WineTalent Classifieds: Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch Banquet Manager

WineTalent is working with our client Long Meadow Ranch on a Beverage Manager role at Farmstead. Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned and operated producer and purveyor of world-class wine and food that is economically successful and socially responsible using diversified, sustainable, and organic farming methods. 

We have a unique opportunity for a motivated Banquet Manager to join our events team! Events at Long Meadow Ranch include Live Fires, Guest Chefs, Beer and Wine Dinners, weddings, and occasional offsite events. The Banquet Manager oversees all aspects of the execution of our private events, including setup, food presentation, food & beverage service and cleanup while focusing on every detail and the highest quality of customer service and presentation. 

Responsibilities:

Actively engage in service for the majority of working hours. Directly perform hands-on work on an ongoing basis to manage employee performance, provide feedback and coaching. Model appropriate behaviors, lead by example and maintain a strong presence.
Ensure positive guest experience in all areas. Respond promptly to complaints and take action to resolve guest issues. 
Provide overall leadership for the event front of house staff as well as recognize and motivate staff and coach for operational excellence. Provide continuous, constructive feedback and guidance to staff and assistant managers.
Oversee the recruitment, selection, training, scheduling, counseling and discipline of event front of house staff.
Lead weekly BEO meetings to facilitate communication from sales team to execution team.
Post sales and close payments at the conclusion of each event.
Oversee rental equipment load-in and check-out as needed.
Develop standard operating procedures for event execution; determine and implement system improvements.
Lead pre-shift meetings and communicate menu information, service details and beverage training.
Ensure that all food safety, food quality standards, workplace safety standards, customer service standards and company policies are met. Comply with all Department of Environmental Health food safety regulations.
Maintain a facility that is safe, secure and healthy as well as consistently “inspection ready” in all areas including front of house and back of house. Develop systems and awareness to repair and maintain facilities as needed including mechanical systems, equipment, operation of lights, music and decor.
Keep the General Manager fully informed of all issues and take prompt corrective action where necessary or suggest alternate courses of action.
Maintain a favorable working relationship with all company employees to foster and promote a cooperative, positive and respectful workplace culture.
Administrative and General:

Develop processes and systems to best manage events beverage costs.
Review and approve payroll, approve hourly rate and status changes for employees.
Manage event purchases and inventory by negotiating prices.
Follow systems to manage the ordering of supplies, usage and organization, according to company procedures.
Approve and code purchases and submit promptly to the finance team.
Collaborate with the finance team to process end of month accounting procedures in a timely manner, following company procedures.
Develop and maintain an effective plan for training including food & wine education, one-on-one training, communication of company standards & policies and Long Meadow Ranch brand training.
Conduct regular event staff performance reviews and provide growth opportunities. 
Qualifications and Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality or Hotel Management or closely related discipline.
At least 3 years of experience in hospitality and event management in the lifestyle, restaurant, resort, hotel, travel or winery industry.
Proficiency with Google suite and MS Office products.
Proven commitment to creating a great first impression with the ability to consistently provide excellent guest experiences.
Strong organizational and communication skills to manage staff, interact with management and respond to guests’ needs.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Able to lift 40+ lbs.
Valid driver’s license and maintain a safe driving record.
A pre-employment background check is required.
Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time, salaried position.
Competitive compensation depending on experience plus benefits including medical/dental insurance, paid vacation and 401(k).

WineTalent Classifieds: Hospitality Managers for B Cellars

WineTalent is an executive search firm focused on the wine industry; we have been retained by B Cellars to lead the search for the Hospitality Management team. Now in its fifth full year of operation on the Oakville Cross Road, B Cellars Vineyards and Winery is seeking a hospitality management team to manage and facilitate front and back of the house functions in support of the in-person direct-to-consumer sales efforts. The Hospitality Manager will also support the telesales and customer relations programs. This is a dynamic, multi-functional role that directly contributes to the exceptional guest experience at B Cellars.  

Description: The Hospitality Manager will work as part of the hospitality management team to provide support to the hospitality staff, to ensure compliance with company policies and procedures and to maintain the highest attention to the guest experience. Working with fellow managers, this role will oversee staff scheduling, training and coaching. The Hospitality Manager also manages the merchandising and supply inventory of the Hospitality House. Working to provide consistent messaging to staff and guests, the Hospitality Manager will interface with the marketing team on the website and with the PR firm on communications. This will also include managing the sales and marketing calendar. Additionally the role oversees the shipping and fulfillment of wine orders.  

Responsibilities:
Hospitality House:
•  Act as Manager on Duty for the Sales Team
•  Handle the role of a Maitre d’ for the Hospitality House
•  Scheduling Guides, Concierges, and Navigators
•  Managing Concierges and Navigators
•  Managing Guides in their Hospitality capacity
•  Supervision of hospitality team
•  Manage merchandising
Marketing:  
•  Manage B Cellars website
•  Manage B Cellars PR and Social Media firm
•  Manage B Cellars sales and marketing calendar
•  Produce and update copy, collateral, etc.
Shipping/Fulfillment:
•  Manage inventory
•  Manage shipping
•  Manage dry goods and paper goods inventories

Qualifications and Requirements
•  Bachelor’s degree in Business, Hospitality, Communications or related discipline.
•  At least 10 years of hospitality management including tasting room, event management, .

Compensation and Benefits
•  This is a full-time, salaried position. 
•  Co-pay comprehensive medical plan.
•  Matching funded Simple IRA retirement plan.
•  Vacation, sick-day and holiday pay.

All communications will be kept strictly confidential.

WineTalent: The Right People for the Job

WineTalent Classifieds: Human Resources Specialist in St. Helena, CA

WineTalent is working with our client, Long Meadow Ranch, on an HR Specialist position.

Long Meadow Ranch is seeking an HR Specialist to join our Human Resources team.

Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned agricultural enterprise producing grapes and wine, olives and olive oil, grass-fed beef and lamb, fruits, vegetables, and eggs in the Napa Valley, Anderson Valley and Marin County. The Long Meadow Ranch operations also include an acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, a general store and wine tasting bar in the historic Logan-Ives House, an outdoor cafe, a farmer's market, a working garden and a variety of unique event spaces all located at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch.

Reporting to the Director of Human Resources, the HR Specialist will be responsible for employee recruitment, new hire processes, on-going employee relations and employee file management. The Human Resources team is a dynamic small team that works collaboratively with all departments to build and retain a successful team of managers and employees. We are searching for an enthusiastic individual who has the passion and drive to be an advocate for employees at all stages of their LMR career.

Responsibilities:

• Administer the recruitment process from outreach to hire
• Assist with development of recruitment SOPs and ensure adherence
• Utilize, update and maintain the Greenhouse application, an applicant tracking software, on a daily basis
• Work closely with hiring managers to establish job criteria and a hiring plan for new job openings 
• Post and maintain job postings for open positions
• Ensure offer letters are accurate, properly communicated and signed
• Input all new hires into HRIS systems for start of employment
• Schedule and provide the onboarding orientation to all new hires including proper paperwork - I9 verification, confidentiality agreements, job descriptions, policies and handbook acknowledgment, as well as employee introduction to LMR benefits
• Assist employees with benefit elections when employee becomes eligible and during the annual open enrollment period
• Maintain all employee file records according to compliance law, retainment requirements and company policies
• Update all changes in employee rates with new offer letters, Wage Theft protection notices and employee files
• Maintain employee files with performance reviews, counseling sessions and recognitions
• Process proper paperwork for terminations in employee files
• Provide support to employees regarding HR policies, benefits, payroll questions, leaves of absence, and unemployment or disability claims
• Administer the unemployment claim process
• Assist employees with translation of company policies and employee relations
• Collaborate and assist with HR team on company culture initiatives, safety and wellness programs, and charity initiatives
• Assist with general company administration duties and projects

Education, Experience and Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or closely related discipline, and/or related business experience
• 2+ years of wine and restaurant industry HR experience
• Proven success in recruitment
• Keen understanding of HR best practices
• Experience with Applicant Tracking Software, including Greenhouse
• Extensive knowledge and proficiency of computer programs including Google Apps, and Microsoft Office
• Well developed skills in problem solving, prioritizing tasks and taking initiative
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with great attention to detail, even under tight deadlines and a fast paced environment
• Ability to communicate and work collaboratively to build relationships at all levels
• Must have a high level of confidentiality and discretion
• Must be proficient in English and Spanish verbal and written communication
• Must have a valid California Driver’s License and maintain a safe driving record
• Ability to lift 40+ pounds
• A pre-employment investigative consumer report is required

Compensation and Benefits:

• This is a full-time, hourly position
• Competitive compensation depending on experience plus benefits including medical/dental insurance, paid vacation and 401(k)

All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential

WineTalent:  The Right People for the Job

WineTalent Classifieds: Graphic Designer for Long Meadow Ranch

WineTalent is working with our client Long Meadow Ranch to find a dynamic, creative and innovative person to join the marketing team as a Graphic Designer.

Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned agricultural enterprise producing grapes and wine, olives and olive oil, grass-fed beef and lamb, fruits, vegetables, and eggs in the Napa Valley, Anderson Valley and Marin County. The many-faceted operation includes the 650-acre LMR Mayacamas Estate home ranch located in the Mayacamas Mountains above Rutherford and the 90-acre LMR Rutherford Estate, located on the Rutherford Bench, and, in Mendocino County, the 145-acre LMR Anderson Valley Estate. The Long Meadow Ranch operations also include an acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, a general store and wine tasting bar in the historic Logan-Ives House, an outdoor cafe, a farmer's market, working garden and a variety of unique event spaces all located at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch.

Reporting to the Senior Marketing Manager, the Graphic Designer will be responsible for the creative design, production and asset management of the LMR brands and initiatives. The marketing team is a dynamic small team that works collaboratively with all departments to bring together many different layers surrounding the common mission of Long Meadow Ranch. We are searching for an enthusiastic individual who has the passion and drive to create successful and professional marketing initiatives to increase awareness and sales for Long Meadow Ranch.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate on creative vision with the entire marketing team for all projects
• Lead creative design and execution for graphic design projects
• Design and produce creative content for events, including seasonal, wholesale, off-site, brand events and more
• Design menus, invitations, announcements, and materials for marketing events
• Design, produce and collaborate with marketing team on creating consumer facing content including advertisements and announcements on a variety of platforms
• Design and produce new materials for company departments and teams  
• Generate creative design and content for holiday catalog
• Lead execution of labels and collateral for new products and product launches
• Design, develop, maintain and improve select brand assets including but not limited to: collateral, email templates, fonts, and website
• Collaborate with outside agencies on creative content  as required
• Work closely with Marketing Coordinator on design and templates for email campaigns

Education, Experience and Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or closely related discipline
• 2+ years of consumer packaged goods marketing experience
• 1+ years of beverage alcohol marketing experience
• Keen understanding of the hospitality industry
• Mastery of creative applications including Illustrator and Adobe creative tools
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with great attention to detail, even under tight deadlines and a fast paced environment
• Ability to manage projects through from ideation to launch
• Entrepreneurial, can-do mindset and takes initiative
• Ability to communicate and work collaboratively to build relationships at all levels
• Extensive knowledge and proficiency of computer programs including Google Apps, Microsoft Office, Adobe
• Must have a valid California Driver’s License and maintain a safe driving record
• Ability to lift 40+ pounds
• A pre-employment investigative consumer report is required

Compensation and Benefits:

• This is a full-time, hourly position
• Competitive compensation depending on experience plus benefits including medical/dental insurance, paid vacation and 401(k)

All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential

WineTalent:  The Right People for the Job

Book Review: The Wine Lover's Daughter by Anne Fadiman

This past December I was listening to NPR on my way to my morning run.  A funny thing always happens when I do this on the weekend.  I'll start a show on my drive out, and pick up the exact same show when I get back in my car after the run.  Most often this is infuriating; doesn't NPR have more to talk about?  But that morning I was so thrilled to get to hear the story twice.  If you want to hear the story once, twice or more, here is a link.

Anne Fadiman writes about her father, Clifton Fadiman.  Anne's father was a renowned literary critic, editor and radio host who was also a true oenophile.  During his lengthy career, Clifton Fadiman was the editor in chief of Simon & Schuster, the book critic for The New Yorker and co-author of the encyclopedic "The Joys of Wine."  He also hosted a popular radio quiz show, "Information Please!" and was a judge for the Book of the Month Club.

Anne Fadiman may have hesitantly followed in her father's footsteps to become a writer, but she has become a renowned writer as well.  Having first listened to her about the book on the NPR broadcast, I was excited to read the book.  Having the book in hand, I realized that she wrote one of my favorite books, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," a profile of a Hmong refugee family that went on to earn her the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction.

Reading Anne's recollections of growing up immersed in wine culture is funny and insightful.  Her father was an intelligent and worldly man who loved good wine.  From a young age she sampled extraordinary wines around the family dinner table and at events.  Her father loved to share his knowledge and his wines with his family and friends, and Anne had a great education in the wines of the world, especially Burgundy and Bordeaux.

While many of us would love to have that exposure to great wines and knowledge, Clifton's daughter has a bittersweet relationship to wine.  While it reminds her of her father and her past, she herself does not really like to drink much wine.  As a science lover who also likes to uncover the mysteries of our senses, Anne Fadiman's exploration of flavor, taste and personal preference takes her to into researcher's labs, to wine bars for tastings, and to studying tongue maps.  These exercises are quite enlightening, and I think give her a perspective on herself in relation to and separate from her father.

As happens to all of us, Clifton Fadiman ages during the book, and his daughter describes the changes in him and in their relationship.  But his love of wine is unwavering.  While in his final days he does become a fan of Guinness, his relationship with wine is constant.  After his death, his daughter pieces together much of his adult life from what she learns in his Cellar Book.  As she said, it was like finding a sheaf of old love letters.  From that mismatched collection of documents, she found vivid memories of his past.

This book was very well written, and engagingly explores a father-daughter relationship from the daughter's perspective.  This daughter fortunately knows how to write.  While we may all have our own relationships with parents, children and wine that we need to contemplate, it is very interesting to get Anne Fadiman's perspective on her relationships to parents, children and wine.  In case my review prompts interest, here's a link to the book.