(Wines&VInes) - In an effort to build its evening business, Starbucks coffee company is expanding a new program that could provide a huge opportunity for the wine business.

The giant chain is introducing a new menu of small bites with wine and beer after 4 p.m. in selected stores, and the company has hinted that “several thousand” of its 12,000 cafés may eventually be affected.

Though it’s starting slowly and the program will affect only some of the chain’s locations, members of the wine industry are excited about the potential.

Shawn Byrnes, vice president of marketing at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Washington state, said, “Just do the math. They expect to offer wine at about 2,000 stores eventually. Multiply a couple of glasses a day by 365 days by 2,000 stores. They could become the largest on-premise wine seller in the country.”

A slow start

After conducting a trial at a Seattle store in October 2010, Starbucks expanded the program to about 25 locations in Chicago, Ill., Atlanta, Ga., and Southern California in January 2012.