Its not all red lips and hard to find wines. The truth about “tasting wine” as a sommelier or manager.
Tasting wine is fun
Tasting wine is fun
Did anyone know that tasting wine sucks?
Yes, tasting wine does in fact suck when doing it for a living!
Sound like blasphemy?
It is, causing tasting 10-30 wines a day 2-3 days a week is exhausting! Then, having someone say why these wines belong on a list is even more cumbersome.
Maybe 1 or 2 of them (might) fit on the list or be drinkable.
Spitting all the wine is painful. On the same note, working for 5-8 hours 3 sheets to the wind isn’t a walk in the park either. Been there, done that, not fun. Getting berated by Karen after a fun tasting, might be the featured story at 11pm.
Welcome to the sad reality of being a somm or manager that handles wine for a restaurant. This predicament can also be applied to beer, spirits and even mixers (Fever Tree and Don Q are examples). Replacing the ginger beer poured behind the bar can result in trying 6 different versions. Trust us, this is not ideal, actually overwhelming. Who cares about the nuances between all the different ginger beers anyway when its mixed with 2oz of gin?
Not to be excluded is tasting new drinks at the bar. While it is fun to do all this tasting, it can be a hindrance. Reps will visit randomly on a Tuesday when there is a freak rush with a “bag full of awesome stuff”. Good luck being able to enjoy or properly assess the contents of such bag.
So what really happens tasting wine for a living?
These tastings, while fun and a great opportunity to learn are part of the sales process for the distributors.
It is part of the neverending cycle of sales that drive, well the entire world.
The ultimate goal of the angels that bring wine to taste is “placement”.
What is a placement?
A placement means a wine/beer/liquor/mixer shows up on a list or drink menu. Extra points are given if suddenly the kitchen is using Tito’s to make a Vodka Sauce. The reality is that a kitchen is using the type of vodka/wine/liquor that the village drunkard would imbibe. Ideally, a “placement” would be a case (especially with wine). Usually, this ends up being less, especially with liquor (1-3 bottles is the norm).
These placements are a form of currency for the “angels”. Placements are a performance measure for beverage salespeople in addition to their bosses. Different wines have a different value when it comes to placements. Sales teams know which wines they can put in which location, this makes tasting wine fun! They also sometimes carry perks.
What are “Perks” When Tasting Wine?
Perks are a way to sweeten the deal for decision-makers to bring in the products being sold. These perks can be:
- Free product for the business
- Free product for you
- Lunches
- Dinners
- Tickets for events
- Access to exclusive tasting events
- Spending money at your establishment
- The ability to purchase rare and hard-to-find products (think the “IT” Cali Cab of the year)
So bringing in some of these products do have benefits…for everyone involved. I admit to doing this and see no problem with it. Most of the time everyone benefits; placements often carry special pricing or help the reps achieve their goals. Allowing these placements build a relationship with the distributor, salesperson and even the winemaker/brewer/distiller etc.
How valuable is a relationship in the beverage sales business?
Having a good relationship with your sales reps is paramount to getting all the benefits and offerings of a distributor. But this is a two-way street, also this relationship comes before the ask of placement. Give before you ask.
It starts out with the somm/manager (s) getting tasted on a wine. Then, after tasting wine the spiel comes. Typically it is a talk about how it is on special this month and such. It is a great, quick way to build a relationship and get in the stream of perks and such.
Building this relationship also has another major benefit; ideas of what is trending in the area, job changes, and new restaurant openings. Wine reps especially can find employees or new jobs for people at other accounts they call on. Why would they bother starting new, when they could work with someone they already know?
The ultimate relationship/networking is when one moves from buying the product to selling it.
Yes!
Selling isn’t easy and there are some very high-pressure companies out there for sure. however it can be a great life for some or another stepping stone on a longer journey.
What Else Do Reps Do, Besides Tasting Wine?
They do not only sell. They make suggestions on new products, cocktails and provide insights to trends as mentioned earlier. Remember, they are the source, they know when new stuff is available or low on inventory (super important in wine, vintages roll). Speaking of sources, these reps are one of the best sources for news within the industry, they know which products are selling in which states (super helpful when in an area that sees a ton of tourism). It was awesome being the only restaurant in a casino that carried a flavored whiskey that was popular in the Midwest, but new to the Las Vegas Market.
These reps also generally to your orders for products, although more and more are moving to a web-based system of ordering, this means more time with clients and the opportunity to, yep sell more booze! Who doesn’t love selling more booze?
That is the general idea of what the reps do for you.
What do you as the customer/taster/drunkard do for the rep?
Take their appointments.
Take their appointments.
If is not clear, TAKE THEIR APPOINTMENTS.
The best thing one can do for the reps is take their appointment when they have a “ride along”.
What is a Ride Along?
A ride along is when reps have a producer (beer, wine, liquor, mixer) with them, a manager, local expert whatever it might be.
This does them a huge favor. Many decision-makers (somms/managers/executives) do not like to take appointments. It is normal, many are snooty and put up walls cause they only want product when they want it. From personal experience, no one is that busy that there isn’t an hour a week or every other week they can be available to meet with such people.
Being Available for Tasting Wine With Producers
Many pros of this game have set days/times they are available and will take anyone, others are by appointment only on set days, yet others have an open door policy (most difficult, in my opinion). I almost always had a schedule of 2 days a week that I was available and preferred to have open meeting times for reps. I also made myself available, when they had asked for appointments, provided I could. I had to schedule around other priorities, such as paperwork (everyone’s favorite thing), putting product away, preparing for the day, inventory management and work meetings.
Tell them what you want and they will bring it.
Utilize Reps When Tasting Wine!
Communicate the needs of the restaurant. Tell them you do not need more Italian reds, cause it does not sell. Let them know that a wine tasted tried 3 months ago has a spot to be on the BTG list. After tasting the new vintage of one it’s not meeting guest expectations. Inform them you are doing a cocktail of the month and it is including that olive leaf gin they mentioned previously came up. When it comes to beer, tell them you want a new keg of stout every time you go through one no repeats; the tap will be theirs for 5 kegs. Never commit to time with beer, commit to a certain amount of kegs.
This makes theirs and your job easy. That doesn’t mean they still will not bring their focus wine of the quarter or month with what you want. Remember this is still a business and tasting wine is not all fun and games.
It also keeps guests guessing what will come next, thankfully in beer and wine, there is always new and exciting labels to try. Liquor is a different beast, it has some of the fiercest brand loyalty out there, however that is changing and quickly at that. Especially since the CVOID-19 pandemic.
Turning Tides in Liquor, not Tasting Wine
Since the pandemic of 2020-2021 (early 2021), people were drinking more at home and some of the most popular brands of liquor became hard to find. People had to try new brands as the familiar brands were sold out and not available. Thankfully some people out there were launching new brands, making consumers aware of other brands and tasting them all on it.
Be honest, people were not getting loaded at a bourbon tasting at the liquor store, but they sure as hell were doing so at home afterward. There was nowhere to go or they didn’t want to.
Many celebrities, athletes and clever marketers were out launching new brands in 2019 and early 2020 and a few were successful, especially in the tequila space.
This allowed new products and brands in the space and caused disruption. Disruption in this sense was good for everyone and exposed the “simple” liquor consumer to other brands.
Price: The Final Frontier of Tasting Wine
When having “fun” tasting different beer, wine and spirits be sure to keep price in mind. You might find something that tastes great, but has no hope of getting into the beverage program due to price. Not every restaurant can sell a $635 bottle of wine or a $57 glass of Scotch, that is a fact, others sell them occasionally, but go through 1 bottle a year of it, then others, buy Macallan 25 by the case.
Knowing the price points the restaurant you work at can move or can venture into is paramount to asking suppliers what to bring. There is no point in asking them to bring cult Napa Cab, if the average bottle price is $76, that $250+ bottle will collect dust. It is possible to upgrade the list and change it, but that also requires upgrading the clientele. Now, this is not to take away the fact that sometimes price points can be pushed, it can, especially with new brands/producers in any beverage program.
Don’t make price your enemy, make it your friend, many suppliers have large books of products they carry, even better, they know what is in the book or can ask someone to find something at the price point you are looking for. Make them work, they are happy to do it for a sale or new product placement.
What are the right questions to ask about price?
Great question!
Volume discounts, availability, how long will the pricing be available, minimum drop. These are all great questions to ask cause it is important.
Find an awesome small production wine only to find out that the vintage is on closeout cause the new one is coming next month and the 3 case drop is a one-time purchase?
It sucks, ask all the questions!
In liquor especially, if you go through a case of well vodka every 2 weeks and buying 5 cases makes the price go from $10-$7 a bottle, find room to store that drop and make some money! Use the volume discount effectively and think profitably.
Asking the right questions generally leads to profits when talking price. Also, do not be afraid to negotiate, sometimes, special pricing is available just by asking. It can come in the form of “sample product” or in some states with strict laws rips, even others product that comes right from the producer (wineries love to do this in new markets) and even a producer coming in to buy some of the product while entertaining.
The Final Curtain of Tasting Wine
Tasting beer, wine and spirits can be lots of fun with friends family. Doing it for a living can be fun, however, sometimes becomes overwhelming and unenjoyable when tasting en masse. Be knowledgeable about the needs of the restaurant.
Know that is all part of larger game of sales, marketing and a bunch of other shit way over your head as a purchaser/taster of the products. Take advantage of all the offerings from all suppliers and make sure to give everyone a shot to be on the list. It creates more opportunity for both sides.
Have fun and make it fun, it gets routine and you taste a lot of bad product. That is the truth.
You also taste a lot of good product that has no place on the list. Eventually you will put stuff on the list, you feel is inferior, due to filling a hole or making guests happy (I see you Argentinan Malbec and California Chardonnay, wishing a horrible day upon you generic American beers as well). Most of all be aware of pricing and do not get in a trap of too many commitments to long term deals on products, you cannot have every well booze on a 5 case deal, it doesn’t work like that. You can however, put your top 2 wells on 5 case deals and laugh all the way to bank.
Go Make Money and Drink Wine!
Cheers Friends