Tar pitch
Wine took over a beer restaurant
Le Verre de Vin is French and loosely translated means a glass of wine. Fast and easy to use, it uses vacuum/CO2 technology to improve wine preservation. It allows wine and bubbles lovers to enjoy an opened bottle for longer, and restaurants can open bottle after bottle without fear of wastage. The first Le Verre de Vin machine was delivered to Teerenpeli in Lahti in the summer of 2022 and can now be found in every Teerenpeli Companies restaurant.
Teerenpel, known for its brewery products, has gradually grown into a beer restaurant chain that also focuses on wines. Teerenpel has always had a good, high-quality selection of wines for social occasions, but the Le Verre de Vin system has made it possible to increase the number of wines sold by the glass. Better and more expensive wines and champagnes have also been added to the range. Thanks to the sale by the glass, it is possible to keep a good rotation even during the slow early weeks.
“Our customers are also looking for quality in wine. The concept of one red wine and one white wine has never worked for us,” says Noora Kaakko, the chain’s director . So it was only natural that a Le Verre de Vin machine was installed at Teerenpel in Lahti during the renovation.
The machine uses vacuum technology to improve wine preservation. It removes air from the opened bottle in 2-5 seconds and wine remains fresh for up to 21 days. Champagne and sparkling wine bottles are filled with CO2 inert gas, preserving the precious bubbles in the bottle for as long as possible. Even champagne can be sold for up to three weeks after opening without any worries.
Wines by the glass have increased sales
As a rule, each Teerenpel has the same wine selection, but the range may vary depending on the clientele, location and demand. For example, the Kampin Teerenpeli in the heart of Helsinki has significantly expanded its wine selection since the installation of Le Ver de Vin. The improvement in the wine selection has also been reflected in increased sales.
In the past, when wines were only sold by the bottle, sales of higher quality and more prestigious wines, such as Amarone, were limited. Bottles are less likely to be bought on their own. Even with a friend, buying an expensive bottle of wine after a day’s work is negligible because of its high price, but now that you can buy wines by the glass, even the more expensive wines sell. The device has also smoothed out the wine rotation on the quieter days of the early week.
“Especially in big cities, quality wines and sparkling wines are major selling points. In the past, a bottle of champagne, for example, was only opened for sale by the glass on weekends; now we can sell it every day.”
The increased popularity is also influenced by pricing policies.
“We want to keep our prices customer-friendly and attractive. For the more expensive wines sold by the glass, we use the euro cap, while for cheaper wines we use a percentage-based pricing model,” explains Kaakko.
Le Verre de Vin has not only increased sales and reinforced the image of Teerenpel as a house serving quality drinks, but has also had a significant impact on wine waste.
“Loss is quite minimal, even though we have several bottles open. Even the most expensive wines are sold within a couple of weeks, and we no longer have unfit wine, champagne or sparkling wine going down the drain,” says Kaakko.
He stresses that shelf life requires that the wine bottle is aerated and carbon dioxide is added to the sparkling wine as soon as the bottle is poured into the customer’s glass. Not that it’s only done in the evening. Sealing the bottle is done with one hand and takes 2-5 seconds.
Two options
Le Verre de Vin can either be installed as part of a CO2 system for beer taps or a mobile table model can be purchased for the restaurant, powered by a SodaStream gas cartridge. There is a place and a situation for both versions. The Teerenpel in the bay has a fixed unit. The Taivaanranta restaurant, on the other hand, has a mobile model.
Kaakko justifies this by the fact that in Taivaanranta the wine point and cabinets are in the middle of the hall. The beer taps are located at the other end of the restaurant. It would not have made sense to install a fixed installation without the renovation.
“In Teerenpel, Le Verre de Vin uses the same carbon dioxide system as beer taps. During the renovation, we branched the system for both the beer taps and the wine equipment.”
Barfix has been installing beer equipment in all Teerenpeli Companies’ restaurants for almost 30 years. At the same time as the installation of Le Verre de Vin in Teerenpeli in Lahti, a new system of 16 beer taps was installed, with all but two of the taps selling the brewery’s own beers, lagers and seltzers.
In addition to the Teerenpeli Companies, more than 50,000 restaurants around the world use Le Verre de Vin, a device developed to preserve unopened wine and champagne.
