NOffA news

A league of their own

Julia O’Reilly caught up with Dante Ruiz, manager at the 2022 Leinster Off-Licence of The Year award winner - The Wine Centre in Kilkenny city

Award sponsored by Alpha Zeta

Since The Wine Centre first opened its doors in 1965 it has been renowned for its dedication to customer service and excellence in product selection. Most recently, the store was lauded by NOffLA, who named it the Leinster Off-Licence of The Year for 2022.

Based in Kilkenny city, The Wine Centre boasts an extensive collection of new and old-world wines, alongside over 300 craft beers. Plus, its recently opened ‘Whiskey Wall’ carries over 120 whiskeys, including a selection of rare bottles, all of which are available to purchase.

When ShelfLife recently caught up with the store’s manager, Dante Ruiz, he shared his delight at receiving the honour. “We were very excited when we heard we’d won. This is one of the greatest achievements an off-licence can receive, so it means a lot to us. It’s something our customers like to see as well, so that’s another nice element of the win.” While the win was warmly welcomed, this isn’t The Wine Centre’s first rodeo. In fact, they have scored the accolade nine times in the last 10 years.

Originally from Peru, Ruiz has lived in Ireland since 2009. After a short spell in Dublin, he moved to Co. Kilkenny, and having been told The Wine Centre was looking for a wine sales advisor, Ruiz applied and has been there ever since.

Exceptional service

A real stand-out in its field, Ruiz says one of the key differences between The Wine Centre and other off-licences and supermarkets is the expertise of its staff and its vast drinks range. “The Wine Centre is such a specialist shop, and the knowledge our team has is really exceptional. But more than just being knowledgeable, they’re all chatty and friendly, which is incredibly important too.”

With its stellar reputation, the store is a must-visit for many the tourists visiting the area. “We are the main off-licence here in Kilkenny,” says Ruiz, “so we get a lot of tourists, especially from America. They love seeing our wide selection of drinks, but mainly they like to chat with the team. Often the Americans come into the store to buy American bourbon and end up with Irish whiskey.

“History always sells,” Ruiz continues. “If you tell someone about the history behind a drink, and really engage with them, they almost always end up buying it. Sometimes it might not be as ‘good’ a drink as others we offer, but a great story can make it extraordinary.”

High standards

Of course, running a highly successful, multi-award-winning store comes with its own challenges, but Ruiz says it comes quite naturally to himself and the team. “I never feel pressure in this job. I love the work and have a great team working with me. My main concern is staffing. In this business, people are always moving around so finding the right replacement is incredibly important. To keep standards high you need the right people in the shop.”

As Ruiz prides his team for providing personalised, specialist advice to customers, he is adamant that the team maintain that high standard as the store experiences staff turnover. When bringing new members of staff into the fold, Ruiz is grateful to have senior members of staff who he can rely on to help guide the way. “We have two members of staff who help the newer employees learn how we engage with the customers, and how we present ourselves and our shop. They help set the tone going forward.”

Big changes

Like many in the industry, The Wine Centre team faced many hurdles in the early days of the pandemic: “That forced us to make some big changes, the biggest being our embrace of e-commerce.”

Without missing a beat, the team developed an online shop and business started rolling in. “It took off so quickly,” says Ruiz. “Just like that, we were sending out boxes of whiskeys, wines, and beers, every day. The online sales ended up being a really positive addition to our business, and we’re still seeing success with the e-shop today.”

What’s more, The Wine Centre began delivering to its long-term customers in Kilkenny at no cost – another development that is still going strong to this day. “We do local deliveries in Kilkenny at no cost, and our online shop ships internationally. Before the pandemic, it was mainly the younger generations buying alcohol online, but now it’s much more popular across the board.”

Demand shift

Just as the business has changed, Ruiz notes that consumer demand has changed too. “Gin was performing really well before the pandemic, but now sales have gone down massively. Meanwhile whiskey is really having a moment, it’s flying out the door. We have a great selection of rare whiskeys for customers who collect. If a customer can’t find a type of whiskey, they come to us and we try to get it for them.”

Social media trends

Many consumers are making alcohol purchases based on social media trends. Mezcal, in particular, is very popular both online, and with customers in Ruiz’s store. And Whispering Angel Rosé has seen a huge sales boost thanks to its popularity on the internet.

“Internet trends have a big impact on our sales,” says Ruiz. “The mezcal trend started on social media, and young people are still buying it en masse. Whispering Angel is a nice wine that social media has created a real frenzy around. We sell it for

Store manager Dante Ruiz Ruiz says one of the key differences between The Wine Centre and other off-licences and supermarkets is the expertise of its staff and its vast drinks range

€30 and people are delighted to get their hands on it.”

Staying on top of what’s popular online is an important aspect of running a successful store today, and it’s something Ruiz does not take lightly. “We have a full-time member of staff that does marketing for us. He uses social media to promote us and our products and through using those tools we have generated a lot of customers.

“In a business like this, if you’re not into the social media trends, the business won’t survive. You have to embrace technology. You have to use these platforms as another way to interact with customers.”

As to how he keeps customers coming back, Ruiz says: “Some places are cheaper than us, but customers always come back to The Wine Centre because they trust us. Our customers trust our recommendations, our delivery is reliable, our products are of a high-quality. We’re a tight team that really values our relationship with the customer, and they can feel that.”

The Wine Centre boasts an extensive collection of new and old-world wines

Emily McEntee is a fan of Cockagee cider, which is made nearby along the Boyne valley in Slane

When I was first asked to submit a piece about one of my favourite products, the decision was difficult, as we have an extensive range of premium wines, beers and spirits and we have great Irish partners who import the finest alcohol products, so to choose from these wasn’t an easy feat.

But here in McEntee’s we pride ourselves in supporting local, we love local Irish products especially when we have premium Irish products right at our doorstep, and luckily for us, Cockagee cider is made a couple of towns over along the Boyne valley in Slane. Mark and Fiona make hand crafted, small batch ciders using the traditional Keeving process which gives their ciders unique aromas and flavours. With a rather unusual name Cockagee is named after an old Irish apple tree thought to be extinct and is now blended with the finest English and French apples to make this beautiful cider. Cider was once the original wine of the land here in Ireland and their goal in The Cider Mill Slane is to return it to its former glory.

My favourite

In on monthly column outlining NOffLA members’ favourite tipples, Emily McEntee of McEntees Off-Licence, Newmarket Street, Kells, Co. Meath, outlines her top pick

Tasting notes

With a beautiful golden colour, floral aromas, a burst of honey, fruit and almonds with a fullbodied long finish, this low alcohol cider is perfect as a whole year-round drink on a beautiful summer’s day and even at Christmas dinner.

This is hands down my favourite product in stock, and if you haven’t tried it before, now is the time. At €4.20 for a 375ml bottle and €8.40 for a 750ml bottle you couldn’t pass it. We have really seen sales spike of Cockagee this summer and expect it to keep going as consumers seem to be looking for less quantity but higher quality products. Cockagee can be purchased now on www.cmcentee.ie.

McEntee’s Off-Licence has been serving the local community in Kells for over 100 years. The above photograph from the 1930s shows Emily’s great grandfather, Ted McEntee and Annie Kinsella (photograph restored by NMC Photos, Kells)

noffla contacts

If you have any queries regarding NOffLA membership or services, please contact our administrator, Reggie Walsh, at Block D, Unit 6, Nutgrove Office Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, by telephone on 01 - 296 2326, by fax on 01 - 296 2451 or by email at info@noffla.ie. The NOffLA website can be found at www.noffla.ie. ■