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By Katie Scarvey
Salisbury Post
Food Lion has seen the future, and it is wine.
OK, maybe not entirely wine, but wine is a big part of it.
If you haven't been to Food Lion Store No. 1 on Mahaley Avenue in the last year or two, you'll be in for a surprise. What used to be a nondescript wine section over in a corner by the beer cooler has received an upscale makeover.
These days, wine is displayed near the produce section — subliminally suggesting health and well being, perhaps. Wine now rates an entire aisle, set off with hardwood flooring and track lighting.
On April 6, representatives from five major companies, including Kendall-Jackson and Ernest and Julio Gallo, had wine tasting stations set up at the store. Childress Vineyards in Lexington was also on hand.
Jimmy Faller is the category analyst for wine at Food Lion. It was his idea to bring in winemakers for some of Food Lion's most popular wines and hold a tasting at Food Lion No. 1, which does a brisk business selling wine.
Wine sales there have seen double-digit growth for the past several years, Faller said, with an increase of 18 percent last year.
The trend shows no sign of cooling off.
"The wine business is booming for us," he said. "A lot of consumers want to experiment with wine."
Because of the promotion, Food Lion No. 1 sold more wine Thursday than any of the chain's 1,200 stores around the country.
Better wine is available now at reasonable prices than in the past, Faller said.
Friday's wine tasting gave customers a chance to do more than sip out of little plastic cups.
Customers got to talk to several prominent winemakers who had flown in from California, as well as Lexington's own Richard Childress, the former NASCAR driver who owns Childress Vineyards.
Besides getting some tips about wine from the experts, customers also got to sample wine with food — Barefoot's zinfandel was paired with freshly grilled steak, for example.
That particular pairing, Faller explained, would bring out the taste of both the zinfandel and the meat.
Food Lion continues to increase its wine offerings, he said, with premium California wines like Carmel Road, which are in the $18 range.
Faller enjoys wine but says he's not a "cork dork" or a wine snob.
Wine-drinking seems to be less associated with snobbery these days, which probably helps to attract customers who might have been intimidated to experiment with wine a decade ago.
Toni Sickles, the senior winemaker at Woodbridge Wines, responsible for the company's Select Vineyard Series, believes that more people are drinking wine these days.
"People are into trying different things with different foods," she explained.
Jennifer Wall, winemaker for Barefoot Wines, part of the Ernest and Julio Gallo family of wines, agreed that wine is becoming more popular.
"People are starting to try wine at an earlier age," she said.
That trend is good for Food Lion and other stores eager to cater to the demographic.
Wall was available to answer questions and pour wine for Barefoot Cellars, which sold 1.2 million cases of wine in 2005.
Wall has seen a difference in consumers during the 11 years she's been in the wine industry.
"People actually know about different varietals now," she said. "People are more specific in their preferences."
Last Thursday afternoon, Wall took a break from her tasting station to visit the Childress Vineyards table. Owner Richard Childress signed several bottles for Wall's sister-in-law, who is a huge racing fan.
The former NASCAR star was pleased with the Food Lion event — and with his new enterprise in general.
"We've been fortunate we've been so well received," said Childress, who believes that grapes are becoming an important alternative to tobacco in North Carolina and will help bring an economic boost to the area.
Food Lion employee Marsha Wall was at the event to buy Childress' Pinnacle wine, a blend of bordeaux varietals, which she serves at parties. Shopper Alice Jamison was buying her first bottle of Childress wine last Thursday.
A young man in a Freightliner shirt asked Childress to sign a bottle of chardonnay "To Sharon."
As a young wine purchaser who doesn't have a white collar job, he is perhaps the sort of customer who is helping Food Lion see significant increases in the number of bottles of wine sold each year.
Faller said that Food Lion is planning more in-store events featuring wine and food pairings.
"We'll try it in 20 more stores this year," he said.
Contact Katie Scarvey at 704-797-4270 or kscarvey@salisburypost.com.
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