Wine is a great hobby – it combines art and science; it has a social component; it may be heart healthy; it definitely improves mental well-being. Combine good wine, with great food in a cool environment and you are asking where to sign up, right?

Cooper’s Hawk is a new retail concept that is becoming a huge draw for high end retail sites. It is a restaurant that features wine they make themselves. Picture a Napa winery with a gourmet restaurant inside. They make 48 varieties of wine (I have tried several – they are all good, but I must say I can drink the Cooper’s Hawk Red every day of the week – and sometimes do). Their Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine was actually used at the past two presidential inaugurations. They have the grapes shipped in predominantly from California to their facility in Chicago where they make and bottle their wine. They currently bottle 225,000 cases per year from their Chicago facility. The food is top shelf also. Customers who don’t even drink wine want to come because of the food.  Asian pork belly nachos, jambalaya and short rib risotto, cilantro ranch chicken and avocado sandwich… you get the idea. This is not your average brew pub fare.

A typical Cooper’s Hawk contains approximately 11,000 square feet. 15% of the space is for the wine tasting area, 20% for the bar and there is always a private dining area. They have 12

Restaurants open – all in high end shopping centers. They project two more to open in 2013 with five to open in 2014 and up to six in 2015.  Average annual gross sales for a Cooper’s Hawk have been exceeding $8.5 million. A Cooper’s Hawk is a great amenity and draw for any center.

And you can actually sign up for this. They have a wine club where you can buy their wines on a monthly basis. See the video below on how they make this concept a reality.