Wine Education

Mission statement – WINE EDUCATION

When I first started this blog, people asked me, “What is your blog going to be about? Wine blogs are a dime a dozen, what will make yours different?”  The answer is plain and simple, Wine Education.  There are many reasons why I enjoy what I do, but mostly it comes down to wine education.  As a young boy, I always saw myself as the teacher in front of the classroom.  I didn’t do my homework and I wasn’t very good at taking tests.  However, I always paid attention in class.  In the back of my mind as I listened to  the teacher’s lesson, I would daydream about how I would give the lesson differently so that the class would understand it more effectively.

Riot police graffiti © by Benno Hansen

When I started college I was interested in going into education until the day that I worked in my first public school in the early 90’s.  It was a pinnacle time in the public school system.  The Rodney King and LA riots were going on and teachers had their hands tied behind their backs.   I saw my future in this field as one of a policeman, not a teacher.  Not being fond of policing 12-13 year olds, this drove me down another path, the restaurant business.

In the restaurant business, I am constantly challenged to educate myself, my staff and my guests.  I love turning people on to the world of wine and teaching them something new.  My greatest pleasure comes in watching “green servers” who are clueless about wine, later become wine lovers.  One day they are rolling their eyes at me when I talk about aromas, taste and structure, and the next they are bragging to their friends at the corner wine bar about the 13 grapes of Chateauneuf-du-pape.  I love it!

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What Makes a Smart Wine Buyer? Part 1

Know your brand.

When I ask, “What makes a smart wine buyer?” I do not mean, a person that goes into a wine shop to buy wine. I am referring to the person who purchases the wine for the shop, restaurant or bar.  The wine buyer is a position so essential to any business that deals with a beverage program.  Just like the buyer for Nordstroms, this person needs to be well versed in what they are purchasing and why.  I have seen time and time again, businesses which do not take this position seriously. Many shop, bar and restaurant owners allow their employees to do the purchasing, because it frees them up to run their businesses. What some owners forget, is that purchasing merchandise is one of the most important aspects of their business.

Jan 16, 2011 © by NezTez

Imagine if Nordstrom let their employees in the shoe department do the purchasing.  Each employee has their own personal style and probably would buy according to their likes and dislikes. This would leave the shoe department in a hodge-podge miss-matched mess of shoes, boots, sandals and slippers. There would not be a cohesive, “Nordstrom style”.  Nordstrom would never allow this, since they are a brand. Their brand has been created, marketed and requires talented people to continue keeping the brand fresh, modern and true to itself.

Shop, bar and restaurant owners should use this as an example in running their businesses.  Sure, their shops may not be in every state and does not have the pedigree of Nordstroms, However each business should brand itself. Whether it brands itself as a dive bar or as an upscale Italian restaurant, it needs to be true to its brand.  Where many businesses fail, is the lack of focus on branding themselves.  The role of the wine buyer is to help brand the business.

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