1. Wine Education
for Tasting Room Staff
Robbin Gheesling
Vineyard Adventures
http://slidesha.re/AwZR0u

2. Roles in wine tourism
& how they function
In-house winery staff
Incoming tour operators
Independent local tour guides

3. Considerations for Hiring
People should be hired for their personality
and the ability to communicate.
This should take precedence over ANY
qualification or degree they may already have.
Hiring for a tourism role should be long-term,
not seasonal.

4. Why?
Facts and processes can be learned personality
and friendliness cannot!
Pay attention to their credentials if they have
them already
Tourism initiatives should not ONLY be
executed during high-season

5. Don’t just take my word
for it...
Opinions from LinkedIn

6. “The 'skilled' factor is vital as having the right
level / amount of knowledge is one thing, but the
ability to put it across to consumers and the
trade in an enthusiastic, passionate and
entertaining way is something else!!”

7. “ In Europe, we feel that wine is intrinsically linked to the
culture and culinary traditions of the region in which it's
grown. So it's important to present it to guests in that
manner, in a cultural context. This also gets across another
important point to guests: that wine is about enjoyment,
pleasure and conviviality! A great wine tour guide knows how
to impart a sense of cultural context, pleasure and
conviviality to guests that makes their trip an authentic
experience of the region they're visiting, and highly
memorable!”

8. “...we have found that it's essential to have a guide who is highly
knowledgeable about wine, but who also has two other very important
qualities: 1) experience working with tourists, and 2) impeccable customer
service skills. Guiding a wine-oriented tour is not the same as giving a wine
class.
You have to know how to provide information tailored to each person,
as some guests will have a great deal of wine knowledge and want very
detailed, high-level information, while others have less knowledge (and
interest) and will want a shorter, simpler answer.
There are also times to talk, and times to just let the clients enjoy the scenery
or the meal. Guiding is sometimes about teaching, and a lot about helping the
clients have a great time on their tour. Knowing how to provide great
customer service is terribly important. A wine expert who is incapable of
dealing with a client who needs to find a pharmacy, or needs their room to be
changed because of an issue at the hotel, or any of the myriad of issues that
come up during a tour, is not going to be a good guide.”

9. So is education important?
YES
A wine knowledgeable guide is prepared to give
the right amount of information to the tourist
that wants to hear it.

10. Options for education?
In-house staff should have IN-HOUSE education.
Quality control of the training is maintained and it is
inexpensive
In-house education is investing in your product and in a
long-term employee
They should participate in all facets of the winemaking
process on site
Include this when they are interviewed for the job. If
they don’t want to get dirty, consider someone else

11. Outside Credentials
Wine service (sommelier)
Academic (journalist, author)

12. The Major Options
Court of Master Sommeliers (International -
London based)
Wine and Spirit Education Trust
(International - London Based)
Associazione Italiana Sommelier (Italy)

13. Court of Master Sommeliers
www.courtofmastersommeliers.org www.mastersommeliers.org
Focused on wine knowledge and service
Table side etiquette is taught and part of the
examination
Teaches wines of the world
Must pass Certified at a certain score to be
INVITED to sit the next level of qualification.

14. Court Structure
4 levels: Introductory, Certified, Advanced,
Master Sommelier
Intro: 1 day REVIEW course, then exam
No review course for Certified, just self study
Advanced (if invited to sit): 3 day review
course, 2 day exam

15. Pros & Cons: Court
Very rigorous program from the start
Service examination could be an indication of
how well service is executed in a tourism
setting
Focus is restaurant, restaurant, restaurant
Coursework is in English

16. Wine & Spirit Education Trust
www.wset.co.uk
Focused entirely on “bookish” wine
knowledge.
Service standards as studied as theory, not as
practice
Teaches wines of the world
Introductory not required as admission to
Advanced, Advanced required for admission to
Diploma

17. WSET Structure
5 levels: Simply named Level 1-5
All have classroom instruction with tasting before exams
Level 1: for the absolute novice.
Level 2: Introduction to wines: e.g. What and where is
Chardonnay?
Level 3: 16 lesson course in-depth on wines of the world
Level 4: MUST pass Level 3 to enter the program
Intensive 3 year program with 6 units of exams

18. Pros & Cons: WSET
Provides a theory base that can be applied to
what is being seen in the winery.
Does not go into depth on practical service.
(Is this needed for tourism or not?)
Focus is reading, reading, reading. In English.

19. Associazione Italian
Sommelier
www.aisitalia.it
Service and theoretical knowledge
Focus on Italian wines (international wines
covered but not as completely as others)
3 levels: 1, 2, 3 (brilliant!)

20. Pros & Cons: AIS
Course entirely in Italian
Food & Wine pairing is a major component of
Level 3
Only really recognized in Italy
Doesn’t have a broad scope on the wine world

21. In conclusion....
Hire on ability and aptitude.
The education will follow.

22. Robbin Gheesling
Vineyard Adventures
robbin@vineyardadaventures.com
@robbin_g
@vineyardtravel