Designation Description

Wine Tasting Ambassadors serves as the face of a winery, providing visitors with a memorable wine-tasting experience. They possess in-depth knowledge about the winery's products, guiding guests through tastings, explaining wine characteristics, and suggesting pairings. These ambassadors create a welcoming atmosphere, educate visitors about various wines, and enhance customer satisfaction by ensuring an enjoyable and informative wine-tasting experience.

Main Responsibilities and Competencies

• Wine Tasting Ambassadors educate visitors about different wines, explaining their characteristics, grape varieties, winemaking techniques, and regional influences. They guide guests through tasting sessions, helping them appreciate the nuances of each wine.
• They interact with customers, answering questions about wines, offering recommendations, and suggesting food pairings. Specialists create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere to enhance visitors' enjoyment and promote sales.
• Wine Tasting Ambassadors often promote wine sales by offering discounts, memberships, or exclusive offers to visitors during tastings. They may also be responsible for processing sales transactions and managing inventory.
• They have a deep understanding of the winery's history, production processes, and unique selling points. This knowledge helps them communicate the winery's story and values to visitors effectively.
• Wine Tasting Ambassadors might organize and host events within the tasting room, wine and cheese pairings, or private events. They ensure these events run smoothly and that attendees have an enjoyable experience.
• Manage wine clubs, ensuring members receive their shipments, organizing exclusive events for club members, and addressing any member inquiries or concerns.
• They are responsible for the overall presentation of the tasting room, ensuring it is clean, well-organized, and aesthetically pleasing. This includes arranging tasting menus, setting up displays, and maintaining a visually appealing environment.
• Monitor responsible alcohol service and ensure that customers are of legal drinking age. They also comply with regulations related to alcohol service and sales.
• Stay updated with new vintages, techniques, and trends, specialists often engage in continuous learning about wines, viticulture, and wine-making processes.

Experience

Wine Tasting Ambassadors require exposure to different grape varieties, wine-making techniques, regional wines, and wine and food pairings. Their experience must culminate in an authentic ability to discuss different grape varieties, wine-making techniques, regional wines, and wine and food pairings.

Experience should include wine sales, managing wine clubs, including handling member communications, organising shipments, and coordinating exclusive member events.

Hands-on experience in organising and hosting wine-related events, such as tastings, wine and food pairings, demonstrates the ability to create engaging experiences for visitors.

Qualifications

• Wine tasting course
• Sommelier Course

Designation Description

Wine Tasting Managers oversees the day-to-day operations of a winery's tasting room, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience for visitors. They are responsible for staff management, customer relations, event planning, inventory control, and sales strategy implementation. Additionally, they play a key role in enhancing the winery's reputation, increasing sales, and fostering customer loyalty through exceptional service and engaging events.

Main Responsibilities and Competencies

• Hire, train, and supervise tasting room staff, including wine specialists and support personnel. Managers ensure that staff is knowledgeable, professional, and capable of delivering exceptional customer service.
• Oversee the customer experience to ensure visitors receive informative, engaging, and enjoyable wine tastings. Managers may set standards for customer interactions, tastings, and overall service quality.
• Develop and implement sales strategies to promote wine sales, meet revenue targets, and maximize profitability. This may involve creating promotions, managing wine club memberships, and upselling to customers.
• Organise and coordinate events within the tasting room, such as wine release parties, themed tastings, and private events. Managers handle event logistics, catering arrangements, and ensure a seamless experience for attendees.
• Manage wine inventory, including stock levels, restocking, and tracking sales trends. Managers work closely with winemakers to ensure the availability of wines and may also be responsible for pricing and managing discounts.
• Act as a representative of the winery, managers communicate the winery's story, values, and unique selling points to customers. They may also represent the winery at industry events, tastings, and festivals.
• Ensure the tasting room operates in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations related to alcohol service, sales, and safety. Managers are responsible for training staff on responsible alcohol service practices.
• Implement Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to track customer preferences, purchase history, and contact information. This data helps personalise customer interactions, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Manage budgets, track expenses, and generate reports on sales performance, customer feedback, and other relevant metrics. Managers use this data to make informed decisions and plan future strategies.
• Stay updated with industry trends, new wines, and emerging customer preferences. Managers may also seek feedback from customers to continuously improve the tasting room experience and offerings.
• Work closely with winemakers, marketing teams, and other departments within the winery to align tasting room activities with overall business goals and marketing initiatives.

Experience

• Managers should have experience in managerial or supervisory role, preferably in a hospitality, winery, or upscale retail environment.
• Managers should possess a strong passion for and knowledge of the wine industry, enabling them to educate staff and customers effectively.
• Experience in a customer-facing role within the wine industry, hospitality, or related fields is crucial.
• Demonstrated experience in sales, upselling, and implementing marketing strategies to promote wine sales.
• Experience in planning and executing wine-related events, such as tastings, wine releases, and private functions.
• Proficiency in managing wine inventory, including ordering, stock rotation, and maintaining optimal stock levels. Experience with inventory software and understanding of pricing strategies are valuable.
• Experience in training and developing staff, ensuring they have in-depth product knowledge, excellent customer service skills, and a strong sales acumen.
• Knowledge of local and national alcohol regulations, responsible alcohol service practices, and health and safety standards. Experience ensuring the tasting room operates in full compliance with legal requirements.
• Experience in budgeting, financial reporting, and analysing sales data. Managers should be able to develop and manage budgets, track expenses, and report on financial performance.

Qualifications

• Qualification related to hospitality management, business, oenology, viticulture, or a related field
• Sommelier certification
• Management courses related to the wine and hospitality industry