Sharron McCarthy, Director of Wine Education for Banfi Vintners and a 40-year wine industry veteran, shares her tips for on-premise / restaurant staff trainings with host Joe Janish.

Sharron discusses on-premise trends such as red blends, rose, and sparkling wines, and how restaurant wine lists are expanding to include these wines.

Additionally, she explains how to educate wait staff on wine and motivate them through the power of the dollar, illustrating how servers can put more cash in their pocket by suggesting wines by the glass and by the bottle.

Finally, Sharron provides over a dozen perfect wine and food pairings.

Highlights

On-premise Wine Trends

• Red blends — continuing to grow in popularity off-premise, red blends are now finding their way on to restaurant wine lists, by the glass and by the bottle.
• Rose – the pink wine explosion is showing no signs of slowing down, and more restaurants are now offering mutliple rose wines BTG and by the bottle. Further, rose is taking share away from craft beer, as more men feel comfortable ordering pink wine. Sharron also explains that rose pairs with a wide variety of foods, making it a natural for restaurants.

Tips for Waiters and Waitresses

• Don’t ask — suggest! Give the patron the opportunity to say “yes.”
• Take diners on a tour of the menu
• The power of “by the way …”

How to Motivate Restaurant Service Staff

• Show the potential for income, with tips from The Wealthy Waiter
• Pouring a glass of tap water does not add to your tip
• How selling wine can add $24,000 to annual income
• Education and stories are key to wine service success

How the math works:

(with inspiration from The Wealthy Waiter)

Sell 10 – $3 glasses of Iced tea per shift = $6 tips x 5 shifts per week x 48 weeks a year = $1440
Sell 10 – $8 glasses of wine per shift = $16 tips x 5 shifts per week x 48 weeks a year = $3840
Sell 10 – $14 glasses of wine per shift = $28 tips x 5 shifts per week x 48 weeks a year = $6720
Sell 10 – $30 bottles of wine per shift = $60 tips x 5 shifts per week x 48 weeks a year = $14,400
Sell 10 – $50 bottles of wine per shift = $100 tips x 5 shifts per week x 48 weeks a year = $24,400

If you have a question or idea for an upcoming episde, email joe@winebiz360.com