About The Wine Educators
If you are a restaurateur that wants to make your wine program more profitable, let’s talk. We can help by educating your staff, curating a wine list that compliments your menu, coordinating events like wine tastings and winemaker dinners and building strong relationships with wineries and distributors.
If your staff is not confident with their wine knowledge, you are leaving money on the table. Let us help you build a strong wine program that will be profitable for years to come.
Unlock Your Potential with The Wine Educators
STAFF TRAINING
We offer training that will empower your team to suggestive sell, up sell, food and wine pair and serve wine with ease. Bringing check averages up, increasing revenue and making your servers and you more money.
WINE LIST
We will customize a wine program to compliment your menu and demographic.
WINE EVENTS
Learn to put on wine events such a wine tastings and winemaker dinners, keeping your guests engaged and returning for more.
WINE EDUCATION
We encourage your entire team to participate in our wine classes that teach you the fundamentals of:
How wine is made and grown
How to taste wine
Wine and food pairing
Varietal characteristics
Proper wine service
Wine vocabulary
Winery & Distributor Relations
Improving your relationships with wineries, distributors and suppliers will make your wine program much more profitable. We will show you how.
ONGOING EDUCATION
As your wine program grows, knowledge increases and staff changes, we will continue to evolve your wine program with ongoing education.
Our Founder
Sonya villegas kelsen
When Sonya was tall enough to wipe down a counter she was working. She grew up in the restaurant business working under her father, chef/owner of several restaurants in Pto. Vallarta, Mexico. Her years in the restaurant business paid off when she decided to get into the wine industry as she had a deep understanding of the guest experience as well as front and back of the house operations.
Sonya made her way to California to follow her passion for wine. In her early career she managed restaurants and beverage programs. She then became a certified sommelier and wine educator. Sonya's career naturally evolved into distributor wine sales and since has built and impressive resume managing distribution, sales, and marketing for a number of wineries state wide and on a national level.
Sonya now has pleasure of bringing her years of experiencing to The Wine Educators team. She loves sharing her passion for wine and the good life with others She is also the co-founder and operator of Colony Wine Merchant and The Napa Kitchen. When Sonya is not working, you will find her spending time (eating and drinking) with her husband and business partner Mike, her daughter Rhema who is a talented chef and her two Golden Retrievers Benny and Ella.