Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine
Feature Story
Practicing Responsible Hospitality Everyone wins when tasting room staff is properly trained
By Elizabeth Slater
Last fall there was a story in our local newspaper about an insurance company paying $3 million to settle a claim brought against one of its winery clients. The settlement went to a young man who was badly injured in a car accident. The car was driven by a friend who had allegedly been served alcohol by winery staff at a wedding. The driver of the car, who was under the legal drinking age, said he had been served alcohol at the winery, and that he didn't have to produce any identification.
As with any type of business that sells or serves alcohol, wineries have a responsibility to refuse service to those who are underage or obviously intoxicated - even if they are well over the legal drinking age. It is against the law to serve alcohol to anyone who is visibly intoxicated, even if that person is not driving. And it is always illegal to serve alcohol to minors.
As more and more wineries appear throughout North America, and with the popularity of party-style wine tasting with limousines full of bachelorette and birthday celebrants, vintners must guard against underage drinkers and those already intoxicated when they arrive at the winery.
The front line of responsible hospitality is at the winery's tasting bar. Training staff members to understand the ramifications of pouring wine for visitors who should not be served is the most important thing you can do. Asking for identification from young people who come to the winery and being aware of the signs of intoxication in visitors of any age are of paramount importance.
REDUCING WINERY RISKS
When visitors wander from winery to winery on a warm summer afternoon, enjoying the views and the wine, it is easy to imbibe a little too much. If your tasting room employees do not deal with these visitors correctly, not only are the visitors at risk, but the winery is also at risk.
Jerry Jolly, who spent 31 years with the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and is now a consultant for the law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Sacramento, Calif., presents workshops on responsible beverage service for wineries and winery associations. (For more information, visit www.pillsburylaw.com .)
He recommends that wineries provide staff training, maintain adequate staffing, create written policies, support employees' decisions and forbid staff from drinking while on duty. These are all excellent ways to cut down the risk of serving intoxicated or underage visitors. Jolly also encourages vintners to:
-Keep up with state laws and regulations that cover administrative, criminal and civil liabilities, and understand how these laws pertain to sellers of alcoholic beverages.
-Recognize the potential risks of irresponsible alcoholic beverage service practices.
-Execute policies related to proper age identification and intervention with an intoxicated or underage visitor.
-Demonstrate the ability to recognize a false or altered ID.
-Define the winery's and individual staff members' roles in prevention efforts.
The risks that Jolly refers to are not limited to the fines you may incur or the suspension or revocation of a license (three convictions for serving underage or intoxicated visitors may result in a permanent loss of your winery license). Those repercussions are bad enough, but they can also adversely affect the way the community perceives the local wine industry. The media attention a winery receives for these types of transgressions is never good for business and may turn people in the community against wineries.
A strategy that I would add to Jolly's suggestions is to get together with other wineries in your area and align your policies and procedures around responsible hospitality. Create standardized procedures for checking IDs and identifying visitors who might be intoxicated.
TRAINING STAFF
The first thing on Jolly's list and on mine is the training of staff to understand the importance of vigilance in the areas of checking IDs and paying close attention to signs of intoxication.
There are different types of training available, some developed specifically for the wine industry and others designed for restaurants and other types of businesses.
A Google search for "responsible hospitality" will lead you to many resources on the subject, such as the Responsible Hospitality Institute (www.hospitalityweb.org ) and the International Center for Alcohol Policies (www.icap.org ). Some of these sites offer online information and training, while others provide in-person training.
One of the largest companies providing both online and in-person training is TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures). Varying in length from two to five hours, the company's training is customized to address industry-specific concerns. Once participants have completed the TIPS training, they take a multiple-choice exam, and those who pass receive a certification card valid for three years in most areas. (For details, visit
www.gettips.com .)
Vintners can also talk to their local police department or state alcohol beverage control agency to see if they offer responsible hospitality training - many of them do. This allows you to work hand in hand with local law and alcohol enforcement groups to get the right information for your geographic area. Remember that laws change from state to state and, in some cases, locally.
It is important to ensure that your tasting room and event staff is properly trained in the areas of responsible hospitality. Ask yourself these questions:
-How much time is spent in your winery training staff about responsible hospitality?
-Do employees know what is expected of them?
-Do your tasting room employees realize the ramifications of their decisions on whether or not to serve wine to someone?
-Are your employees comfortable when cutting a visitor off, or refusing to accept possibly fake identification?
-Do your employees know who to go to when they need help with these issues?
Margo Sue Bittner, owner of The Winery at Marjim Manor in Appleton, N.Y., trains her staff in several ways. "I have sent some of my employees for TIPS training," she said. "In addition, I persuaded the county sheriff to have two deputies trained, so every winter we do a refresher course and train new employees. We also give every new hire a handbook with various articles to read and we discuss them at staff meetings. The Greater Rochester Visitors Association holds periodic hospitality training designed for front-line staff, and I pay for the program, mileage and wages for any person who wants to attend."
Bittner said she is trying to cover every possible learning style with the variety of training she provides, since people learn and internalize information differently.
Nancy Woods, tasting room manager at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center in Fulton, Calif., sends her staff to responsible hospitality training arranged by Wine Road Northwest Sonoma County, a local winery and lodging marketing organization. She also posts behind the bar a daily reminder of the latest date and year in which a visitor had to be born in order to be of legal drinking age.
When refusing to serve underage or intoxicated visitors, Woods tells her staff to make it about themselves, not the visitor. She suggests that staff members tell visitors: "I could get in trouble if I serve you. You don't want to see me get into trouble, do you?" Woods also encourages her staff to call upon floor managers or others to help them in these situations.
BEYOND THE TASTING ROOM
It is not only inside the tasting room that the tenets of responsible hospitality should be followed, but also at tastings held in other areas of the winery, or at other locations. When wineries pour at charitable or trade functions, servers should check to see if attendees are of legal drinking age and are not exhibiting signs of intoxication.
Events at the winery, especially large ones in which other wineries participate, can be difficult to control. Station a staff member with a walkie-talkie or cell phone in the parking lot or on the path to the tasting room, and have that person assess people as they come and go. If anyone appears less than sober, or underage, your employee should alert a key person in the tasting room by describing the visitor and the group the person is in. The group can then be approached before they start tasting.
Bittner in New York and Woods in California both recommend sending a staff member out to buses and limos to speak to the driver prior to letting passengers enter the winery. If groups in limos or buses have additional alcohol provided, their passengers can and often do become intoxicated quite early in the day. It is advantageous if you know this before they get to the tasting room. Bittner adds that if visitors arrive by limo or bus, every person should be asked for ID, "Even if it's the county sheriff."
Implement the procedures and policies that ensure that your staff always asks for identification from young people, regardless of the pourer's personal assessment of a visitor's age. There are many young people who look older than they really are.
Additionally, don't assume that if a young person shows you an ID that he or she is of age. Always check the ID carefully for possible falsification.
Don't wait until a lawsuit comes your way to begin responsible hospitality training - start working with your tasting room staff today.
Elzabeth Slater is the owner of In Short Direct Marketing, a direct marketing company that works with individual wineries and winery associations. She is also a regular columnist for Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
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