Every other week, as regular readers know, Terroirist poses 15 questions to a wine shop owner. This week, we’re featuring Susan Glass, the general manager of Bin 604 Wine Sellers in Baltimore, Maryland.

I first learned about Bin 604 after a visit to Charleston, a wonderful restaurant with an incredible wine list and tasting menu in Baltimore. The owner of Charleston, Tony Foreman, is also the force behind Bin 604. It was named best new wine shop in the country by Food and Wine magazine in 2002.

I found Bin 604 especially interesting for two reasons. First, the store offers a $99 case-a-month program. Always a pleasure to have an educated shopkeeper introduce a person to interesting wines he or she might not otherwise try. The shop also has a rewards program, which does not seem to be common among wine retailers. As someone who compulsively collects frequent-flier miles and spends a bit too much on wine already, I’d love to see programs like this proliferate.

Susan has a background in the wines of Oregon in particular and has also worked the harvest in Beaujolais, in France. She’s also got several credentials through the International Sommelier Guild. Check out our interview with her below the fold.

How did you end up managing a wine shop?

It was a natural decision to expand upon my small business, restaurant background and winery experiences.

What makes your store unique?

Our focus is on boutique, collectibles, and eclectic grape varieties. We try very hard to find great price to quality ratio wines for our customers that hit a “home run” in their given region, grape variety or price point. Our focus is quality and value and our customers have come to rely on our great and trustworthy selections.

What are the biggest challenges in owning a wine shop?

Finding the right people to represent our shop; the person has to posses both the enthusiasm and educational background/experience in wine and be able to deliver great customer service.

How do you stay up to date on wine news and trends?

Best way to stay abreast of the industry is to personally visit wine estates to get to know the wine, the vineyard, the wine region, and the winemaker. Also, sampling wine everyday and making our own assessments, rather than relying on any given wine article or review, is critical.

What wine regions or varietals are you most excited about right now?

There’s lots of good stuff coming out of the Northwest (Oregon and Washington) and those products fly under the radar. Also, Italy has some fantastic small producers and unique grape varieties that are hidden gems and sorely overlooked.

Where do you look for new wines — and how do you decide which ones to sell?

Traveling to various wine regions exposes us to great finds. We sell quality, period.

Tell us about some of the best perks you’ve taken advantage of as a retailer when traveling to wine regions.

Just meeting the winemakers, tasting their goods, and walking the vineyards is perk enough.

Do you stock old and/or rare wines? Which currently stocked bottle excites you the most?

A few rare wines yes, inventory is always changing. No one bottle excites me the most, you don’t pick one child over another as the saying goes.

Are you a collector? Tell us about the wines you bring home.

For the most part, I bring home wines that need to be test tasted to better understand them so I can help customers make the best selection for their needs. I tuck a few Spanish, Italian and some Oregon Pinot noirs into my little cellar.

What’s the wine that got away? In other words, has anything ever passed through your store that you wish you had held onto for yourself?

No, not really, I get excited to see the right bottle get into the right customer’s hands.

What was the last wine you opened for a special occasion?

Wine is constantly flowing, and so many of them seem special, so no one special bottle for a special occasion. Although, Champagne of any kind is pretty good to start off any night.

How can a customer signal that he or she is knowledgeable about wine, so you steer them to something a wine geek would appreciate?

The customer simply has to ask to be shown something unique, to state his or her interest, that simple.

If a customer presents him or herself as not knowing that much about wine, do you steer them to interesting and unusual or recognizable? Why?

Both unusual and recognizable so as to educate them. We also advocate taking our wine classes and visiting our tasting nights so they can learn and grow and become comfortable with wine.

Any tips for finding a good bargain?

Ask a knowledgeable and trusted sales associate about the store’s best price to quality ratio wine. Any good sales associate is going to be jazzed about the great finds as much as any customer and will be willing to share that information.

Do you advertise scores from publications like Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, or Wine Enthusiast when bottles you stock do well? What’s your take on the current push back against scores?

We do post scores, mostly from the Wine Advocate. Scores are a good rough guide to the quality of the wine, they do help promote any given bottle. But we always stress to the individual to make his or her own assessment. Everyone has his own likes and dislikes and scores don’t tell the whole story about the bottle.

Do you have any special events — like weekly tastings, winemaker dinners, or classes? How much do they benefit your business?

We do have a weekly tasting event, sometimes two if a special winemaker is in town. We also conduct classes on most Saturday afternoons. Tasting events and classes benefit our customers and our business a lot. The two are interconnected, because once a customer tastes a wine and/or understands the product a little better there’s more appreciation and comfort in making a purchase.