Tasting Room Manager

Wente Family Estates Careers•Livermore, CA

11h•Onsite

About The Position

The Tasting Room Manager is responsible for the successful supervision, hiring, onboarding, scheduling, payroll, performance review, training, coaching, and development of staff. This role collaborates on business solutions and goals for the entire Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) operation, including tasting rooms, wine club, telemarketing, concierge service, and events, with the aim of creating an integrated business strategy. Key responsibilities include forecasting, budgeting, ensuring process efficiencies, driving club membership acquisition and retention, overseeing sales performance, and managing revenue. The manager will leverage POS and reservation technologies, ensure team members are updated on company policies and wine characteristics, and prioritize guest satisfaction and safety standards. This position involves building and sustaining a high-performing team, maintaining VIP customer relationships, and staying knowledgeable about wines and winery history. The manager will lead by example, motivate sales staff, support clear expectations and accountability, and help develop customer-facing educational and unique wine experiences. They are expected to demonstrate leadership through sound business decisions, high ethical standards, and a commitment to Wente's pillars of Respect, Integrity, Sustainability, and Excellence. Additional duties include managing staff for wine club release dates and events, maintaining physical inventory, coordinating with the DTC Operations manager, and responding to customer feedback.

Requirements

Minimum 5 years working in a winery and/or the hospitality industry.
Passion for food and wine, excellent wine knowledge and demonstrated ability to sell wine.
Ability to deliver the ultimate in guest satisfaction; strong hospitality skills.
Strong leadership skills.
Able to provide critical feedback and disciplinary action if needed.
Commitment to excellence and high standards.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Strong organizational, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
Ability to manage workflow, with the ability to shift priorities, as needed; viewing challenges and demands with a positive attitude.
Professional appearance and demeanor.
Demonstrated ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, and percentages.
Creative, flexible, and innovative team player.
Demonstrated proficiency in supervising and motivating employees.
Maintain a view of the overall business situation when making decisions and creating procedures.
Professionally represent the organization when in contact with guests and vendors.
Maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance.

Nice To Haves

Wine education credentials are a plus
Merchandising and marketing experience in a retail environment a plus

Responsibilities

Staffing, including but not limited to the successful supervision, hiring, onboarding/offboarding, scheduling, Payroll completion process, annual performance review, training, coaching and development.
Collaborate and help ideate business solutions and goals for the entire DTC operation, including the tasting rooms at Murrieta’s Well and Wente Vineyards, as well as the other important sales channels such as wine club, telemarketing, concierge phone service, and events with the goal of helping to generate an integrated holistic business strategy and tactics.
Responsible for forecasting, budgeting monthly and annually with strong adherence to staying within budget using KPI measurements.
Work cross functionally to create process efficiencies within each Tasting Room and will share best practices which support the overall DTC operation.
Ensure tasting room and club experiences are synchronized.
Champion club membership acquisition and partner on the retention strategies to combat attrition.
Promote a sales culture by training and developing team on sales strategies, bonus and incentive program management and KPI tracking on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Oversee sales performance in the room by measuring bottles per person sold, average bottle price, club conversion and more.
Responsible for revenue performance to budget.
Leverage POS and reservation technologies to capture customer data.
Be a Commerce 7 and Cellar Pass technology expert in DTC.
Ensure that all team members are updated with all current information: company policies, wine and vintage characteristics, and marketplace information including trade information, new release timing and upcoming club information.
Understand and meet guest needs; anticipate/exceed guest expectations.
Prioritize safety standards and represent the Hospitality/DTC departments on the general safety committee, as well as the safety steering committee.
Build & sustain a high-performing team that is motivated, engaged, goal orientated and provides exceptional service to internal and external guests.
Maintain relationships with VIP customers and club members.
Remain knowledgeable about wines, viticulture, winemaking techniques, and winery history.
Supervise leads and wine sales ambassadors on floor and lead by example, motivating and inspiring sales staff, aiding the high hospitality standards of the winery, and facilitating an energized sales environment at the register, greeting areas, and back of the house.
Support clear expectations and levels of accountability for the team.
Assigning responsibilities, empowering others, delegating, removing obstacles to success, and facilitating and identifying needed resources for closely-monitored progress.
Help in developing customer facing educational experiences and unique wine experiences that drive incremental revenue.
Demonstrate leadership through sound business decisions, high ethical standards, values and behavior.
Builds trust within their teams and other departments.
Keep up to date on staff performance, identifying issues and taking corrective action.
Strong in working with a diverse team and building a strong supportive culture that fits the Wente pillars of Respect, Integrity, Sustainability and Excellence.
Manage staff for wine club release dates and events, working personally on every key release date and party.
Maintain physical inventory of wine and non-wine items in the tasting room, facilitate monthly inventory counts, complete proper inventory paperwork for winery samples and promotional accounts.
Coordinate with DTC Operations manager to ensure proper flow and accountability.
Respond to customer requests, suggestions or complaints.
Supports social sustainability by being ambassadors to the public.
Communicate how the company is sustainable by respectfully interacting with each of our employees, customers, and community members.
Supports economic sustainability through good fiscal management and product waste management.
Scheduling staff to maintain cost efficiency.