Service + Business of the Somm Flashcards
What is the ideal serving temperature for a light bodied white wine?
45 - 50° F
What is the ideal serving temperature for a full bodied white wine?
50 to 55°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a sweet white wine?
43 to 47°
What is the ideal serving temperature for rosé and for light bodied red wine?
50 to 55°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a medium bodied red wine?
55 to 58°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a full bodied red wine?
59 to 64°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a Port?
Tawny Port is best between 54 and 61 degrees. Ruby Port is served warmer, at 64 to 68°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a Vin Santo?
54 to 61°
What is the ideal serving temperature for a sparkling white/Champagne?
45 to 50°, but Vintage Champagne typically a little bit warmer at about 50°
What is the markup?
percentage increase between the cost of goods and the selling price
[simply, percentage x cost of good]
What is the equation to determine the markup percentage?
Gross Profit/Initial Cost x 100 = Markup Percentage
aka we’re making this much money on it - divide that by the initial cost. Then times it all by 100.
How do you calculate your COGS?
Take the starting inventory number.
Add the total of purchases of that period.
Subtract the ending inventory.
Starting inventory value + Cost of all Good Purchased - Ending Inventory Value = COGS
Take that number and divide by sales
Besides sales, what other factors influence your COGS?
Waste
Over-pours
Breakage
Spillage
Complementary pours
Inventory errors
What are “burdened COGS”?
Relevant costs such as labor, glassware, preservation systems, and storage space are included.
Why are “burdened COGS” helpful?
It is important to understand the profitability of an item. IE if we’re pouring something by Coravin, we should factor how much it costs to maintain cartridges, the Coravin itself, etc.
What is the Gross Profit?
The difference between revenue from a sale and the cost of that sale.
What are margin dollars or contribution margin?
Fancy ways to say… gross profit
How do you determine your Profit Margin?
Gross Profit/Total Revenue x 100 = Profit Margin Percentage
Why do restaurants have high gross margins in beverage programs?
To pay for:
High overhead
Inventory
Glassware
Polishing
Breakage
Balance labor and other costs
Why is it important to set a specific margin goal?
Communicates expectations
Aids in budgeting
Provides guidance for creating a list
How is the profit margin expressed?
PERCENTAGE
What is the average cost of wine in a restaurant? What would it be smart to target for and why?
36% is the average, but targeting for 33% will aid in absorbing theft, breakage, and loss
Why is it important to look at both profit margin and gross profit?
Wine 1 might sell for a 66.6% margin while Wine 2 only goes for 57%, but if Wine 2 brings in $40 vs Wine 1’s $20, then that wine is important to the bottom line
What is a P&L?
Profit and Loss Statement
Considers income and expenses over weeks, months or year to determine overall profitability and trends
What is a balance sheet?
A statement of financial position at a moment in time
What is a general ledger?
a record of every transaction in a category, listed by date and time
What is a control state?
The government controls the entire system, from importing to distribution. All sell to the state and retailers can only buy from the state.
What is a Blue Law?
Laws that limit certain activities such as sales of alcohol on Sundays
What are Tied-House Laws?
Exist on both federal and state levels, laws that prevent individual retailers from being dominated by a single producer
What kind of things might be illegal with Tied-House Laws?
- providing cash rebates or bonuses
- provide goods or services of value for free
- compensation for advetising
- free travel
What are Dram Shop Laws?
aka social host liability laws. These vary, but generally dictate hours establishments are allowed to sell, the illegality of serving intoxicated guests, etc
What is the “Free On Board” price?
Basically, for both imported and domestic… the price at which the producer sells to the import/distributor company that factors all costs
What does “ex-cellar” price mean?
The price of the wine when sold directly from the producer, exluding shipping costs. Can reference buying through the winery rather than through negotiant or broker
*domestically, FOB and Ex-cellar are used interchangeably
What does “laid-in” price mean?
Cost of the wine + additional charges from shipping, taxes
ie $10 + $1 Shipping/Taxes = $11 Laid-in price
What is the role of a broker?
They are representatives for the winery. They do not carry inventory, they just work with distributors to arrange sale and shipment and get paid commission
What is channel pricing?
Pricing specific to the type of license such as on or off premise
Ex: BTG pricing or “stack” pricing
What is “dry transport”?
The most cost effective - but riskiest way - to ship. A non-refrigerated container. Which is why they’ll usually arrive in fall or spring when it has a better bet of surviving
What might the difference in cost be between a wine being shipping via dry transport or with a temp controlled container?
50 to 75 cents per bottle
In setting where state law requires consistent pricing by channel and volume, what are some ways to lower bottle cost?
- Negotiate a lower split case fee, or no fee at all
- Order larger quantities of fast movers for a discount
- multiple case discounts
- negotiate volume discounts based on multi-SKU orders
- take advantage of close-out deals
What type of accounting does the IRS mandate?
Accural Accounting
What is the variance?
The difference between the documented inventory and what is actually existing in the cellar
What factors can contribute to variance?
- cash goes in register but a sale isn’t recorded
- offering tastes but not recording them
- over-pours
- complimentary pours
- spoilage
- breakage
- theft
What can you do to mitigate variances?
- train staff on pours
- have a system for ringing in tastes and complementary pours
- use glasses with pour markers or use pour cylinders
What are common inventory mistakes that result in variances?
- Miscounts
- missing rows or racks in storage
- not opening boxes to verify contents
- mistaking 6-packs for cases or magnums for 750s
- forgetting to add new items to the inventory list
What are some different training methods?
Shadowing
Role-playing
Guided activities
Short-term apprenticeship
External classes
What are some upsides to digital lists? Downsides?
Upsides: automatic updates - changes in real time, eliminate time and waste, search functions, detail on bottles, alleviate the need for a somm on site
Downsides: can be confusing or harder to use than a list, guests might not like them, reduces staff interaction, costs for software and devices can be high, theft, maintenance
3 types of cork closures?
Natural
Synthetic - plastic compounds. Reduced risk of TCA.
Grainy/Agglomerate - made from particles of the cork process; not intended for long storage. Max shelf life 2 years
What is that glass closure called?
Vino-lok
Vinoseal
Pros: re-usable, environmentally friendly
Cons: expensive, ineffective for aging wine
Wine preservation systems for still wines?
Vinloq
Coravin
EuroCave Vin au Verre Preserver & Dispenser
Wine preservation systems for sparkling wines?
Coravin Sparkling Wine Preservation System
Perlage
PODBAR+ (still and sparkling, up to 21 days)
Different types of beverage inventory programs?
Binwise
Bevager
Accubar
Barkeep
Brands of wine glassware?
Riedel
Spotzle
Spieglau
Quarter Bottle/Piccolo
187ml
6.32oz
1 ounce is equal to _______ milliliters?
29.5735
Demi/Half Bottle
375ml
12.6803 oz
Standard Bottle
750 ml
25.4 oz
Magnum
1500 ml
2 bottles
50.8 oz
Jeroboam
3L
4 bottles
Rehoboam
4.5 liters
6 bottles
Methuselah
6 liters
8 bottles
Salmanazar
9 liters
12 bottles
Balthazar
12 liters
16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar
15 liters
20 bottles
Solomon
18 liters
24 bottles
