Kirsten Fox is the CEO & President of the Culinary Wine Institute in Park City, Utah.
How did you leverage your restaurant industry and wine sales experience in to creating the Culinary Wine Institute?
I started my love affair with wine while in college in Nashville. At the time, I was a server in a casual restaurant, and as with many Hollywood movies, the start of the romance was rocky. Whenever a guest would order a bottle of wine, I would launch into an invented story about Dolly Parton’s favorite mixed drink to entice people into changing their orders. I knew I was being deceitful, but the guilt was preferable to the terror of uncorking a bottle in front of them.
Fast-forward twenty years and, perhaps as atonement for my lies, I became a wine educator and a sales person for Southern Wine & Spirits. After calling on restaurants and hearing the same challenges with wine sales that I had many years ago as a server, I knew Culinary Wine Institute would be a solution to help servers, restaurant owners and managers alike. And judging by the awards we’ve gotten for our engaging educational content, this Hollywood movie may actually have a happy ending.
The CWI course provides basic knowledge of wine pairing, without being over-complicated. What is one simple-to-use secret that helps boost wine sales?
Primary importance for successful food and wine pairing is to match the weight or body style of the wine to the dish being ordered. I teach the easy-to-remember phrase, “Same Weights = Great Mates.” Light with light, heavy with heavy and so on. That said, you could make great pairing suggestions, and only have a small amount of success unless you add the Magic Wine Word into your tableside chats. The Magic Wine Word is STORY as in, “The winery that makes this has a wonderful STORY that goes back…” or, “Female winemakers are unusual in Australia. Let me tell you a quick STORY about …” Watch wine sales skyrocket if servers use stories to describe wines.
What are the ten mandatory wine styles for any wine list?
My book, The Profitable Wine List: Three Steps to Quickly & Easily Increase Wine Sales, is written for budding or new restaurateurs or managers who don’t know anything about wine. This group of people often doesn’t have access to qualified sommeliers or wine advisors to help them set up a wine list. Here are my recommendations for a basic casual to mid-level restaurant, with some of the most common varietals I suggest following in parenthesis:
- Brut sparkling wine (Spanish Cava is often a reasonably-priced option)
- Light-bodied white (Pinot Grigio from Italy)
- Medium-bodied white (Sauvignon Blanc from California for warm, tropical aromas)
- Heavy-weight, oaked white (Chardonnay or for adventurous areas of the country, Viognier)
- Off-dry white (Riesling or a blend)
- Light-bodied red (Pinot Noir or Sangiovese/Chianti)
- Medium-bodied red (Merlot or Malbec)
- Red blend (Some have a touch of sweetness)
- Heavy-bodied red (Due to its popularity, Cabernet Sauvignon must be on all wine lists.)
- Dessert wine (Port or Madeira that can last a long time in the ‘frig after opened)
Obviously, I’m making huge generalizations, but I find it helpful to start with this kind of framework and then add what works for each restaurant depending on clientele, menu and location.
Learn more about WINE EDUCATOR Kirsten Fox at her Somm’s List Profile.
