Interview with Wine Connection

We took the time to sit down and speak with General Manager Pierre de Pimodan to find out more about Wine Connection, which has a presence of two locations in Chiang Mai: one at Nim City Daily, and the other at Meechoke Plaza.

Dining Guide (DG) Wine Connection has been around a few years now already. Tell us a little about this newer branch at Meechoke Plaza in Chiang Mai.
Pierre: We’re actually just one of two company stores in Chiang Mai, and there are 12 branches in Thailand. This one in Meechoke has been open for about 10 months now. The two branches work together because we’re part of the large company.
DG: So where else? Are they all the same then?
Pierre: Well, actually I should say our company is all over Southeast Asia – we have 32 outlets altogether. And that has to do with some of our purchasing power and our supplies, but we can talk about that in a minute. You can go to our Wine Connection website to see all of the locations, but in Thailand we have branches in Bangkok, Hua Hin, Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, and Khao Yai.
And yes, when you ask if they are all the same, that is the idea. Our customers can come in one shop in this city and see some wines they like, and then travel to another city and find those same wines for the same price.
DG: Now Chiang Mai has 2 branches, are there plans for more?
Pierre: Well, at the moment this is enough, but we don’t know. It depends on many things, but we may expand in this city in the future.
DG: You already offer cheeses with your wines. What else might you offer some day?
Pierre: Well, we have a selection of cheeses and salami from Spain to go with our wines. If you like, you know, you can enjoy a drink here from our weekly special wines, or enjoy a beer or open a bottle with friends. You can buy some cheese to go along with your drink, or buy the snacks to take home for later. For now that’s all we offer. Some of our branches like K Village in Bangkok have a full bistro where you can order food as well.
DG: Oh really?
Pierre: Well, it’s a very popular concept, but for now it’s only in a few branches in Thailand and some other countries. They have things like pastas, cold cut and cheese platters, steaks, and more. In the future, who knows? For now we don’t have the deli and bistro combos in the Chiang Mai stores. We are expanding little by little as our brand is getting to be known and interest grows.
DG: Please tell us about your customers. Who are they and how is business right now?
Pierre: Actually, you may imagine that westerners are our main market, but this isn’t true. Here in Chiang Mai, westerners make up about 60% of our market and Thais 40%, so it’s nearly even. Our business is quite steady right now. We have a good customer base from both our public and commercial accounts.
DG: Oh, so you have commercial accounts as well?
Pierre: Sure! It’s probably about 30% of our business. We supply many of the big hotels in town. We have accounts with some of the 4 and 5 star properties, and also some restaurants around the city. We have some other clients too, like some who are event coordinators in town – sometimes they need many cases of wine for an event like a wedding, and they come to us.
DG: That’s very good. So, you’re able to supply large amounts of wine for events?
Pierre: Yes, and we do this for private customers too. We have some people who like to come and buy for their own parties or weddings - maybe they need a red and a white to serve, and they would like 8 cases of each. This may be difficult to find elsewhere, but we can order and even deliver it for you easily.
One interesting thing is that now there are so many hi-so Thais and westerners in town that we are often selling by the case quite regularly, and it’s not for a party. It’s for regular drinking at home. ***
DG: Really? How many bottles are in a case?
Pierre: Yes, actually there are people who will come and purchase a bottle of wine and if they like it, they will order a couple of cases. They drink one bottle per day at dinner! There are 12 bottles in a case, so they may come pick up a few cases and then return in a month for more.
We also give a discount to our customers who buy like this – for every 10,000 baht spent, they receive a 1,000 baht voucher for their next purchase, or for every 12 bottles of non-promotion wines purchased, they receive the 13th bottle free.
DG: What about your customer preferences? What are they looking for?
Pierre: Well, with the Thais, I have to say that reds are the most popular. They prefer Shiraz, I would have to say. I think they like the strong flavor, the body and the spiciness.
For westerners, we mainly sell wines, both reds and whites equally. But of course, we also see them purchasing a lot of our beers, and liquors also. Our staff is available to answer questions and help customers choose what is best for them.
DG: What do you have for people on a budget these days ?
Pierre: Well, as you can see when you look at the rows of wine, we have them clearly marked so that you can see which ones are the promotion items. We have wines available in every grade. We have a very good selection under 500 baht. If you prefer to spend about 300 baht, or 400 baht, we have those. Then we also have many others to choose from for more, of course. We change our promotions every three months – all of this is done at a corporate level at all of our stores.
DG: So you have discount wines like the other retailers in Chiang Mai?
Pierre: I wouldn’t say it like that. Some people may confuse us with others, but there are two things that make Wine Connection very different. First is that we have exclusive contracts with the vineyards from around the world – Australia, South Africa, France, Italy, Chile, and so on. The other markets in town will not have the same wines we have. So our deals are unique.
The second thing that is different is that we control the entire supply chain from the vineyard. We are able to make sure our wines are shipped and stored at the perfect temperature to keep them properly. Another company may buy here or there, but we control the environment the entire way until you see it in our stores. And if we are delivering a large order to your house, we can send it in a refrigerated truck. This is part of what makes our brand special.
DG: I see that there are other small labels and signs by the wines. Are they to educate the customers?
Pierre: Yes, we have information about every wine so that customers can make good choices about the wines. We have also put the yellow ratings cards next to them, so you can see how these wines have been judged internationally by experts like Wine Spectator. If you look from the center of the room, you can also see that our wines are divided by category – Old World, New World, and then by type as well. Every Wine Connection store has a very clear layout so that you can understand from a distance.
DG: We’ve seen that you have wine parties at your stores sometimes? What kind of events are these?
Pierre: Yes, we have promotional wine tastings about 3 times per year. We make an event out of it, usually we bring in some live music, and then for 200 baht, the customers can sample 5 glasses of wine and try some of our snacks like Manchego cheese and Serrano ham. If the customer decides to purchase 1,000 baht of wine that night, then we will discount the 200 baht they paid for the tasting party.
DG: Is there anything else we should know about Wine Connection that we haven’t covered?
Pierre: You know, to see all of the locations and our products you should go to the website. There is everything there, including our entire catalog. If you like you can even order from the website. Or you can keep in touch with us by becoming a Fan on our Facebook Page
DG: Ok. We’ll have to go have a look then. Thank you for taking the time to sit and tell us about the two stores.
Pierre: No problem, thank you for coming to visit.
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Wine Connection, Nim City Daily
Mahidol Road
T.Haiya, A.Muang, Chiang Mai
Phone: +66 (0) 5320-1252
Fax: +66 (0) 5320-1262

Wine Connection, Meechoke Plaza
Ground Floor, (near Rimping Supermarket)
T.Fahham, A.Muang, Chiang Mai
Phone: +66 (0) 5323-0090

http://www.wineconnection.co.th/
facebook.com/wineconnectionthai