks for keeping everyone informed and we are all waiting for the next edition. Congratulations and well done!

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