Brand Autopsy

Wine by the Ounce. At Tuscany Market, a “gourmet market and eatery” located in north Austin, shoppers can sample one-ounce tasters of 32 red and white wines through the first computerized wine sampling system of its kind in the United States, reports Dale Rice in the Austin American Statesman (9/8/04). Tuscany co-owner Mike Sattler says, "There are a lot of times I would like to buy a bottle of wine that's a little more expensive, but I'm afraid to get it home and find I don't like it. This creates the ability for people to taste wine, experience it, learn, and go."

Tuscany’s computerized wine sampling system is situated in a chilled room and boasts 32 upright bottles housed in a pressurized preservation system which prevents deterioration. To sample any of the wines, shoppers need to first purchase a debit card from the store and load money directly onto the card much like you would with any stored value card. With the help of a Tuscany employee, the shopper places their debit card in a slot above the wine they wish to sample and the computerized system dispenses exactly one-ounce of wine into the glass and deducts money from the shopper’s debit card.

Most one-ounce wine samples cost 60 cents with more expensive wines costing around $3.00 per sample. The most expensive sample Tuscany Market offers is a 2000 Chateau Margaux, a French Bordeaux, which costs $20 an ounce to sample and $600 for a full bottle. In the six months Tuscany Market has been open, they have sold more than 1,200 wine sampling debit cards with an average sale per visit/per card of $16.73.