Drink Pink List

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

Rosé has been increasing in popularity for several years now and D.C. is the number one consuming market of rosé in the country. We always took the opportunity of featuring rosé for the summer season and would run through approximately 150 cases. We decided to expand on that idea and create a Drink Pink List. This list featured nine rosés from around the world with representation from South Africa, France, Spain, Italy, and the United States. Two were sparkling and seven were still. We offered the program from spring through fall for the nine selections and then kept one still and one sparkling on the by the glass list for the remainder of the year. We even featured the first ever rosé in a can from Provence, France for our Golf Canteen to ensure we had enough pink to go around.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

We began in March tasting many styles and variations of rosé that were arriving for the season and specifically requested unusual varietals and places of origin. We narrowed down our selections and created a Drink Pink List that was featured in all dining outlets at the Club and the wines were available in both glass and bottle format. We wrote blog material on rosés and how they were made in order to launch the list with the membership. The list was created in several formats so that it could be used in banquets, as features in our casual dining outlet and as its own menu within the Clubhouse. We took all opportunities with our club events to feature many of the different rosés that membership may be unfamiliar with in order to showcase that rosé may be made from any grape varietal from all over the world. Once we had made a selection we hosted a Rose Parté in which members came to sip and savor all different styles of rosés. We had several stations setup with matching small bites of food at each. We encouraged members to wear pink and stroll through the gardens or sit and chat in our Adirondacks while enjoying rosé and all of its many forms.

The Drink Pink List enhanced our overall beverage program by building on something we knew the members already have come to enjoy at the club seasonally, and continued it year round as well. We were able to educate and expand the knowledge of our membership by introducing them to rosés that they may have not tried on their own and became a natural conversation starter for our service team to enhance member engagement. We were able to move through approximately the same number of cases split between the different types of rosé, stay current on today’s beverage trends and provide a fun and easy event for our members to join together and meet other like-minded rosé individuals. So now even in winter, rosé is a hit!