Tasting Room Guide

As a Tasting Guide at Red Tail Ridge, you will arrive to work by driving through beautifully maintained vines, up a winding road past a pond and a wildflower field. The sleek and modern Tasting Room is to the right as the road curves by Black Walnut Trees dotted along the edges of the vineyard. As you walk to the front door, the open-air Pavilion is to the right, providing guests with protection from weather, while still enjoying intimacy with the vineyard. In front of you is a stunning view of Seneca Lake, vines of Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Blaufränkish appear as you get closer to the door. Entering the Tasting Room there’s a big impact from the wall & ceiling wood elegantly clad in reclaimed from the trees that were removed from the land when the vineyard was planted.

As you walk through the doors to the Tasting Room, you are greeted in a friendly, respectful manner by your Managers and Colleagues. Once settled and clocked in, you set yourself up for success by ensuring the tasting rooms is set correctly, has all the assets needed and the space is clean and organized. You will check in with your supervisor to ensure you have all the knowledge you need to be successful during the day. Then you dive right into providing top-notch hospitality to your guests. Your day is focused on providing those guests with an educational tasting experience of some of the most distinct and technically well-made wines made in the Finger Lakes. Through the experiences you provide, your ability to connect to people within a short period of time and your salesmanship shines. After all, it’s easy to sell wines with such range. It’s all about putting the right wine in front of the right person.

You are always supported by your teammates and managers, and you give as you receive throughout the day. You can always find something to do and learn at Red Tail Ridge. Whether it is making sure that the elegant Tasting Room is set up for success, food preparation is done, cleaning the space, or asking your colleagues questions about the technical aspects and history of wine.

At the end of the day, working in tandem with your team mates, you reset the Tasting Room, clean and polish glassware and other dishes, clean the space and make sure all the merchandise is restocked appropriately. You walk out knowing how much you have contributed to the success of the day and what needs to happen moving forward to keep Red Tail Ridge progressing in a positive direction. You are able to have pride in the product you are representing, the space you are working in, and the people you support and assist every single day.

Job Description

A Tasting Room Guide provides guests with an outstanding and unique tasting experience. The experience we focus in on is educational, taking guests through the experience of tasting the wine while also providing the technical and contextual importance of the wines we produce. We provide as much or as little information as the guest would like. However, the goal is always to sell bottles to the guest at the end of their tasting. In order to provide this type of experience to our guests, the following are specific qualities that are essential for our Tasting Room Guides to have:

- Focus on setting our Tasting Room & Pavilion up for success every day through cleanliness, comfort, beauty, efficiency and flavor.

o Setting up the spaces with the comfort of guests in mind.

o Ensuring the tasting surfaces are clean and sanitized properly.

o Maintaining product to ensure the wine and food presented are at their best.

o Keeping Merchandise, Plants and other assets organized & beautifully displayed.

- A Warm & Welcoming Presence from the first interaction with guests.

o Guests should be greeted as they walk through the doors, and no more than 10 seconds after entering.

o Friendly introductions to our space and service options for both reservations and walk-in guests.

o Courteous guidance to spaces dedicated to different experiences offered.

- A Professional and Correct Tasting Experience

o Listen to guest’s preferences and dislikes as you assist them in making their tasting decisions.

o Balance those guest preferences with the specialization, goals and targets of the winery.

o Ensure the information provided to guests is complete and accurate.

o Accurate pours of product that go up to, but not over what is specified in the guidelines of the winery

o Bring your own experience and background into the tasting experience

- Salesmanship

o Through the tasting experience and without being pushy, meet sales goals and targets consistently

o Excellent cash management skills

o Ability to accurately ring guests through on our POS, ensuring that all product is included, all discounts are applied appropriately and records are maintained correctly.

- Teamwork

o Respect for all managers and co-workers is essential in this position.

o An equal contributor to the completion of all daily tasks.

o Active ability to provide support to all co-workers before, during and after service.

o Take immediate and appropriate action and communicate when an issue comes up.

o If you make a commitment follow-through & when a commitment is made to you, follow-up with kindness and professionalism.

- Timeliness

o Show up to work on time.

o Keep tastings on track and efficient while also maintaining an interactive and connective experience.

o During busy times, ensures that we can provide our experiences to as many guests as possible.

o Provide equal attention and quality to the guests of Red Tail Ridge

o All tasks and projects are completed in an efficient and timely manner.

- Communication

o Bring concerns and problems to the leaders who can take action to resolve them

o Questions and suggestions are always encouraged and appreciated at Red Tail Ridge

o Respecting leadership decisions does not mean that all communication is cut off.

It is the goal of Red Tail Ridge to be a professional and humanistic company. We focus on solid business fundamentals, kindness and respect in interactions, and providing our colleagues and guests the best experience possible. In becoming a member of the Red Tail Ridge Team, you are becoming an essential piece to our success. We will rise based on the skills and abilities of each member. We take it seriously and expect you to do the same.

Winery History

Red Tail Ridge is one of the regions most well-respected wineries. Owned and operated by Nancy Irelan (winemaker) & Michael Schnelle (viticulturist), a husband & wife partnership who moved to the Finger Lakes 20 years ago to plant the vineyard at this specific place on Seneca Lake. Nancy holds a PhD. In Grape Genetics and prior to founding Red Tail Ridge was a Vice President at Gallo in California, heading up the Research and Development branch with research vineyards across the state. Michael holds an MBA and not only leads the vineyard management team, but also heads the financial side of Red Tail Ridge.

This winery is their life’s work. Nancy & Mike are as passionate about making beautiful wine as they are about how it is presented to guests in the Tasting Room. They are forward-thinking people, building Red Tail Ridge to be the one and currently, only LEED-gold certified winery in New York State. The winery has been nominated for a James Beard Award multiple times was a semi-finalist for the award twice. We are known for our Sparkling and Cool Climate Red wines, which include some varietals that are rare in the world and in our region. With Nancy’s talent in wine making and Michael’s meticulous care of the vineyard, we provide unique, character-driven wines that are technical, precise and innovative.

During COVID, Nancy & Michael put their vision to work in creating the open-air Pavilion to provide guests a comfortable space to enjoy wine, while being sheltered from weather events. It’s slatted design and maneuverable walls make for a space that is both rustic and sophisticated. The winery’s newest addition is the Tasting Room, which is still in the process of being completed. When done it will have a commercial kitchen, wrap around tasting bar made from the same wood used for the cladding of the space, and additional patio for guests to enjoy during the summer months.

We look for people with a passion for great wine, care for guest experience, and the respectful team-oriented work to make Red Tail Ridge as great a place to work as it is to visit.

Job Types: Part-time, Seasonal

Pay: $15.50 - $17.50 per hour

Expected hours: 8 – 40 per week

Benefits:

• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule

Shift:

• 4 hour shift
• 8 hour shift
• Day shift

Experience:

• Restaurant: 1 year (Preferred)
• Wine knowledge: 1 year (Preferred)
• Wine Sales: 1 year (Preferred)

Shift availability:

• Day Shift (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Penn Yan, NY 14527 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Penn Yan, NY 14527: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $16 - $18