Tasting Room & Retail Associate

Tasting Room Expo; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 33,062 - 35,817; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous employee wine discount

Growth-focused working environment

Job summary

Tasting Room Expo is seeking a Tasting Room & Retail Associate in Menlo Park, CA. This role offers a unique blend of wine, hospitality, and retail operations. You will welcome guests and guide them through our diverse selections of wines while ensuring a polished and inviting environment.

Ideal candidates should possess a genuine interest in wine, strong customer engagement skills, and an energetic approach to learning. The position is full-time with competitive pay and benefits including a generous employee wine discount.

Qualifications

• Must be 21 or older to serve alcohol.
• Genuine interest in wine and enthusiasm for learning.
• Positive and engaging interaction with customers.

Responsibilities

• Open the store and prepare the tasting room.
• Welcome guests and guide them through wine selections.
• Maintain an organized inventory across retail and restaurant.

Skills

Customer engagement

Wine knowledge

Organizational skills

Teamwork

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Job Details: Tasting Room & Retail Associate – Somm Cellars — Menlo Park, CA – $24–$26 hourly, based on experience, plus tips – Full-Time (Hourly) • Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 AM–6:00 PM

About the Role

Somm Cellars is looking for a Tasting Room & Retail Associate to join our team in Menlo Park. Our wine shop also functions as a daytime tasting room, making this a varied, hands‑on role that combines wine, hospitality, retail, and operations. During the day, you will welcome guests, guide them through an extensive and constantly changing selection of wines by the glass, and host a rotating selection of 4–5 curated wine flights. These can range from approachable discovery flights designed to introduce guests to a new region or style to opportunities to taste some of the world’s great wines side by side.

The right person will enjoy making wine accessible and exciting for guests with very different levels of experience. You should be comfortable learning an ever‑changing selection and able to explain why a wine, producer, region, or flight is interesting in a way that is knowledgeable, conversational, and never intimidating.

Beyond the tasting room, the position plays an important role in the daily operation of Somm Cellars. Responsibilities include helping customers find bottles, fulfilling online orders, and maintaining accurate inventory across both our retail store and restaurant cellar.

No prior wine or hospitality experience is required. We are looking for someone curious, energetic, hard‑working, and excited to learn. For someone interested in building a career in wine, the role offers daily exposure to an unusually broad range of producers, regions, vintages, and styles in a fast‑moving environment.

What You’ll Do

• Open the store each morning, set up the tasting room, and prepare the retail floor for the day.
• Own the daytime tasting‑room experience: welcome guests, pour wines by the glass and curated tasting flights, and guide guests through their selections.
• Learn a constantly evolving tasting menu and comfortably contextualize wines ranging from accessible discoveries to rare, world‑class bottles.
• Help guests navigate the program according to their interests and level of wine experience, making thoughtful recommendations without making wine feel complicated or intimidating.
• Assist customers on the retail floor, recommend bottles, complete transactions through the POS system, and respond to phone and email inquiries.
• Fulfill online orders accurately and efficiently.
• Maintain an organized and accurate inventory across both the retail store and restaurant cellar.
• Perform regular inventory counts and assist with resolving inventory discrepancies.
• Keep the restaurant cellar organized, maintained, and properly stocked.
• Restock shelves and floor displays and ensure that retail inventory is accurately represented.
• Maintain the daily cleanliness and appearance of the store and tasting room so the space always feels polished, welcoming, and ready for guests.
• Support management in executing wine seminars, tastings, events, and other special programming.
• Close and reset the store and tasting room at the end of each day.

What We’re Looking For

• Must be 21 or older, as the position involves pouring and serving wine.
• A genuine interest in wine and enthusiasm for learning are essential.
• Warm, engaging, and comfortable interacting with guests throughout the day.
• Organized, energetic, hard‑working, and self‑motivated.
• Able to work independently and take ownership of both guest‑facing and operational responsibilities.
• Comfortable learning and communicating about a wine program that changes frequently.
• Positive, team‑first energy is a must.
• Saturday availability is required, and some holiday availability may also be needed.
• Must be able to lift 40 pounds.
• Basic experience with Microsoft Office Suite is a plus.
• A personal laptop is required.

Benefits

We offer a growth‑focused working environment, highly competitive pay, and a generous employee wine discount. This is an opportunity to learn about wine every day while working across hospitality, retail, events, and the operational side of a growing wine business.