Foothills wine business adjusts to slow economy

When the economy started to slow, Kathleen Fordyce began getting calls from connoisseurs who wanted to sell their wine collections.

Her advice? Pop a cork and enjoy.

Fordyce and her husband Mike own My Wine Cellar and Lucy's Place in the Ahwatukee Foothills. She points out that buying and selling wine is strictly regulated by criminal laws.
Plus it's risky: What if that $1,000 bottle a collector hangs on to is stored improperly and turns to vinegar?

The Fordyces, who opened their wine business 11 years ago, are all about encouraging customers to open a bottle and enjoy it today.

Their customers range from social drinkers who drop by for pizza, salad and free tastings to connoisseurs who can afford to buy the most expensive bottle My Wine Cellar carries: a $500 dry red wine called Bertani Amarone.

Kathleen Fordyce said over the years she has noticed her customers fall into three categories:

•  Cherry pickers: High-income wine drinkers who vacation at vineyards, read wine magazines and seek out rare, exclusive labels.

•  Average customers: Wine fans who also are well-informed but typically spend less than $75 a bottle.

•  Socializers: The folks who show up for tastings and other events but are just as interested in meeting people are they are in developing a taste for fine wine.

Typical of the high-end customers at My Wine Cellar is attorney Thomas Littler, who said he drives over from his home in south Tempe at least once a week. He drinks of Patz and Hall Chardonnay and talks politics with friends.

"It's an upscale clientele here," he said. "You see lawyers, professionals, people who own their own businesses. These are not people who are cutting back."

Littler has gone on wine tasting trips to California with the Fordyces. He said he has no interest in free samples.

The Fordyces said their first customers were mainly high-end wine drinkers when they arrived in Ahwatukee in 1989 from New Jersey. They couple opened their first store and tasting bar just down the street from their current location at 50th Street and Warner Road.

Six years ago, My Wine Cellar had enough customers for a larger location and a restaurant, Lucy's Place.

Until the recession, cherry pickers were still 15 to 20 percent of the Fordyces' business. Now they comprise less than 10 percent, the couple said.

"Socializers are keeping our business going," Kathleen Fordyce said. "Socializers are great because they are up for trying anything. It's our job to let them try it and see what they like."

Lately she has been sending regular e-mails blasts about tastings and other events to a list of 3,500 people. Earlier this week she also began a $75 four-week class called Wine 101. She has taught the class regularly for years and says it has helped turn newcomers into regulars.

These days a few more Hondas and Toyotas are joining the Mercedes and BMWs in My Wine Cellar's parking lot.

Alice Itsell, a wine merchandiser for Chandler-based AJ's Fine Foods, said wine stores everywhere are seeing similar trends.

"People aren't consuming less, but they are adjusting their budgets," she said. "They might not buy that $75 bottle right now, but they might buy two $35 bottles.

"I think a lot of people who didn't realize it before are finding out how high the quality of $10, $15 and $20 bottles of wine are these days. Consumers are surprised by the values."

Kathleen Fordyce said one of her favorite parts of the job is paying attention to what a customer enjoys, then introducing the person to something new. She might pour a sample of a Chilean wine for someone who thinks they only like wine from France.

"You don't have to spend a lot of money on a bottle of wine these days," Kathleen Fordyce said. "There are great wines that we sell for $10 a bottle."

Kathleen Fordyce said she also works hard to create a serenity zone for customers, many of whom want to relax after long days of economic stress.

"We deal with a lot of business owners and people who are the bosses making decisions to let people go," Kathleen Fordyce said. "They come in here because they know we are a low-key place."

Before leaving office to join the Arizona Attorney General's Office in February, former Phoenix City Councilman Greg Stanton said My Wine Cellar would be among the gathering spots he missed most in Ahwatukee.

And, on a recent Friday, House Majority Whip John McComish, an Ahwatukee resident and Republican, dropped by Lucy's Place for a business appointment.

"This is where Ahwatukee congregates," he said.