Servers schooled in wine secrets

By Alana Roberts / Staff Writer

Andras Patai examines rim variation in a glass of wine during a class at the Culinary Training Academy. Photo by R. Marsh Starks

From coffee shops to fine dining venues, more and more Southern Nevada restaurants are serving wine and demanding a more wine-savvy workforce, hospitality experts say.

Some restaurants offer their servers wine training, while others send their workers away for supplemental instruction. Wine and liquor distributors also participate in educating the local service staff.

The Culinary Training Academy, housed at Nevada Partners, offers a 17-week wine service class geared to those already in the hospitality industry who want to upgrade their skills.

The class is offered free to members of the Culinary Union Local 226. The CTA is a labor-management partnership between the Culinary Union and 30 unionized properties.

"I work at Bellagio but I'm from Wisconsin, so I don't know anything about wines," said Nicole Buntrock, a server at Circo and a student of the CTA's wine server class. She said Circo has two sommeliers, or wine specialists, on staff to assist in wine sales and proper wine pairings with certain foods, but she said she'd like to have that knowledge for herself.

"It's more like a personal thing; it will help me in the future," Buntrock said. "Everyone in Wisconsin drinks white zinfandel. That won't cut it here."

The CTA also has periodically offered a 57-week sommelier class, which serves as the next step after the wine-server course.

Maria Gatti, director of vocational programs for Nevada Partners, said the academy is working toward offering another sommelier class in March. She said the CTA has offered the wine-server and sommelier classes for about 10 years.

She said the classes enable workers to improve their skills and level of service.

"A lot of the people in our classes are already working in union jobs," Gatti said. "The class allows them to move to the next level."

Instructor Kathleen Belldascher talks about the correct way to uncork wine during a class at the Culinary Training Academy at 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd. Photo by R. Marsh Starks

Kathleen Bell-Dascher, a gourmet server at Wynn Las Vegas' Tableau, teaches the wine-server class. She said that as the valley's restaurant industry evolves, so must its workforce.

Bell-Dascher said she is training to become a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers. The organization is an international body that, through courses and an examination, qualifies food and beverage professionals to become certified sommeliers and master sommeliers. The court says that there are 76 master sommeliers in North America and that the title is recognized worldwide in the hospitality industry.

Bell-Dascher, who was herself a beneficiary of the CTA's wine-server and sommelier training, notes the importance of local program.

"It's been within the last 10 years when we really started to explode," Bell-Dascher said. "There's just a myriad of chefs coming here. We've seen a nice change. We're moving away from buffets. We have some restaurants that are moving into five-star (status). Because of that you need to get your staff up to speed."

Mick Kindler, a wine supervisor of Southern Wine & Spirits, oversees a staff of 14 salespeople who sell wine and liquor to various bars, restaurants and other outlets in Clark County. Southern Wine & Spirits offers wine- education classes to the staffs of area bars and restaurants. He said the importance of such education in the valley's restaurant industry has grown dramatically in the past 10 years.

He said a strong working knowledge of wines translates to more money for the server and the restaurant, as well as a better dining experience for the customer.

"I think what's happening is the Strip grew pretty rapidly with the caliber of restaurants going in there," Kindler said. "(At) a lot of those restaurants, like Delmonico's (Steakhouse) and Emeril's (New Orleans Fish House) those guys (servers) are making six figures a year. They have to be able to talk about wine and beverages. Most rooms do have full-time sommeliers on staff, but those sommeliers can't possibly hit every single customer."

According to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, waiters and waitresses in Nevada earn a mean wage of $16,280 per year. Jim Shabi, an economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, which helps to compile the wage data, said that although tips are included in the data, the wages of tipped employees are difficult to gauge.

Buntrock said she has a degree in French and business, but in her work at Circo she doesn't use it. When asked if she makes the same amount of money she would have with her degree she said, "probably more."

The number of jobs at food service and drinking places in Las Vegas has increased by 9 percent or 5,700 jobs between October of this year and last year, according to DETR data.

The Community College of Southern Nevada also offers a wine appreciation class for food and beverage management students, said Tom Rosenberger, chairman of the school's resorts and gaming department. "Our culinary arts students, when they come out, if they get into chef's position they need to know the wine," Rosenberger said.

"As they're setting up wines and they're pairing food they need to know the characteristics of the wines and which foods they go with."

He said a greater acceptance of wine as a beverage for the average diner is also fueling a greater demand for it.

"I can remember back in the '60s if you drank wine you were considered a wino," Rosenberger said. "The image of wine has gotten to the point where it's not just the ultra-rich or the skid-row bum, the average person goes out and buys a glass of wine."

Some restaurateurs say they take an active part in the wine education of their servers.

Brad Brennan, president-owner of Commander's Palace at the Aladdin, said wine service is an integral part of the dining experience the restaurant works to provide customers.

"It's one of the top things they have to know in order to create that great memory," Brennan said. "We do have tastings for them; we do have the wine makers and growers come in."

Joseph Keller, chef-owner of Como's Steakhouse at MonteLago Village and Bistro Zinc, which is set to open at MonteLago in January, said he offers regular wine-training sessions for his servers. Some of those sessions are offered by employees of Southern Wine & Spirits.

"Wine is an important part of revenue and the experience," Keller said. "It's up to the restaurant to invest in their staff so they feel they're part of something and not just another number pushing food and wine. It's my responsibility to put some money in their education. In turn it's going to come back to me, when the customer comes in and is happy and comes back."

Alana Roberts covers courts and labor relations for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at alanar@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4059.

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