At Delicious Wines Crew in Napa, California, wine is so much more than just an alcoholic beverage.
“Wine is communion,” said Jay Nunez, winemaker. “It’s sitting next to my brother and sister and creating memories. Sure, it makes you feel good and gets you tipsy, but really, it’s about the experience. Wine brings people together.”
Brendan Kam, founder and CEO, started Delicious Wines Crew with the intent to not only share fine wines, but also to make them more accessible to everyone.
“Our business is centered around education and community,” said Brendan. “We want to make wine something that feels approachable to everybody. One of our core goals is breaking myths and removing these preconceived notions about wine, like this idea that you have to be an expert.”
Delicious Wines Crew is a unique type of wine shop. They’ve created a welcoming and non-judgmental environment where anyone can participate in tastings, from newcomers to seasoned wine experts. While savoring your glass of chardonnay or Bordeaux, you’ll learn more about its complexities. It’s a place to enjoy wines and a place to educate yourself about them. You don’t need to be familiar with wine vernacular—words like “dry” or “oaky”—to enjoy a tasting here.
“The language that people use to describe wine often leads beginners astray,” Brendan explained.
“Wine can be big and confusing, but it’s also approachable if you let it be,” said Jay. “It’s those self-imposed barriers that are the biggest misconceptions in wine.”
In the midst of a global pandemic, serving and educating people about wine isn’t exactly easy. But Brendan and Jay are finding ways to adapt.
“We started doing virtual tastings,” Brendan said. “That way, we can still feel connected and still learn together.”
“Obstacles can become opportunities,” added Jay. “While our tasting group could have suffered dramatically, we’ve pivoted. We’ve utilized the modern tools at our disposal to stay connected with people, and I think that it’s been a blessing because it’s taught us that we can always adapt. We can still find comfort and connectivity with people if we really seek it out.”
One of those modern tools helping them adapt to the new COVID normal is their Celero payments system.
“The solutions we use from Celero—Authorize.net, that whole contactless payment system—they’ve become so popular all over the world,” Brendan said. “We’re even trying out-of-the-box solutions like putting QR codes on the wine bottles. All these new technologies have helped streamline our business.”
“It’s been a way to minimize having multiple avenues to gather revenue, and instead put it all in one place,” said Jay. “In the past, we were taking money from different places, and now it’s just so convenient to do it all in one shot. It’s also a lot easier to track and record everything.”
Brendan’s favorite part about their Celero payments system? The convenient size and user-friendliness. “Seeing the ease of how it works and how small it is, it’s incredibly helpful,” he said. “It’s a Bluetooth connection that you can just carry around in your hand.”
Brendan, Jay, and everyone at Delicious Wines Crew represent our favorite part of doing business: being able to serve the innovative and resilient small businesses that create community across America.
“We do wine all day, everyday,” said Jay. “On our own, we all thought we were weird with our wine obsessions. But when we found this community and started curating it, it felt like home.”
You can learn more about Delicious Wines Crew by following them on Instagram or visiting their website. If you’re looking for a way to support small businesses during COVID-19, consider signing up for their $5/month PrioritySomm club.