Gueydan and another local sommelier, John Mitchell of the Windsor Court, conduct the tastings.
The number of participants ranges from 50 to 300. These became a tremendous financial success. Then Event Consultants Global, an event-planning firm based in New Orleans, contacted Swirl in August 2020 to do virtual tastings for a large national corporation. Gueydan and the guest chef would be on Zoom together talking about the pairings. On the day of the event, participants would pick up their food packages from the restaurant and the wine-pairing package at Swirl. Swirl teamed up with then-employee sommelier Michelle Gueydan to do weekly virtual wine tastings and also worked with local chefs Susan Spicer of Rosedale and Jacques Soulas of Café Degas to do virtual wine and food pairings. When Ribblet saw how people were using Zoom, she thought it would be a great way to continue to do wine tastings and education. Swirl has recently allowed patrons into the store again. But once the mask mandate ended they went to both indoor and outdoor service. To keep Swirl employees safe, they restricted indoor consumption for quite some time, even after it was allowed in the city. They created a safe environment for people to taste and learn about wine, starting with six people per each 20-minute time slot. As restrictions eased, small numbers of people were allowed in to shop, and when bars could do outdoor seating, Swirl began serving wine by the glass to go and allowed people to sit at outdoor tables in front.Įventually they began limited wine tastings by reservation in September 2020, in the patio in the back of the store. The shop did not need to apply for the second round of PPP.Ĭustomers also were given the option to phone in an order for pick up or delivery, a service that continues to this date. Not knowing what to expect with the absence of bar business and limited operations using fewer employees, Swirl made a successful application to the Payroll Protection Program. Customers had to be masked and use hand sanitizer before and after picking up their orders. In the beginning, the entrance to the store was blocked with a table, allowing people to walk up and order. Ribblet suspended the bar business and constantly adapted operations to keep her employees safe and follow the guidelines. Last year, the city health department considered Swirl a grocery because of its packaged food sales - it carries wine accompaniments such as cheese, cured meats, chocolates and olives - and its alcohol license, so Swirl did not have to shut down completely during the pandemic. We completely renovated the space and finally opened our doors in June of 2006.”Īfter navigating the pandemic restrictions, Swirl is basically back to regular operations, including its popular tastings. John Neighborhood Association, to open a wine shop. “We secured it in December and began long negotiation process with the Faubourg St. “I knew it was the perfect space,” she said. She was out for a run one morning in November of 2005 and saw a “for rent” sign on a shop, which had been a satellite for La Boulangerie. “So why wait? Do what you want to do now.” “Like many of us who went through that experience, we learned that our entire lives could change in the blink of an eye and everything you hold dear could be wiped away with no warning,” Ribblet said. Owning a wine shop and bar was Ribblet’s long-term plan in 2005, and then Katrina hit. John, she probably never realized that the “market” part of the business would help keep the doors open during a future disaster. When Beth Ribblet opened the Swirl Wine Bar and Market 15 years ago in Faubourg St. Swirl Wine Bar & Market, 3143 Ponce de Leon (courtesy of Swirl)
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