Hello everyone! Welcome to today’s TwitterREVIEW of @swirlmywine with owner Dave Jarvis. Is it early to talk about wine? Lets start!
Dave: Never too early Joel :)
Q – #1 So Dave, how did the idea of @swirlmywine come together? When did it first open?
Dave: Idea for swirl sprung from me being a wine nut and wanting to share hard to find wines without breaking the bank
Swirl opened May 2010
Q – #2 Happy 1yr+ Anniversary! Where are you located and what are your hours of operation?
Dave: Swirl is on the St. Croix River, 4 miles south of I-94 in Afton. 10 min from Woodbury.
Swirl is open Tues – Thurs 4-9pm / Fri – Sat noon – 10pm
Q – #3 You are more than just a wine bar. You have a wine club and are a wine shop. Explain 1st the wine club. How big, etc.
Dave: Yes, fun wine bar that has wine flights & wines by the glass changing weekly
Wine club is great! We are the biggest wine of the month club in MN
Wine club members get a couple bottles of wine each month and a ton of benefits. We do a lot of fun social events too
I think people most LOVE the unique wines we get for the monthly club & the complimentary socials, meet-ups & cruise
Q – #4 How do people sign up for the wine club and how big is the group roughly that you have?
Dave: Wine club has really become a fun community. We take people on the world of wine journey. They love it & the value
About 300 wine club members (600 people with spouse/friend).
Swirl does wine club member-only events but the wine bar and wine shop is open to the public
Q – #5 So what’s the process in selecting the wines for the wine club? Are any of the wines featured regional or even from MN?
Dave: Selecting wines is the fun part and sort of simple… We just try A LOT of wine!
We usually pick a region/theme and then try 25 – 50 wines and narrow down to 10-20 and then narrow down again to 5
Tough job aye? We have MN and Regional wines but don’t have a ton of people asking for it so we don’t focus on it
A lot of our wine is imported & never been in the state before. Mainly they are really good wines from small producers
Q – #6 Explain some of your events like the Ultimate Girls Night Out, Friday Night Free Wine Tastings, and an Annual Wine Trip.
Dave: Good times! Ultimate Girls Night Out (GNO) is a blast for ladies! 3rd Thursday of every month from 5-8 or later
on GNO, ladies get out for some fun! Swirl has Free wine tasting, chair massage, hair consultation, min spa service
GNO has had spray tan, light therapy, spiritual healing and more. Plus 1/2 off apps @currentbar.
Friday nights there is a free wine tasting at Swirl from 6-8:30pm… usually 6 wines. Fun atmosphere and crowd.
Somtimes too much fun on Fridays! Wait… no such thing
Annual wine trip is to the world renowned Pinot Noir Land in Willamette Valley, Oregon
Pronounced Will AM Et.
Each year we take 20 fun loving trip goers on an annual Wine Trip
Next year – places on radar for Wine Trip… Columbia Valley & Yakima Valley Washington , Finger Lakes New York
Q – #7 For people that are 1st timers to your wine bar, how do you help them with your selection? Should they have a goal?
Dave: We ask what they like best and then show them some great options
People can try wine first and then decide which is cool because often you buy a bottle, open it and then don’t like
Goal is to just simply enjoy.
Q – #8 To close, explain how your passion for wine developed (Dave) and what your plans for the biz are for the future.
Dave: Passion for wine started in the South of France about 15 years ago. It hasn’t stopped or skipped a beat
People love Swirl so we are expanding (doubling) the store/bar this October
We have some very creative ideas that could completely change the way some people buy wine
We will continue to make the wine club bigger and better and hope to have more locations down the road
@JoelECarlson: Congrats Dave on the expansion! Thanks for taking the time and sharing some points about @swirlmywine. Have a great day!
Dave: Thanks Joel. Cheers!