This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Slideshow
12 things you will only know if you’ve worked in a wine shop
Ever wondered what it’s really like working with the public when you’re a budding oenophile?
Whether you did a stint at Majestic for a summer job during your student days, or you’re busy running your own business, every wine merchant staffer shares the same experiences during their time on the shop floor.
We asked veterans of wine shops big and small to reveal their own secrets of the trade.
From triggering record-breaking hangovers to keeping tricky customers sweet, here are 11 things that resonate with anyone who has spent their days selling wine to the masses.
1. No matter how much your staff discount is, you will spend almost your entire salary in the shop
2. Nothing helps a hangover less than shelf re-stocking and handing out in-store samples
All that wine looked oh so delicious last night. Today though…?
3. Don’t put wine on the corners of displays
“…it will get smashed. In the store I worked in at uni, we put fake bottles on the corners of our under £8 wine stack, it saved so many disasters.”
4. You always have to make people feel welcome
“It was our policy to always say ‘hello’ and ‘can I help you’ to someone walking in, it makes such a difference.”
“Wine shops can be very intimidating to those that don’t know much about wine, and people should feel comfortable enough to approach you to ask for help if they’re stuck.”
5. We have to treat all questions with respect. No matter how stupid they are
“My friend once had someone come in asking for a red Chardonnay (and he was fairly insistent about it).”
“She did end up selling him a bottle of wine and did eventually get through to him that Chardonnay doesn’t make red wine.”
This isn’t the first time the drinks business has come across red Chardonnay. In the early 1990s, drinks industry veteran and author of “That Sh*t Will Never Sell” David Gluckman embarked on a mission to market a red wine made with 75% Chardonnay.
Although he said that the wine makers were “only moderately interested in the idea”, two wines were produced in the 90s based on a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir: one from Sterling Vineyards and the other from BV (Beaulieu Vineyards).
Though the wines have dropped out of circulation, Gluckman said he “still thinks it’s a good idea.”
6. Try not to break your wrist four weeks before Christmas!
“I broke it last week (no, alcohol was not involved). Terrible, terrible timing. I can’t even wrap up a bottle.
“Customers are being fantastic though and I’m finding out who used to have a job in Threshers or Oddbins when they were students! Wrapping up a bottle it seems is rather like learning to ride a bike- once you learn you never forget!
7. You have to learn the art of small talk
“We had to have a quick, stock answer for everything – what would you recommend? What is your favourite? What are you drinking at the moment?
8. Wine bottles get dusty very quickly – it feels like you’re constantly cleaning them.
(Photo: Preston Rhea/Flickr)
“Wine boxes are also really dirty. Try not to wear white clothes if you’re stacking shelves.”
9. Famous people can drop by when you least expect it
“I once worked in a wine shop in Bath and Nicholas Cage had a house in the Circus nearby (a very smart bit of town). He came in to buy some wine for Christmas and as he was so close the manager asked me to deliver the cases to him (in a couple of trips).
“So up I went, knocked on the door, there was a lady there to let me in and on the second and last trip as I deposited the case in the hall Nick himself came striding up with his rangy sort of walk, in a vest looking like his character in Con Air and gave me a very genuine ‘Oh that’s so great, thank you very much.’”
“Completely starstruck.”
10. If your wine shop has a bar, you need to be very, very careful with the glasses…
“When I was working at a popular, unnamed wine bar and shop chain, a woman ordered a glass of white wine. She paid for her drink but came back about two minutes later complaining her wine smelt like a swimming pool.”
“As it turns out it wasn’t a glass of wine. It was a glass of cleaning solution we use to wash some of our produce.”
“She was fine about it, but we did give her a glass on the house!”
11. Sometimes customers get confused, but still think they know it all
“One of my old boss’ pet hates was people coming in, asking for a wine, finding we didn’t stock it and then insisting that they bought it with us, when they didn’t.”
12. But giving a really good wine recommendation is the best feeling.
Cheers!