Rick Bakas

When it comes to managing beverage inventory at a restaurant, many have opted to manage their inventory manually over the years with a handwritten list or printed Excel spreadsheet. Every time a bottle is sold, the Excel spreadsheet gets updated (or not, depending on how busy it is), so inventory is up to date—in theory. Finding the right way to manage beverage program data can be complicated for both small, independent…

Front Row Seat 

By now, wine professionals and consumers outside of the wine industry have hopefully had a chance to see the year’s hottest documentary, SOMM. It’s not hard to get excited about the film as it gives the layperson visibility into our world and what its like to be a sommelier. Ian, Brian, DLynn and Dustin are like the new John, Paul, George and Ringo of wine. Musical artist, Pink tweeted out to her 17 million…

How sommeliers can use social media to build their influence online

Working at a place like NIKE isn’t much different than going to school and getting a degree in branding. During eight years working there, I had the opportunity to look under the hood and learn how how a brand works from the inside out.

After leaving NIKE in 2003, I moved to Colorado and got a job with Charmer-Sunbelt despite having zero sales experience…