Every other week, as regular readers know, Terroirist poses 16 questions to a wine shop owner. This week, we’re featuring Randy & Carrie Bowman, owners of Napa Valley Wine and Cigar in Napa, California. Some may wonder how it is possible to have a thriving wine shop surrounded by hundreds of wineries, but Carrie and Randy have been going strong for 12 years with no signs of stopping.

While this is their first foray into the wine industry, the couple has owned other businesses while working full time jobs — Randy as a Sergeant for the Napa Police Department and Carrie in restaurant management. The Bowmans, married for 31 years, are having the most fun they’ve ever had running the shop together. Not surprising, considering they’re surrounded by good wine all day long.

How did you end up owning a wine shop?

My husband Randy was about to retire, we discussed what we wanted to do when we grew up (which still hasn’t happened) and a friend was selling his business that was mostly a cigar shop. We decided with my experience in restaurant management and wine it would be a good fit with his knowledge of cigars. We purchased the store 10 years ago and built the wine section to have hard to find and small production wines from around the world.

What makes your store unique?

We strive to give the best customer service possible and like to create a personable experience so our customers know they are all special, no matter their budget. We work on building long term relationships and many have turned into friendships. If we don’t have what a customer is looking for and can’t obtain it, we will find a retailer and call to make sure it is in stock before giving the referral.

Customers can relax in our wine or cigar lounge, enjoy a glass of wine/port from our bar menu which has by the glass options and several half bottles, or they can buy a bottle from our retail selection with no service/corkage fee. We also have wifi that businessmen like to do some work while puffing on a cigar. We have no employees, so we’re more flexible with our hours.

What are the biggest challenges in owning a wine shop?

With it only being myself and my husband running our business, keeping up the retail wine, cigar, wine lounge, cigar lounge, web site and all the store duties makes for long days but it’s very rewarding.

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

I read a fair amount and also cruise the internet regularly for what people are interested in and talking about. The wine blogs and wine bulletin boards are a great resource because the people that write on them are the buying public.

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

It seems the most exciting region right now from our perspective is California. We see customers getting back into varietals that had been overlooked for the last couple years. It’s exciting to have customers open to trying wines that they wouldn’t have previously, whether it be a red or white. Many people are experimenting outside their (region) comfort zone.

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

We are very selective about what we add to our inventory. Plus we’re fortunate to be here in the Napa Valley, where many winemakers find us and we build relationships with them, in turn some of the hard to come by wines have landed in our inventory.  We deal with a few distributors and brokers that carry hard to find wines, most distributors we purchase from have been very generous with allocating us wine that may not normally be seen in retail. We also purchase some private cellars to have older and rare vintages available for those types of collectors.

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

This is one of the unfortunate parts about being sole proprietors. With no employees we don’t have the opportunity to travel to wine regions. We’re open 7 days a week and don’t even make it to the wineries in our own backyard.

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

We always have some older and rare wines & ports for people that are looking for a specific vintage for a special occasion. Probably the most exciting is the Seppeltsfield 1899 & 1900 Para Port, although we just sold the last bottle of 1900.

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

Randy & I are both collectors but don’t have much in the way of a collection at home since we aren’t there enough hours to enjoy other than what we have with dinner, that could be any variety or level of wine depending on what’s on the menu.

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?

Gosh, in 10 years of owning the store there have been many that I wished we had kept but it brings such pleasure to make a customer happy when they hear “yes we have that” it’s really hard to feel bad about not keeping something for ourselves.

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

Anytime we get together with family & friends is a special occasion and we like to share special bottles with them. The last get together was Marcassin Chardonnay, Aubert Chardonnay, Kosta Browne Kanzler Pinot Noir and Sine Qua Non Atlantis, Lillian Syrah.

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

Generally speaking when a customer comes into the store or calls about a wine it is apparent by the types of questions they ask and the wines they are searching for. There are also the people that don’t really have as much knowledge as they appear. It’s all a matter of digging for information from them to establish the levels & types of wines they are interested in.

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?

Since we carry wines from most regions and many that are unfamiliar to our less informed customers, first we establish what types of wines and producers they have enjoyed in the past and if they will be pairing it with a meal or having it by itself. This will give us a better idea on what direction to make suggestions. It’s gratifying when they come back to tell us they love the wine we helped them pick out and then they continue to gain confidence with trying other new wines.

Any tips for finding a good bargain?

A bargain is in they eyes and budget of the customer, what may be a bargain to one may be totally different to the next customer.  It’s important to establish what their idea of a bargain is, there are plenty to be had from everywhere.

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 have the scores from publications on our web site along with some of our own reviews. We don’t have any posted on product in the store.

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

There are not pre-scheduled tasting events but we have wine dinners/tastings a few times a year, some are beneficial others not as much. We also rent our space for special events. We can transform our display area into a dining room that will easily seat up to 60 people and have the wine lounge area that we’ve used for a buffet, wine stations or extra seating.The Wine Berserkers wine board has several events here throughout the year.