FAQ
Great taste meets strong arguments
What is a wine dispenser?
Wine dispensers are devices designed to preserve, cool and serve wines.
How and how long is the wine preserved
The wine is preserved under a protective atmosphere of food grade argon or nitrogen avoiding air from entering into the opened bottle. Both gases are widely used in the food industry to preserve food and beverages, as they are odorless, tasteless and colorless and above all chemically inert, meaning they do not react with the wine or other foodstuffs.
After you open the bottle of wine, you insert a tube into the bottle and close it off again with a cork. Inert gas is then inserted into the bottle, preventing the oxidation of the wine. This way the wine keeps its taste and aromas unchanged for about 3 weeks.
Why should I have a dispenser?
Why should I put a wine dispenser in my store?
– Assure a perfect representation of products at in-store tastings
– Benefit from an attractive cost-efficient and hygienic possibility for self-tasting at POS (points-of-sale)
– Highlight this possibility and explore new forms of consumer interaction
– Directly link the experience to your online offering
Why should I put a wine dispenser in my bar or restaurant
– Improve the quality of wine service for guaranteed satisfaction of guests
– Increase sales revenue offering more choice and better wines by the glass
– Gain control over your open wine sales and reduce wastage thanks to a perfect preservation
– Showcase your offer of great labels, and let the guests discover them for themselves
Why By The Glass?
By The Glass International is a global leader in professional wine dispensing and preservation equipment. It is most widely recognised for its innovative technology and tailor-made solutions, offering the biggest assortment of wine dispensers in the industry.
Our individual solutions for trade, on trade and industry clients result from a decade of close cooperation with wine professionals around the world. By The Glass® equipment is used daily in thousands of outlets in more than 70 countries on 5 different continents.
Having gained experience and know-how over the years, we continue to recognize the importance of innovation and the crucial need of wine professionals worldwide to adapt to a new generation of consumers. As a result, we are pioneering new forms of consumer interaction with our Wine by the Card solutions.
Our mission is to support the trade, on trade and wine industry to enhance consumer experience around the wine. That’s why we aim for ‘The World’s Best Wine Entertainment’.
What beverages can By The Glass® systems dispense?
Our systems are primarily designed to preserve and pour wines, including sweet wines and ports. However, they can also be used to present fine spirits and liquors , olive oils and Sake. Our dispensers cannot be used for sparkling wines.
How big is the consumption of gas (argon/nitrogen)?
You can serve up to 400 bottles of wine with 10l of argon or nitrogen. The cost may vary by country , but a 10l refil l of food grade nitrogen costs approximately 70,00 USD so the cost per glass is negligible (+/ 2,5 Cent)
Do you recommend nitrogen or argon for preservation?
Both gases are chemically inert, taste and odorless, inflammable and of course non toxic, so perfectly apt to create a protective atmosphere to protect your wines from oxidation. Argon is significantly heavier than air (and than nitrogen the main component of air), so it covers the wine like a heavy carpet from oxidation. However since the bottles are kept under a light, constant overpressure in our dispensers, nitrogen is just as apt to avoid air from entering into the bottle as argon. It can be that the preservation effect of argon is slightly stronger, but both gases allow for min. 14 days of preservation. Food grade gasiform nitrogen is slightly cheaper than argon. Some clients experience the effect that small quantities of argon are also dispensed with the wine into the glass although perfectly harm and tasteless it may cover up the first expression of aromas, which is an argument to use nitrogen instead especially for tasting situations.
Are all of your dispensers custom made?
All of our By the Glass® Standard, Stage and Double Sided systems are custom made to your requirements. You can decide on:
– the number of bottle positions
– color of the dispenser (any of the 200+ RAL colors)
– LCD Mini Screens vs. 3 Volume Buttons
– With / Without By the Glass® Wine By The Card System
– Offline / Online: Optional Software and Connectivity Packages
– Engine position: Left / Right (for By the Glass® Standard systems)
– Optional Transparent Glass Back (for By the Glass® Standard systems)
– Optional remote and central cooling
By the Glass® Modular systems also offer some customizable features:
– Possibility of Branding on the side panels
– POS solution to facilitate tastings at Point-of-Sale: Intuitive control panel with a large, clearly highlighted button enabling consumers to pour a taster.
How big are your wine dispensers – how much space do I need?
The length of our dispensers varies from 25cm to 2530cm. For exact dimensions of all dispensers see our Product Catalogue.
How does the By the Glass® Wine by the Card system work?
The possibility to discover and enjoy a variety of wines in self-service with the help of so-called smart cards has been acknowledged as one of the hottest trends for promoting and selling quality wines. Wine bars and shops allowing guests to enjoy up to 100 or more wines by the glass have opened their doors all over the world over the past few years.
The basic idea is easy to understand: guests get a pre-charged card from the bar or shop enabling them to pour wines from the dispensers paying for it by inserting the card in the card slot at the dispenser. Next to a full glass, guests can choose a half glass or just a taster. Cards are usually prepaid but read-out at checkout is an option as well.
The self-service approach is perceived by the guests as an uncomplicated and playful way to discover new wines. This wine adventure almost always goes in one direction only – to the top: customers who can concentrate on their own taste simply discover that better wines also taste better. Expect wine sales to be 25% to 40% higher than in a normal wine bar, while customer satisfaction reaches new heights.
The key elements of a card system are:
– RFID Smart Cards with a full-color print of your choice
– An external USB Reader/Writer to credit or read out cards at the cash register
– A card controller with full-color touch display (for Standard and Double Sided–navigation via LCD displays for Stage dispensers)
– Back-Office Software By the Glass® Wine Monitor “Desktop Edition” (free for offline-application)
– Optional: LCD displays above each bottle position to display prices, pour sizes and wine names
– Optional: Secure Internet Cloud application and back-office software By the Glass® Wine Monitor Online for online application
– Optional: a local server for online application as terminals
The full-color touch display offers simple, intuitive touch navigation for system settings and billing information. The optional LCD displays above each wine allow for the dynamic display of wine names, pour sizes and prices. For the By the Glass® Stage dispensers the settings menu can be operated via the LCD displays.
The separate card reader/writer with USB port can be connected to any Windows PC (Win7 or higher) or Windows-based cash register.
Does By the Glass® system track how much wine I sold?
This only applies to our CRS systems.
Yes it does! Our Wine Monitor software allows you to manage all settings, system and sales data via a PC that is temporarily or permanently connected to the dispensers. You can track, download, analyze all sales data (credits put on cards, wines poured) based on which you can easily optimize your wine assortment – we know what your guests like!
There is much more we can do with the data obtained – if you’re curious, learn more about it in our article about Big Data & Wine Industry
How quickly can you deliver my dispenser after placing the order?
Our By the Glass® Modular systems are generally available for dispatch 1 week after placing the order.
For the custom made By the Glass® Standard, Stage and Double Sided systems the lead time is 6-8 weeks.
Who will take care of the installation and maintenance of my By the Glass® system?
All of the By the Glass® dispensers have been designed for easy and intuitive operation and can be serviced by any cooling technician. Over the past 10 years on the market By the Glass® built a large network of local partners worldwide that will assist you.
Where can I buy spare parts for my wine dispenser?
All of the parts & more can be bought in our webshop.
Do you sell preservation gas?
Even though it’s usually most convenient to buy or rent refillable cylinders locally in your country, you can also opt for disposable cylinders and wine preservation gas that can be bought in our webshop
My Country / State puts dispense limits for self-serve. Is that an issue?
No problem! Our By the Glass® technology can be fully customized to dispense any volumes you wish. If you need to have specific amounts dispensed in various sizes – a taster, half and full glass – this can easily be programmed to your needs.
I want to encourage customers to taste wines in my store but want to prevent abuse. Do you have solutions for that?
In general we hardly see abuse but if you like you can choose to control access via a key lock or a card system.
Do you offer leasing options?
We work with several leasing partners; options vary per country and situation.
How many wines should I offer for tasting in my store?
There is no easy answer to this question. If you and your competitors don’t offer wines for tasting currently, 4 wines which you change regularly is already a good start. However, if you want to give a full overview of your assortment you need to realise that wines are generally categorised into 7 or 8 tasting profiles. Therefore, if you want to cover these and want to offer wines at 2 different price/quality levels you’re looking at around 15 wines. Stores who really want to be known for a wide range of wines available for tasting usually end up offering between 30 and 40 wines for tasting in our wine dispensers.
How many wines should I offer by the glass in my bar or restaurant?
The answer to this question depends on the positioning of your bar and restaurant, competition and the maturity of the wine market in your country. In developing wine markets offering 4-8 wines by the glass is not a bad start at all. More mature wine markets ask for more differentiation (by taste profile, grape, region and/or price), so 12-20 wines by the glass makes more sense. In case of a wine bar there is basically no limit. Wine bar concepts whereby guests can explore 100 to 150 open wines are becoming more and more common.
Should I put my house wines in the wine dispenser?
You could but generally speaking it’s not what we recommend. We believe it’s best to pour house wines from the bottle and to reserve the space in the wine dispensers for quality wines which are 20 to 100% more expensive than your house wines. So if your house wines are offered at € 4 per glass, putting quality wines at € 5 to € 8 per glass in the wine dispenser makes most sense.
Should I put expensive wines in the wine dispenser?
The answer to this question depends heavily on the average price per glass of your current sales and the spending power of your guests. In general, we see the best results when the wines in the wine dispenser are 1 or 2 levels above the average. So if your average price per glass is currently € 5, putting quality wines at € 6 to € 10 per glass in the wine dispenser makes most sense. Offering wines at a price which is 4 or 5 times the average will normally not work.
What can I do to promote my by the glass concept?
First step is to make your guests aware by putting the wine dispensers in a highly visible place and by creating a clear by the glass wine list. Next logical step is to train the staff so they feel confident to advise the wines available by the glass. Offering wine flights, inspiring wine and food pairings or a high wine are other initiatives to promote your wines by the glass.
My guests do expect me to show the bottle at the table. Would it still be possible to make use of your wine dispenser?
We have many clients who dealt with the same issue. We have learned that 2 approaches are successful:
– Explain guests that the number of open wines has increased significantly yet a perfect serve is guaranteed thanks to the use of a wine dispenser. This is generally seen as very relevant as guests like choice and quality.
– Ask guests to walk with you to the wine dispenser(s) so they can see the wine they chose but also the other appealing bottles. Explain that they can get a taster of the other wines as well if they like. So make it entertaining and emphasis the benefits. Even in Michelin star restaurants this approach has been implemented successfully.
I am considering a wine dispenser but would really like to speak to someone who understands my business. Would that be possible?
Next to the knowledge of our local partners we have a lot of expertise at the HQ in Haarlem, Netherlands. All partners and most of the staff have a background in retail, On trade and/or the wine trade. So they basically have been in your shoes themselves in the past. Since the founding of By The Glass in 2006 they have supported thousands of customers, therefore the combined experience is huge.