Head of Wine Experience
Vinopolis
Total years of experience :16 years, 2 Months
Head of Wine Experience & Educational Masterclasses, Vinopolis Wine World, London-UK- 2014
As Head of the Wine Experience I oversee the day-to-day operations. Main duties include supervising the events, masterclasses and the self-guided wine experience as well as customer service and guest satisfaction:
• Reducing departmental costs
• Increasing guests satisfaction and customer service
• Increasing revenue
Operations
• Implementation of SOP’s
• Standardising masterclasses and events
• Revising all marterclasses and improve/change, creating new scripts and new packages
• Monthly board report
Personnel & staffing
• Interview process and hiring
• Departmental re-structure
• Yearly training plan with weekly training
Marketing
• Search for new sponsorship partners
• Creation of new packages and events
• Customer Satisfaction Survey
Budget
• Yearly staff allowance
• Yearly staff training
Stock
• Analyze monthly consumption, seasonal trends and patterns
• Free stock allowance and products
• Stock-rotation
• Sourcing new wines and pricing
Assist. F&B Manager, JA Resorts- Ocean View Hotel, Dubai - September 2012-Present
As part of the pre-opening team I was involved in many aspects of the hotel and the team. I helped developing concepts for two of our outlets: "Fogo Vivo Brazilian Grill and The Whistler Wine and Cheese bar and Enomatic System" I contributed with the developing of hotel’s SOP including all Food and Beverage service, together with the F&B Manager, we developed all the wine and beverage lists for each outlet, according to each concept. Other aspects of my duties is dealing with suppliers, negotiating prices, products, activation of promotions and organizing principle visits for education and training purposed, for our guests and staff.
Beverage Manager-Six Senses Spa & Resort, Zighy Bay -Oman November 2011- Present
Reporting directly to the F&B Manager my responsibilities consist on daily operations of the bar outlets at the resort and the beverage operations in all the F&B outlets during the dinner time. We drive and train the team to gain more confidence in the product knowledge and be able to approach and deliver the service to the guests with more confidence.
I organise wine tastings and wine diners at the cellar as well as special tastings for the press visiting us like date and wine pairing, chocolate and wine pairing, Arabic wine tasting and such as well as Wine dinners at the fine dining restaurant on the top of the Mountain where principles from wineries visit us.
I plan the purchasing for the month depending on sales and stock; I set the prices according to our costs for the beverages and do the entire liaison with the suppliers.
I select and maintain all the wine menus and beverages menus for the outlets as well as I create special beverage menu for any event as per request. e.g. Valentine's Day, Dining in the Dark, Full Moon Dinner, Frescobaldi dinner and as such. I manage a small team of barmen who themselves take care of the par-levels, our bars and smooth operation in the outlets.
P.I.C examination 2011 -Dubai Municipality, with merits.
Train the Trainer assessment 2011- passed with merits
Hotel Sommelier- The Palace Hotel, Dubai October 2010-November 2011
Reporting directly to Assistant Director F&B, my main responsibilities within the beverage department and the hotel: • Winner of the Wine Spectator Award with the Best wine list in UAE
• Main Liaison with suppliers
• Main Liaison on all cross function matters e.g. cost control, store, line staff and managers.
• Negotiation on pricing, products, trade deals and free of charge items.
• Analyse beverage sales and stock rotation and revise the par-stocks for the outlets every 6 months
• Manage marketing budgets
• Responsible for the Training and motivating of staff. Master Classes, WSET, Internal and external competitions, most recently: Bacardi Legacy heats 2011, World class heat 2011, Russian standard Platinum fusion 2011 and Sky Vodka Flair competition 2011
• Selection and maintenance of all the wine lists in the hotel. Asado Argentine Grill Restaurant wine list awarded one of the most outstanding wine lists in the world, Wine Spectator August 2011. Have a special imports program on an Argentinean selection making it the biggest Malbec selection in the Middle East.
• Monitor stock levels and advise orders accordingly, cutting down requisitions when necessary and keeping the par-levels accordingly to the outlet and overall beverage percentage forecasted
• Setting up Wine Club for the hotel together with the Marketing team, dealing up with suppliers, quotations, wine tasting notes and hosting the event itself. October 2011
• Weekly beverage meetings with the barmen where we talk about recipes, wine programs and training for the KPI assessment.
Branch Manager - Nicolas Wines UK Ltd. May 2009 - Nov 2011
The primary function of this role was the day to day running of a busy specialist wine store, catering to the needs of high net-worth private clients. My responsibilities included generating business, seeking new clients and the administration of an extensive client data base. At Nicolas, I am proudest of having developed a new service for corporate wine tastings. In addition, I increased branch turnover by ten percent and secured the business of a private premium cigar buyer.
BIIAB (UK off license), 2009.
Special event experience
• Regular attendant at Wine Club- ELH Group, Ambleside, Cumbria.
• Organised "Black French Wine" event during Malbec week. The event was organised with winemakers in Cahors and included seminars, tastings and a general gathering to promote the wine and winemakers from Cahors.
Harvest and Vinification Assistant - Dom. Buisson, St. Romain France October 2008
I worked within various departments of this prestigious winery in support of a highly qualified oenologist. My primary tasks included harvest, accurate monitoring of the "must" during the fermentation process, and temperature control.
Storrs Hall Hotel **** Lake District, UK October 2006- August 2007
This was my university industrial placement and subsequently I was the hotel's assistant restaurant manager. During the trainee period I rotated through different departments and also created a training program for the staff. The role as assistant manager gave me more responsibility and additional work included organising wine events in the hotel.
2011 Wine Spectator Winner, One of the most outstanding lists of the world, Award of excellence
Master's in International Wines and Spirits Trade 2007-2009 Burgundy School of Business, Dijon, France With courses including viticulture, oenology, WSET advanced level, marketing specialized in wines, European law specialized in the wine trade and international trade, and sales. I had six educational vineyard trips within France and one trip to Spain, tasting wines, meeting producers, learning about winemaking methods, soils, regions and about the industry in general.
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration International Hospitality and Office Management 2004-2007 CHN University, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands With modules in strategy, finance, marketing and international hospitality.