Supervise the wine store / cellar and dispense counter

This standard is about supervising staff to maintain wine in the best possible condition. It also deals with the maintenance of stock at the dispense counter.
Not everyone is a wine connoisseur but people are constantly becoming more discerning and expectations of consistent quality are now the norm. Maintaining a quality cellar operation to store wine, handling and dispensing it and minimising loss of stock through damage or spoilage are critical to offering a quality product and minimising costs.

When you have completed this standard you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to:

• Supervise the wine store / cellar and dispense counter

1. Allocate staff and brief them on duties, relevant procedures and any variations relating to their work routines
2. Carry out regular inspections to make sure your staff follow established wine store / cellar and dispense counter procedures including the use of service equipment, storage temperatures and dealing with damaged stock
3. Make sure wine store / cellar and dispense counter operations comply with relevant legal  requirements, industry regulations, professional codes and organisational policies for the storage and sale of wine
4. Identify potential risks to the wine store / cellar and dispense counter operations and implement contingency plans to minimise them
5. Lead by example and brief staff to look for and report problems when they occur and respond constructively
6. Monitor the quality of work and progress against plans and take effective action to manage problems that may disrupt wine store / cellar and dispense counter operations when they occur, finding practical ways to overcome barriers
7. Control costs by ensuring that you and your staff store and handle wine and dispense counter stock correctly in a way that minimises damage to bottles, containers, packaging or contents and maximises quality of products and service
8. Monitor and review wine store / cellar and dispense counter procedures to identify and suggest ways of improving their efficiency
9. Give feedback to staff to help them improve their performance where appropriate
10. Use effective methods to gather, store and retrieve information, accurately complete the required records and report on performance to support the dispense counter service according to your organisational procedures

1. The relevant health, safety and hygiene legislation that relates to wine cellar operation and how to ensure that these are met in your area of operation
2. The impact that the care of wine stocks can have on customers, employees and the profitability of the organisation
3. The types of wine for which you are responsible, the particular requirements for storing and caring for these and the procedures that need to be in place to ensure the correct storage of  wine stock and to minimise damage to labels and bottles
4. Relevant legislation, industry codes and best practice relating to the sale of wine
5. Physical, chemical, microbiological and allergenic contaminants and how to control cross contamination in your area of responsibility
6. The types of difficulties that are likely to arise in your area of responsibility and how to prepare for and deal with these
7. The type of service equipment and glasses typically used in the sale of wine (including  draft wine) and how these should be used
8. How to maintain correct environmental conditions in the wine store / cellar
9. Why security needs to be maintained within the wine cellar
10. The principles and procedures required for the satisfactory cleaning and disinfection of service areas, equipment and glassware
11. How to respond to faults with wines identified by customers
12. The information relating to the wine cellar / wine store that needs to be recorded and how this should be done
13. How to monitor staff and make sure they receive appropriate training to meet  their responsibilities and how to give them feedback to help them improve their performance
14. How to monitor and maintain stock rotation systems
15. How to implement procedures for the monitoring of wine stocks
16. How to identify damaged or sub-standard wine stock and action that should be taken in response to findings
17. How to gather and act on feedback
18. The importance of contributing to the evaluation of procedures and how to do so in your organisation

The following behaviours are provided as guidance to underpin effective performance of a hospitality supervisor

1. You demonstrate passion for high quality drinks products and service
2. You respond positively and creatively to setbacks
3. You agree achievable objectives for yourself and give consistent and reliable performance
4. You make appropriate information and knowledge available promptly to those who need and have a right to it
5. You recognise recurring problems and promote changes to structures, systems and processes to resolve these

Effective methods to gather, store and retrieve information include cost- effective, time effective and ethical means

This standard is a sector specific standard and has particular links with the following standards in the Hospitality Supervision & Leadership suite of standards: HSL1-6, HSL11, HSL13, HSL19, HSL25, HSL26, HSL27, HSL28