Wine Sales Representative

Wine Sales Representatives help Winemakers get their best vintages onto the shelves of stores, and into the wine cellars of prestigious establishments. If you enjoy the challenge of convincing others that your product and opinion are the best, you and the job of Wine Sales Representative will pair like foie gras and Pinot Noir.

At heart, this is a business-to-business sales job. If you’re a Wine Sales Representative, you visit your retailers to preview new products, ensure that shelves are fully stocked with your wines, and bring a dust cloth to keep those bottles dust-free. You also do some business development work, as you visit potential clients, and establish (or maintain) key relationships with Wine Directors and Wine Buyers. Wine Sales Representatives are typically given sales goals to meet, which means you’re responsible for selling a certain amount of wine within specific time guidelines.

To succeed in this job, you have to be more than just a good Salesperson, though. Wine is the pastime of connoisseurs, so you need to really know your stuff if retailers are going to trust you. Successful Wine Reps combine their confidence and charisma with extensive knowledge of wine to close deals and maintain partnerships.

Once your product is stocked in stores, you make your rounds to help promote it to the public. For example, you might host wine tasting events in retail establishments to familiarize customers with your products, or use those arm muscles to build in-store displays.