Improve your wine knowledge - get training!

There are plenty of opportunities open for licensees who would like to improve their knowledge of wine. John Porter looks at some of the training options available.

One of the points made time and again in this series of Your Business wine features is that there is a great deal of mystique which surrounds the subject of wine.

For wine enthusiasts - oenophiles, to give them the official term - a great deal of the enjoyment is created by their understanding of the differences in varieties and vintages.

All of which is fine, but the question for publicans is just how much of this knowledge is necessary in order to keep and serve wine well in a pub? The short answer is, as much as you want.

Just as your main responsibility to a cask ale drinker is to maintain a good cellar and serve the product well, with wine you will earn the most credibility with a simple recommendation. If you also want to find out enough to be able to join in the lively debate about malts and hops, or vineyards and soil types, with customers who enjoy that sort of thing, it's really an optional extra.

Fortunately, there is now no shortage of training opportunities available to publicans aiming to improve their own or their staff's wine knowledge. What is important is that you match the training to the required level of knowledge, which basically comes down to the practical issues.

Graham Threader, sales director of Waverley Wines & Spirits, said: "Product storage, temperature and handling are all key points which can reassure consumers that quality is an important part of the offer in the outlet. For outlets with an extensive wine offer, staff product knowledge can be a key benefit in helping consumers choose wine."

Support​

Waverley includes staff training as part of its support package for outlets, which also includes advice on marketing, pricing and other key elements of the pub marketing offer. Waverley's experience suggests that a basic training package which gives staff the confidence to make recommendations to customers can lead to a significant increase in sales.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust, (WSET) is the leading training body offering vocational qualifications in product knowledge of wines, aimed at all branches of the drinks industry.

The qualifications are part of the national qualifications framework set up by the Department for Employment and Skills, and are currently offered at three levels, The initial course requires little or no previous knowledge, and this basic qualification is a good starting point for publicans and their staff.

Each programme includes a review of wines and spirits from around the world, tasting technique, and topics dealing with the business and social implications of alcoholic beverages. The different levels cover these subjects in increasing depth. In association with the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), WSET also offers the Wine Retail Certificate, which is administered by the BII.

From the beginning of August 2001, the titles of some of the qualifications have been amended to fit into the structure of names used within the national framework.

The qualifications now available are the Intermediate Certificate in Wines, Spirits and Other Alcoholic Beverages; the Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits; and the Diploma in Wines and Spirits.

Most of the 11,000 candidates taking these qualifications each year study at one 250 registered examination centres - run by colleges, employers and specialist educators - around the UK and, increasingly, around the world.

The WSET also prepares candidates for its qualifications through courses at its premises in the City of London, and by the provision of home study packs, in both book format and on CD-ROM. To meet the specific needs of employers, WSET can also offer custom courses wherever required.

Expertise​

If you are considering undertaking WSET training, or providing it for your staff, you may want to consider taking advantage of the wine experience and expertise of an existing pub operator.

Cockburn and Campbell, the wine and spirit subsidiary of London brewer Young & Co, has won a series of awards and accolades for its wine range, and is one of WSET's registered trainers.

The company attributes this success to its investment in training. All Young's tenants, managers, assistant managers, and key barstaff undertake a series of wine courses. Young's is now opening up the most successful of these courses to the competition by giving other pub operators the opportunity to attend.

Cockburn and Campbell is also running WSET courses for the public. These courses can be very useful to publicans and bar staff looking to develop a basic working introduction to wine.

The company claims the advantages of its approach are that:

• it trains small groups rather than lecture to large numbers
• smaller groups encourage better interaction between the students and results in better concentration
• based on 12 years experience of delivering the WSET courses to licensees, every section is discussed with reference to selling wine in the on-trade environment
• more than 300 licensees have attended the course at Young's Brewery, and only two have ever failed the exams
• students taste and learn about wines they are going to sell rather than an arbitrary range assembled for a course
• attending course days as group is good for team building and staff morale
• discounts on the standard WSET fee are available for group bookings.

Further details​

Wine & Spirit Education Trust, Freepost LON2195, London EC4B 4WNemail: wset@wset.co.uk website: www.wset.co.uk

Market Report 2001​

The latest annual survey of publicans, carried out for the Publican's Market Report 2001, suggests that wine training should be high on the list of publicans' priorities. Acknowledging the increasing importance of the wine category to the trade, most pubs expect to see an rise in turnover generated by wine sales over the next year. A majority of pubs also identify staff training in general as a business priority for the year ahead.

Expectation of wine turnover in next 12 months​

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