CINCINNATI — Wine bar owner Darrick Beekman has made it his mission to get people their wine.
Beekman, the owner of Unwind in Hyde Park, has even given out his personal cell phone number for deliveries.
“I only live five minutes away, so I tell people just to text me, I’ll be over here in a jiffy because all I want to do is sell you wine right now,” Beekman said.
For customers who want to come in and pick up a bottle (or three), Beekman has gone above and beyond to make sure customers are safe.
“We ask everyone that enters the door to sanitize their hands, and we have a line spaced off at six feet apart,” Beekman said. “Once it is your turn to come up to the ordering table we are six feet apart from the customer.”
Unwind Wine Bar is offering $15 off some bottles of wine, and bottles that are $60 or more are $20 off on Wednesday through Friday.
Westwood’s Henke Winery is also offering specials to help drive business.
Patrons can’t come inside the winery at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that wine sales are slowing down.
Owner Joe Henke said wine sales “have been fantastic” as many Cincinnatians are hunkering down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
People would typically gather inside the winery to eat and drink, but now employees are bringing orders out to the car.
“They just drive up here and we bring everything out to them, take care of their credit card needs or cash, and they go home and have a beautiful meal,” Henke said.
Henke Winery runs 2 for $20 specials on Tuesday and Wednesday and is open 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Corkopolis in downtown Cincinnati doesn’t serve meals, but the store has made changes to its wine shop and bar.
General Manager Dan Craven recently launched an online ordering system that features more than 1,000 bottles of wine available for pickup or delivery.
“It’s the kind of thing that we’ve always wanted to do, but it was never at the top of the stack until now,” Craven said.
Craven said purchasing a bottle of wine from Corkopolis goes a long way locally.
“People often think of us as a small business - to support the people we buy wine from, those are also small businesses that need your support,” Craven said.
