Ever been interested in working in the wine industry? There’s so many different avenues, from being a Sommelier at a restaurant, to working in retail shops or wine tasting rooms, winemaking, marketing, or working for a distributor and selling wine to restaurants and retailers from your portfolio. I currently do the latter and work as a “Key Account Specialist” for Regal Wine Company in Los Angeles, responsible for helping sell fine wine to the top 100 on-premise accounts in the city. It’s a job I truly love and get asked all the time what I really do every day, so here’s a little peek into a day in the life of a wine sales rep!
My love for wine started from working in fine dining restaurants in Beverly Hills. Every now and then we had a wine sales rep come in and give us a special training and tasting on one of their bottles. I always found it fascinating and loved taking that knowledge to a table and boom selling the bottle! I also would often see people sitting at the bar on a Monday afternoon with their laptop and a glass of wine and when I learned that this was them “working” I had to learn more. I started going to some local wine education classes and there met a woman who was currently a fine wine specialist at one of the larger distributor’s “RNDC” in L.A. We stayed in touch as I continued my wine studies, I even did a “ride along” with one of the sales reps where I hopped in his car for the day to try and actually see what a day in the life of a sales rep was. Next thing you know, he got promoted and I ended up landing his job in on-premise sales in Beverly Hills for RNDC and the rest was history!
Account Support at Gjelina in Venice, CA
If this at all sounds like you, but you do wonder what it is we actually do all day, I’ll do my best to give you a little insight. First, there’s on-premise and off-premise sales reps, and some company’s have you do one or the other, or both. On Premise is anywhere that sells alcohol to drink on the premises, like restaurants, hotels, bars, etc. Off-Premise is anywhere that sells alcohol to be consumed elsewhere like liquor stores, wine shops, etc. Grocery stores or large chain retailers are often part of a different channel of sales called “Chains” which can be a great place to get your start with a company, but that’s not the job I’m specifically discussing in this blog.
Women's Wine and Cheese event at Culina at Four Seasons Los Angeles
If your job title covers both on and off premise sales, you will split your time between retailers, restaurants, bars, and hotels. This means one day to the next can be wildly different. One day you can spend your day going to dive liquor stores and pitching to get your wine stacked on the end of an aisle or introducing them to a new product you want on their shelves, and the next day you can be tasting wines at a Michelin Star restaurant and attending a four coursed wine tasting dinner with a winemaker.
Pouring samples at the Hollywood Bowl
Since every day is so varied and different, it’s hard to give a snapshot of any singular day, however below is an idea of different things you would do on any given day:
Make relationships with buyers at your accounts so that you can get a tasting appointment to taste them on wines from your portfolio
Follow up on tastings and try to get your wine placed on a wine list or on the floor of a retailer
Build on those relationships with buyers by staying current and stopping in or emailing them regularly so you can be top of mind when a wine placement opportunity arises
Go to a liquor store and pitch new products or take their order
Pour your wine as samples to customers at a wine shop to help increase bottle sales
Get creative by pitching and planning wine events at restaurants or hotels that feature your wine and help pour the wine for guests at the event
Spend time on your computer looking through your sales numbers and figuring out how to do better with the brands you are down in
You’ll have “Work With” days with suppliers of specific brands where you’ll be responsible for scheduling a day of appointments for them to show their wines to your buyers
You’re responsible for keeping your accounts in good financial standing so you may need to pick up checks or email invoices to accountants to make sure they stop on top of their bills and don’t get orders held.
Prospect new accounts by going in to to meet the buyer, drop off your portfolio and try to get an appointment for a tasting
Support your accounts that have your wine by having a glass at the bar or planning a larger support dinner with your managers and teammates.
Host a “Buyer Lunch” when a winemaker or supplier is in town, where the buyers can come to lunch and get to taste through the lineup paired with food
Make sure orders get put in properly and handle any issues that arise
Host staff trainings for the staff of restaurants that carry your wines so the staff are better educated in selling your wine
A Beaucastel Wine Dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel
As you can see there’s a lot of different things that you might do in any given day as a sells rep, but the main goal is to build solid relationships, find opportunities for tastings, give good customer service, and learn your wines so you can be a better storyteller when showing them. It’s a really fun job if you like every day being different, mostly making your own schedule, being out and about, and working with a lot of interesting, passionate people, not to mention the biggest perk of all, lots of free wine! Keep in mind that it involves a lot of shlepping very heavy wine bags around, in and out of your car, up and down stairs, etc. as well as finding parking over and over again in a big city can be exhausting. You are told no a lot or just ignored completely, numbers can be very hard to reach, and at the end of the day it is still a sales job. I believe all this just makes that sale you do make that much sweeter though :)
Schlepping during an LA rainstorm!
It takes a lot of drive, grit, self-belief, and personality to stand out amongst the competition and be successful in your territory, but I believe if you really love the wine you sell and have a desire to do well and work hard you can really flourish in this industry and be in a job you love!
Typical Day leaving the house with all my wine bags
If this sounds like something you really would like to do, jobs are often posted on winejobs.com or the regular job search engines like Linkedin or Indeed. I would recommend getting a wine certification under your belt like the WSET II or Intro Sommelier exam as well as getting some restaurant experience before applying as that will really help you have a leg up amongst the competition. Starting in the Chains channel is also a great way to get your foot in the door of a company without much experience and then move your way up. I wish you the best of luck in your wine journey and let me know if you have any other questions about a day in the life of a wine sales rep!
