Restaurant Wine Consulting & Wine List Development
Bricco Wine Consulting helps restaurants, hotels and wine bars build wine programs that sell. We design wine lists around your menu, your guests and your margins, then train your team to recommend them with confidence.
The result is a list that feels like your restaurant and numbers that show up on your bottom line. Learn more about Thom, the wine consultant behind Bricco.
Building a Dynamic Wine List
We build a wine list that fits your menu, your price points and your brand — not a generic sheet pulled from a distributor's rep list. Every selection is chosen to support your concept and your margins.
- Menu and cuisine review to match wines to your food
- By-the-glass and by-the-bottle pricing and margin structure
- Producer and region selection across every price tier
- List layout and descriptions that guide guests to the right bottle
- A seasonal update plan to keep the list fresh
Wine Tasting & Staff Education
Trust your palate and ditch the scorecard. Your team learns to taste deductively, reading structure and varietal character like a sommelier, so they never have to hide behind someone else's 92-point rating again.
- Deductive tasting method for any wine, any list
- Grape varieties, regions and styles that matter to your menu
- Guided tastings built around the bottles you actually pour
- Food and wine pairing practice with your own dishes
- Tasting notes your team can keep and reuse
Staff Training, Vocabulary & Sales
The right words sell the bottle, and we teach your staff both. Your team learns to talk about wine with real confidence and turn that knowledge into upsells at the table, without sounding like they're reciting a script.
- Practical wine vocabulary for servers, bartenders and managers
- Recommendation techniques that fit every guest and budget
- Suggestive selling and upselling that feels like hospitality
- Pre-shift briefings and on-site sessions that fit your schedule
- Service basics: opening, pouring and handling wine
How a Wine Consulting Engagement Works
Discovery
We learn your concept, menu, guests and goals in an initial consultation.
Wine program audit
We review your current list, pricing, inventory and how your team sells wine today.
Build and train
We develop the list and train your staff with tastings and sales coaching.
Measure and refine
We track what moves at the table and adjust the program season after season.
Wine Programs for Restaurants, Hotels and Bars
Whether you run a single-concept dining room or a multi-venue group, we shape the program to fit your style of service and the guests you serve.
Restaurants
Independent and chef-driven dining rooms that want a list as distinctive as the menu.
Hotels and resorts
Programs that serve in-house dining, bars, banquets and room service.
Wine bars and bistros
Approachable, rotating lists with strong by-the-glass sales.
Private clubs and events
Cellars and tastings built for members and special occasions.
Wine Consulting FAQs
What does a restaurant wine consultant do?
A restaurant wine consultant designs and manages your wine program. That includes building the wine list, setting pricing and margins, choosing producers, and training staff to taste, describe and sell wine.
How long does it take to build a restaurant wine list?
It depends on the size of your list and how much sourcing is needed. Most projects take several weeks from the first consultation to a finished, priced list.
Can you work with a restaurant that has no sommelier?
Yes. Most of our clients do not have a full-time sommelier. We build the list and train your existing team so the program runs well without one.
Do you train staff on-site?
Yes. Tasting and sales sessions can run at your venue before service so the whole team learns with the wines they will actually pour.
How do you measure the results of a wine program?
We look at bottle and by-the-glass sales, average check, wine margin and list mix before and after the engagement, so improvements are visible in your numbers.
Ready to Make Wine Pull Its Weight?
Book a consultation and we'll look at your list, your team and your numbers, then show you where wine can earn more at every table.
Book a Consultation