Established in 1996, Union Square Wine and Spirits boasts the distinction of hosting annually the most wine events in New York.

The retail outlet in downtown Manhattan holds more than 200 tastings and seminars each year as well as many events.

The shop's mezzanine floor is the venue for these events, one of which featured former Penfolds chief winemaker John Duval previewing the 1998 vintage of the world-renowned Grange, among other Australian wines.

"That was fantastic, people were blown away," Mr Salazar said. "We had 60 people sitting in our salon upstairs at 11.00 am on a Saturday . . . We sold out of 24 bottles of Grange and that's not cheap wine [bottles retail today at around US$490]. That was a fabulous event; it was a pleasure to meet someone in the wine business who is so genuine - that was probably the coolest event I remember . . ."

Patrons looking down from upstairs on that Saturday morning - or at any event - would see bottles set out in rows from virtually every wine region in the world. While not 'supermarket' in size, Union Square Wine and Spirits has a carefully chosen range of more than 4,000 wines which aim to meet the demands of quality conscious New Yorkers. And Mr Salazar is hitting the target with his range: the shop has experienced 10 percent sales growth in the past four years.

Jesse Salazar was born and raised in California and is one of a new breed changing the face of the US wine industry. He worked his way around New York as a chef, feeding his passion for food and developing an interest in wine.

"I remember it was Dead Arm Shiraz [an Australian wine by d'Arenberg] that first opened my eyes to wine and I just built from there," he said, adding, "Obviously, I like more Australian wines now!"

Mr Salazar cooked at Roy's, a famous New York seafood restaurant, before joining the sommelier ranks. Three years ago Mr Salazar started at Union Square Wine and Spirits as a salesman. He was then mentored by the former wine director to become the shop's wine buyer. While his tastes are broad, Mr Salazar has a fondness for Pinot Noir, Italian wines and product from California's Martinelli Vineyards.

"I don't get to travel as often as I'd like," Mr Salazar smiles. "I've only been to Spain on a wine trip . . . Most of the time I'm upstairs here planning events and buying wines."

With the world wine market turning more and more to New World wines, Mr Salazar is keen to make sure he's not being dragged along by hype. He distinguishes two different types of New World wine: those he calls New World "alcoholic beverages", which he says are only concerned with market share, and well-made wines that combine "New World flash" with character.

"We love wines like Grosset's Polish Hill Riesling [Australia], Kanu's Sauvignon Blanc [South Africa] and Switchback's Petite Sirah [California]," says Mr Salazar. "These wines deliver plenty of drinking pleasure and maintain a sense of place. As a retailer it's much more satisfactory to offer these wines as opposed to brands that you can tell existed in marketing meetings before they existed as wines."

Mr Salazar said the average price point at which the shop sells wine is US$10-20. He said with the US's economic slowdown it had in recent times been difficult to sell up-market wines.

"There are so many wines with 90+ tasting points on the market, collectors have become very calculated in their buying," Mr Salazar said. "We see other retailers discounting wines they wouldn't have even advertised in past years."

That puts in perspective Union Square Wine and Spirits' growth over the past four years: where other outlets are losing ground, the shop is obviously keeping its customers, whom Mr Salazar calls "savvy sippers." He added that he tries to "mix things up" when it comes to the range; the inventory categories - which equate to the world's wine regions - tend to be adjusted between five and nine times per year. And because he is in his late 20s, Mr Salazar is obviously well placed to judge and respond to the US youth market for wine.

"The youth market for wine both at Union Square and in the US is huge," Mr Salazar says, adding, "A lot of the younger drinkers will listen to anything you have to say that sounds interesting. Obviously, being in the heart of downtown Manhattan, it helps to be a little cooler, on the cutting edge more . . ."

He said due to its fruit-driven flavour profile some Australian wines opened the door to wine drinking for a lot of consumers.

"They wouldn't necessarily think of wine as something they'd want to drink, if they're busy drinking margaritas or things like that, and all of a sudden they've got a nice, tasty red wine that goes well with their barbecue . . . they build from there and that's a good thing."

He said he could then steer consumers to a more extensive range of varieties and wineries. One of the ways this education occurs at Union Square Wine and Spirits is via the aforementioned events.

"We've also hosted evenings with top importers like John Larchet, Peter Click, and Ben Hammerschlag. Other guest producers have included Heather and Robin Moody of Cape d'Estaing, Sparky Marquis [winemaker at Shirvington] and David Powell [winemaker at Torbreck winery]."

Mr Salazar said that at these events people were educated not only about Australian wines but also Australia's wine regions. He says that across the board Australian wines were at the right price points in the US and that any one time Union Square Wine and Spirits stocked 70 Australian wines on the rack.

"Several more are kept out of sight, on hold for our special customers. Choice picks include wines like Astralis, Shirvington, Grange, Integrity, Amon Ra, Chris Ringland, etc. We like to keep a tight ship in terms of inventory. The average number of Australian cases on hand would be about 60-80."

Mr Salazar said with the amount of Australian wine crossing his path these days he aims to have a little of everything in stock.

"I've got more wines just waiting to come out," he said, "The trick is making sure you don't get backed up to the gills with all the wine coming from Australia, and being very selective and picking the ones that you know you can sell. Obviously the name of the game is to turn inventory so I can't have $400,000 of Australian wine hanging around in the basement. I'd rather have a nice turnover so we deal with the people that offer us the most choice . . ."

He says one of his personal favourite Australian wineries is Clarendon Hills, South Australia. Mr Salazar says he enjoys the classic style of the company's wines.

"And obviously you have to like Grange or you get thrown out of the business," he smiles. "And every now and again you have to have a sparkling marquis fruit bomb - those are quite delicious; the new Jim Barry, the Cover Drive Cabernet, that's pretty delicious and people love it, too."

He said that amongst consumers there was still more interest in Australian reds than whites, but he added there were customers looking for Semillons and Rieslings.

"We're huge with Rieslings, with the German wines we've got, but I like to have three or four Rieslings [from Australia] on the shelf because they are delicious."