I was a wine consultant at a local store chain back in the 1980’s. I was very, very serious about it then, was the first person to ace the Les Amis Du Vin wine consultant exam, wrote a small book, and almost went to work for two different wineries… but I decided to become an artist instead - which I still am. Now I’m considering an offer to work part-time as a wine consultant just to get out of the house… problem is, I stopped drinking 9 years ago, and I won’t be starting anytime soon.
So, in a retail setting, how would I handle that? If a customer asks me a question do I just talk in broad terms (“a sauvignon blanc would go nicely with your asian basted tilipia”), or do I read publications and listen to others advice and express suggestions more directly (“THIS sauvignon blanc WILL go nicely with your asian basted tilipia, it’s got a slightly spice undertone”). It’s a matter of honesty. I fear someone will ask if I have actually tasted this or that particular wine. Maybe I’m overthinking this. Back in the day I hadn’t tasted every single wine we carried, yet I would recommend from what I had read and heard… but I will say I was very honest about it.
With varietal correctness in finished wine being what it is these days, or should I say isn’t, I would not think that blind suggetsions would play out very well.
Have you had this one? No. How about this one? No. What’s the flavor profile for this bottle? I have no idea.
The value of a consultant is in what they can add.
I think you would probably be fine at the low end of the market, the bread and butter of many wine stores. For finer wine, especially where the person buying has at least some interest in the wines they are buying beyond “I need a red for …”, there have been dramatic changes at various producers so you would have to do a lot of reading to absorb that information. Still I think that’s not very different than the typical retail consultant who has not tasted every wine or most wines in the shop. You just won’t be able to say when asked, I tasted it and here is what I think. There are probably only a small percentage of shoppers who won’t buy on your recommendation if you purport to know what you are talking about but haven’t tasted the wine. I personally find when wine consultants in a store talks about a wine as if they know what it is like, I ask whether they have tried it, and they say no, I stop taking them seriously in terms of the recommendation. See Michael’s post above.
Overall then, you are probably overthinking it and too conscientious, but if you are consulting for collectors or geeks, it could get dicey.
There was a fellow I knew at a liquor store once. he didn’t drink wine (regularly). His answer for anyone seeking a red wine was to “try this William Hill Cab Sav”. Worked for him, but it might not for you. Of course if you wanted to work for a large distributor, pushing mass-market wines to the marketplace that wants its booze cheap and plentiful, you might find a niche.
Would I trust a car salesman who doesn’t drive. No
Would I trust a fitness person who doesn’t work out themselves. No
Would I trust a coach who’s never played the game themselves. No
Would I trust someone to give me wine advice who doesn’t drink. No
Based on your comment of I stopped drinking 9 years ago, and I won’t be starting anytime soon why in the world would you want to get back into any profession that is solely about alcohol?
Got the answers I figured I would get… its a slippery slope. Maybe I would be better suited as background help - i.e. keeping the wines organized, well presented, and maybe just answering “where is” and “what is” questions.
To Andy Velebils question as to “why”… think of it like any other passionate pursuit… once you get past of the point of being able to “do it” you might want to “teach it” or at least be involved. We see this all this time in sports, entertainment, even politics. Plus I don’t see wine as being about “alcohol.” Wine is transcendent over almost any culinary experience. I miss being around people that are so energetically consumed in something.
No one has ever taken a bite of a potatoes and said “this reminds me of sitting on a terrace in Paris overlooking Place du Tertre, on the last Thursday in August in 1987, and watching the sun go down while eating some glorious mashed reds”… Guess I’m just envious of the old days. (
An old friend in the wine business out west had some issues with his pancreas (unrelated to alcohol) about 7 years ago and he was told he was risking serious long-term health issues if he didn’t cease drinking alcohol completely.
He still tastes every day, but spits and never consumes. I couldn’t imagine taking anyone’s advice if they weren’t at least tasting the wines.
A successful consultant portrays themselves as an expert. In business there are many successful consultants that get by with confidence, salesmanship and only theoretical knowledge. If you are comfortable with this and feel you can confidently portray yourself as an expert, you will do fine.
My question is, why would you want to if you have no participation in or passion for the industry? Maybe there are other jobs to make some extra cash? Or if it isn’t about money, maybe volunteer somewhere?
I’d agree with the others Rick. Don’t try to be a consultant.
But you can be in sales. In fact some of the best wine salesmen I’ve ever met don’t really know much about or care about wine. You can say something got 90 points, you can refer to other’s opinions and scores, and you can say how much cheaper a particular bottle is at your place than somewhere else. You can even talk about soil and such nonsense if people care to hear about it. But if someone is asking you for an opinion, you won’t have one, although even there, if you want to hustle some wine out the door, you can fake it. Most of the people in wine shops don’t really know all that much anyway.
So it really depends on what you want to do. You can sell wine, fabric, motor oil, etc, without being expert on any of it.
As to Marc’s point, which is interesting, it’s not quite the same as coaching. Those coaches can tell people how to do something and can pick up that information by watching others. You can’t pick up information about the taste of a wine by watching others.
Not a great analogy. First, they typically do some travelling. There are lots of freebies, I think. Moreover, the travel agency business has been killed by the web precisely because the customers can now learn as much as an agent about a hotel or beach or tour online. Agents used to have a monopoly on the knowledge, but they lost that.
The average customer who walks into a wine store is lost in a sea of hundreds of wines, so even a teetotaler could be of some help. But for any customer with a modicum of knowledge, a non-drinker will be a non-starter.
I don’t expect a retail wine sales person to have tasted everything in the store, or close to it, but I expect them to have sampled a fair number. I’m certainly not interested in asking questions of someone who has only book knowledge.
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