Each fall for the last 30 years, select BC Liquor Stores across the province of British Columbia have become a focus for wine collectors anticipating the much-awaited release of the latest vintage of Bordeaux. This is the day that wine lovers and avid collectors will line up to secure their purchases of 2014’s most desirable and rare wines of the year, affectionately known in wine circles as “Wine Christmas”. Every October, BC Liquor Stores releases bottles from France's most legendary appellation from three years prior. The bottles it stocks are exclusive to the chain and include many of the legendary Bordeaux appellation's top producers. The special event builds anticipation, and by the time the release rolls around, there can be considerable hype around the vintage and certain bottles; some of the top bottles come with limits of one or two per customer.

On October 14th, 2017, the Bordeaux 2014 event kicked off at 13 participating BC Liquor Stores and had hundreds waiting outside to enjoy their shopping for wine, which many are calling the best since 2010. A variety of quality wines were available at varying price points, ranging from $29 to $3,000 per bottle.

Intergalactic was asked by our longstanding client, BC Liquor Stores, to revamp a time consuming manual process and support the event with a responsive website/app that showcases the featured wines and availability so that customers could receive up to the minute results from sales and availability across all 13 stores for their favourite labels. In an event like this where product disappears in a blink of an eye, our resulting app and in-store signage relayed critical information about where to get the cherished bottles and how many were still in stock. Selection varies at each store and there are bottle limits for some products which our app helps to highlight. Previously, an easel and spreadsheet was updated at the front of each store to apprise customers of product status. With our mobile app data and in store 75” display screen at two flagship stores, visitors could add wines to the their favourite list; see status updates shift from “coming soon”, to “345 available”, to “sold out”; and focus their shopping efforts and strategize their plan of attack. This was a huge increase in visibility over just the printed booklet available in-store. Our app descriptions also included the important Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate ratings, which influenced the purchases of many, along with suggested "drink by" dates. Admin staff were able to make quick updates on the fly and keep the stock list relevant and useful through the event.

Last year’s Bordeaux release sold about $1.9 million worth of wine in the first two days. This year’s release was even more popular and wildly successful with at least that much sold in the first few hours. More than 3,000 cases of Bordeaux are available in this year’s release. The most expensive wine is the Château Pétrus, Pomerol, for $3,000 (only 42 bottles available in British Columbia).

I encourage everyone to visit our website to see which wines in the Bordeaux collection are available and start planning their shopping strategy. This is one of the biggest events of the year for wine lovers and I again expect them to start lining up early to get the best selection.”

“It is the best vintage since 2010, so there is a lot to like. Compared to last year’s Bordeaux release, this year’s offering is a stronger vintage with riper fruit. We have also purchased more to provide a larger variety for our customers.

~ Barbara Philip, category manager, BC Liquor Stores

The wines of Bordeaux from the 2014 vintage are a delight, 'certainly the best since 2010.”
~ Decanter Magazine

Our app success lay in its ability to:

• Allow for easier, consistent and efficient product information from any web-connected computer, tablet or mobile phone
• Deilver Real time Inventory display
• Provide admin staff and management with effective data management tools (dashboard) for administering the Bordeaux product
  

Project: Bordeaux 2014 Wine Release - 2017 Website
Client: BC Liquor Distribution Branch - BCLDB
Role: UX and UI Design based on client's design, Web, Front End, Back End Development
Links/Credits: https://stagespecialevents.bcliquorstores.com/bordeaux2014/
Completion: October 2017