Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Wine Geeks with Flash Cards

As wine director for the downtown Marriott (and manager of Molly's Restaurant there), Lisa Redwine is allowed the guilty pleasure of hosting a Saturday wine and cheese pairing for hotel guests. That's the celebrity gig, the one that gets her photo on a poster in the lobby. But the real work of teaching goes on downstairs with the staff at Molly's, where Redwine works to make wine "part of our daily culture. We have formal wine training every Saturday, but if a guest brings in an amazing bottle and gives me a glass, I always leave some for the staff to try. If I have something interesting at home, I'll bring it in. And once a quarter, I take two members of our team up to Napa and Sonoma for a couple of days." Field trip!

"When I came here," she recalls, "only one person had been, and when I would get all crazy about how beautiful the vineyards are in fall, or about how the air smells like wine during crush, they'd be looking at me like, 'You've been drinking too much wine.' It kind of loses the magic if you haven't been there, so we take them up. We'll go to Domaine Carneros to see how sparkling wine is made. We'll go to a boutique winery and a really big winery to see the differences in how wine is made and that small wineries don't always make great wine, while big wineries don't always make bad wine."

And because this is, ostensibly, restaurant research, she pays her respects at the temples of gastronomy as well. "I'll take them on a tour of the Culinary Institute of America [CIA] up there, so they can see how serious this industry has become. I take them to Dean & DeLuca, the Oakville Grocery. There's such a world of food and wine up there."

Sponsored
Sponsored

After the trip, "Each group has to put together an educational piece to present to the staff. The last two captains made a movie out of it; it was so cool to see, and it inspires them." That's where the jaded wine writer nods and smiles -- yes, yes, inspiration. Not a corporate-funded getaway/bacchanal. Nothing so indulgent. Of course not.

Redwine seems to anticipate the sentiment. "It's all well and cool," she says of her quarterly excursions, "but how does that help your business? That's the important question. Our wine sales have shot through the roof; we're just breaking every record. There's a phrase we say here: 'Wine is not an option, it's an expectation.' We really believe in food and wine together."

But as successful as she is, even the mentor has a mentor. After the American Institute of Wine and Food held an event at the Marriott, the hotel manager (himself an AIWF member) told Redwine, "'You should really be a part of this; they do some amazing things.' It offers you a chance to see different menu designs, different types of service, different food presentation. It helps you keep current in an industry that's constantly changing."

And if change is a constant in the restaurant world, it's doubly so when it comes to wine. "What you learn about Italy one year -- who knows how long that will stay true? The AVAs in Oregon -- are you kidding me? The Willamette Valley is becoming a jigsaw puzzle." So it was, perhaps, not so surprising when her mentors -- "people willing to give me a push" -- spoke up about her formal training in wine. (Redwine came to her position as wine director more from the managerial/business end of things than the sensory/aesthetic.) "It was hard to hear, because you get to a point in your career--but wine knowledge is a really important part of my job, and to have those credentials is really important."

Redwine, a CIA graduate, knew from her alumni newsletters that the AIWF offered scholarships, and in 2005, she applied for and was awarded $1000. "That prompted me to take action. I parlayed that into about three class experiences. I took the certified wine professional test to get back into the discipline of studying. I took sensory analysis -- what I really took from that was an understanding of flaws and of how environment can affect the way you taste. And I took Mastering Wine II, taught by master sommelier Tim Geiser."

The experience proved humbling. "Us wine-geeky people live on flash cards. My little index-card collection had blown up over that week-long class, and I was flash-carding and studying. But when he gave us the test, there was so much I didn't know. It was a real smackdown, so to speak. When I started, I had one 500-card box. Now, I have four, and I'm probably going to order a couple more. You start with just a very small idea of what wine is really about, and then, as you move through it, it becomes regions and rivers and soil components and vineyards and producers. But it never feels like work."

A meeting with Roppongi sommelier Megan Burgess garnered Redwine an invite to a weekly sommelier tasting group (the one featured here a few months back). "It enables us all to keep up to date collectively; we're constantly e-mailing each other about different websites we've found. I can't remember the last time I picked up a glass of wine and just drank it. Sensory analysis just kind of kicks in. But I hate it when people pour me a glass of wine and say, 'Okay, tell me what this is.' I'm, like, 'No, let's just drink it.' And my beer consumption has gone up, because you can't do it all the time. You've got to have something else."

The index cards multiplied, the powers of analysis sharpened, and in December, Redwine headed north to San Francisco to take the Certified Court of Master Sommeliers exam, "which I passed. They praised me on service -- I'm good at table. They want to talk to you, and that's hard. But in preparation, I would ask a guest at Molly's a question while I opened a bottle of wine. And I did well on my wine analysis. I don't know if my final answer was right, but what I said about the wine made sense. They said I needed to work on Germany -- I knew that. But the best part about it is it gives you the fire to go for the next step" -- the Advanced. "I hope to take it in April of '08."

When she appeared before the AIWF scholarship committee, Redwine had to answer questions about "where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. The longer I work in this business, the less I want my own place. I know what I want to do at the end of my career: go back and teach, hopefully at the CIA. I was inspired by so many instructors, and I've learned so much from some amazing people in the industry, and I come from a family of teachers. My dad was a college professor; my mom is a teacher. When you see the light bulbs go off, that's really fulfilling."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)

As wine director for the downtown Marriott (and manager of Molly's Restaurant there), Lisa Redwine is allowed the guilty pleasure of hosting a Saturday wine and cheese pairing for hotel guests. That's the celebrity gig, the one that gets her photo on a poster in the lobby. But the real work of teaching goes on downstairs with the staff at Molly's, where Redwine works to make wine "part of our daily culture. We have formal wine training every Saturday, but if a guest brings in an amazing bottle and gives me a glass, I always leave some for the staff to try. If I have something interesting at home, I'll bring it in. And once a quarter, I take two members of our team up to Napa and Sonoma for a couple of days." Field trip!

"When I came here," she recalls, "only one person had been, and when I would get all crazy about how beautiful the vineyards are in fall, or about how the air smells like wine during crush, they'd be looking at me like, 'You've been drinking too much wine.' It kind of loses the magic if you haven't been there, so we take them up. We'll go to Domaine Carneros to see how sparkling wine is made. We'll go to a boutique winery and a really big winery to see the differences in how wine is made and that small wineries don't always make great wine, while big wineries don't always make bad wine."

And because this is, ostensibly, restaurant research, she pays her respects at the temples of gastronomy as well. "I'll take them on a tour of the Culinary Institute of America [CIA] up there, so they can see how serious this industry has become. I take them to Dean & DeLuca, the Oakville Grocery. There's such a world of food and wine up there."

Sponsored
Sponsored

After the trip, "Each group has to put together an educational piece to present to the staff. The last two captains made a movie out of it; it was so cool to see, and it inspires them." That's where the jaded wine writer nods and smiles -- yes, yes, inspiration. Not a corporate-funded getaway/bacchanal. Nothing so indulgent. Of course not.

Redwine seems to anticipate the sentiment. "It's all well and cool," she says of her quarterly excursions, "but how does that help your business? That's the important question. Our wine sales have shot through the roof; we're just breaking every record. There's a phrase we say here: 'Wine is not an option, it's an expectation.' We really believe in food and wine together."

But as successful as she is, even the mentor has a mentor. After the American Institute of Wine and Food held an event at the Marriott, the hotel manager (himself an AIWF member) told Redwine, "'You should really be a part of this; they do some amazing things.' It offers you a chance to see different menu designs, different types of service, different food presentation. It helps you keep current in an industry that's constantly changing."

And if change is a constant in the restaurant world, it's doubly so when it comes to wine. "What you learn about Italy one year -- who knows how long that will stay true? The AVAs in Oregon -- are you kidding me? The Willamette Valley is becoming a jigsaw puzzle." So it was, perhaps, not so surprising when her mentors -- "people willing to give me a push" -- spoke up about her formal training in wine. (Redwine came to her position as wine director more from the managerial/business end of things than the sensory/aesthetic.) "It was hard to hear, because you get to a point in your career--but wine knowledge is a really important part of my job, and to have those credentials is really important."

Redwine, a CIA graduate, knew from her alumni newsletters that the AIWF offered scholarships, and in 2005, she applied for and was awarded $1000. "That prompted me to take action. I parlayed that into about three class experiences. I took the certified wine professional test to get back into the discipline of studying. I took sensory analysis -- what I really took from that was an understanding of flaws and of how environment can affect the way you taste. And I took Mastering Wine II, taught by master sommelier Tim Geiser."

The experience proved humbling. "Us wine-geeky people live on flash cards. My little index-card collection had blown up over that week-long class, and I was flash-carding and studying. But when he gave us the test, there was so much I didn't know. It was a real smackdown, so to speak. When I started, I had one 500-card box. Now, I have four, and I'm probably going to order a couple more. You start with just a very small idea of what wine is really about, and then, as you move through it, it becomes regions and rivers and soil components and vineyards and producers. But it never feels like work."

A meeting with Roppongi sommelier Megan Burgess garnered Redwine an invite to a weekly sommelier tasting group (the one featured here a few months back). "It enables us all to keep up to date collectively; we're constantly e-mailing each other about different websites we've found. I can't remember the last time I picked up a glass of wine and just drank it. Sensory analysis just kind of kicks in. But I hate it when people pour me a glass of wine and say, 'Okay, tell me what this is.' I'm, like, 'No, let's just drink it.' And my beer consumption has gone up, because you can't do it all the time. You've got to have something else."

The index cards multiplied, the powers of analysis sharpened, and in December, Redwine headed north to San Francisco to take the Certified Court of Master Sommeliers exam, "which I passed. They praised me on service -- I'm good at table. They want to talk to you, and that's hard. But in preparation, I would ask a guest at Molly's a question while I opened a bottle of wine. And I did well on my wine analysis. I don't know if my final answer was right, but what I said about the wine made sense. They said I needed to work on Germany -- I knew that. But the best part about it is it gives you the fire to go for the next step" -- the Advanced. "I hope to take it in April of '08."

When she appeared before the AIWF scholarship committee, Redwine had to answer questions about "where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. The longer I work in this business, the less I want my own place. I know what I want to do at the end of my career: go back and teach, hopefully at the CIA. I was inspired by so many instructors, and I've learned so much from some amazing people in the industry, and I come from a family of teachers. My dad was a college professor; my mom is a teacher. When you see the light bulbs go off, that's really fulfilling."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.