How to hire a wine steward

How to hire a wine steward, step by step

Here's a step-by-step wine steward hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a wine steward job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new wine steward
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a wine steward, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect wine steward also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of wine steward salaries for various roles:

   Type of Wine Steward	Description	Hourly rate
   Wine Steward	Waiters and waitresses take orders and serve food and beverages to customers in dining establishments.	$12-23
   Bartender, Cook, And Waitress	A bartender, cook, and waitress are employees who work in the food services industry and usually deal with customer orders and food preparations. Bartenders usually prepare alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks for bar and restaurant patrons and assess the customers' needs... Show more	$10-16
   Server And Certified Trainer	A server and certified trainer is a wait staff position who takes orders and serves food and beverages to customers dining in the restaurant. Often known as the lead server, a server and certified trainer provides training to new server trainees to serve customers and handle payments... Show more	$11-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Wine
   • POS
   • Spirits
   • Floor Displays
   • Strong Customer Service
   • Wine Tastings
   • Customer Service
   • Wine List
   • Wine Cellar
   • Wine Knowledge
   • Store Management
   • Wine Service
   • Culinary
   • Wine Sales

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Conduct weekly wine tastings and make recommendations regarding wine selection.
   • Implement a POS system improving efficiency with kitchen orders and faster food delivery.
   • Operate all equipment necessary to prepare grapes for harvest, supervise picking during harvest season.
   • Formulate detailed lab notebooks for each harvest year to model and compare life of the wines.
   • Provide customers with exceptional wine and food pairing recommendations.
   • Promote and demonstrate various wines sell at Costco stores during the holiday season.

   More wine steward duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your wine steward job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A wine steward salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a wine steward in Kansas may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level wine steward usually earns less than a senior-level wine steward. Additionally, a wine steward with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average wine steward salary

   $36,420yearly

   $17.51 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level wine steward salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average wine steward salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$53,286	$26
   2	Minnesota	$44,420	$21
   3	Arizona	$43,243	$21
   4	California	$41,504	$20
   5	Washington	$40,519	$19
   6	Colorado	$39,505	$19
   7	Michigan	$38,635	$19
   8	Oregon	$36,416	$18
   9	Texas	$34,833	$17
   10	Illinois	$32,793	$16
   11	Florida	$32,181	$15
   12	Nevada	$32,147	$15
   13	Tennessee	$31,419	$15
   14	Montana	$31,052	$15
   15	Ohio	$30,014	$14
   16	North Carolina	$27,571	$13

   Average wine steward salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Albertsons	$39,662	$19.07	3
   2	United Natural Foods	$38,412	$18.47
   3	Kroger	$36,644	$17.62	21
   4	PCC Community Markets	$36,086	$17.35	1
   5	HomeBuys	$35,969	$17.29
   6	Binny's	$35,511	$17.07
   7	H-E-B	$35,448	$17.04	1
   8	Town & Country Markets	$35,102	$16.88
   9	Market of Choice	$34,958	$16.81	6
   10	Albertsons Companies	$34,895	$16.78	7
   11	Town & Country Foods	$34,754	$16.71
   12	Zupan's Markets	$34,706	$16.69
   13	Safeway	$34,628	$16.65
   14	Bashas'	$34,295	$16.49	2
   15	Marriott International	$34,033	$16.36	83
   16	Reasor's	$33,442	$16.08
   17	MGM Resorts International	$33,120	$15.92	4
   18	Club	$32,322	$15.54	1
   19	Jetro Cash & Carry Enterprises Inc.	$31,763	$15.27	2
   20	Giant Eagle	$30,305	$14.57	2

4. Writing a wine steward job description

   A good wine steward job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a wine steward job description:

   Wine steward job description example

   With a passion for wines, beer and liquors and a focus on maintaining an appealing and well-stocked wine cellar, the wine steward will effectively assist the cellar master in the operation of the wine cellar to achieve sales and customer service goals established by AJ's Fine Foods.
   Some Job Responsibilities include:
   
   * Maintaining a positive and friendly attitude towards customers and fellow team members.
   * Engaging with customers through smiles and greetings, offering product information, providing selling suggestions and active sampling (when appropriate) and always giving a genuine thank you.
   * Assisting the cellar master with planning and hosting tastings and special functions.
   * Providing customers with great information and suggestions concerning their purchase of wine cellar product offerings.
   * Monitoring and using correct product pricing, shelf tags and signage.
   * Keeping at clean, attractive and beautifully stocked wine cellars.
   * Ordering, pricing and stocking all products in the wine cellar including wine, beer, liquor and cigars.
   * Ensuring compliance with all state liquor laws, and health department and weights and measures guidelines. Performs other duties as needed or assigned by management. Must be at least 21 years old. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time .This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions. It does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.
   
   This job description is subject to change at any time. Employer provides reasonable accommodations to a qualified employee that does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.
   
   Job Qualification
   
   * With both customers and team members, remain helpful, tactful and courteous.
   * Work quickly and efficiently, sometimes with little direction, to accomplish assigned duties.
   * Add, subtract, divide, multiply and perform other basic business math calculations.
   * Read UPC codes, product labels, shelf signage, business forms, and posted company policies/procedures.
   * Be knowledgeable of a wide variety general department products (grocery, frozen food, HBC, non-foods, liquor, DSD and dairy), including their locations in the store.
   * Memorize product locations.
   * Be dexterous enough with hands and fingers so as to be able to fill and rotate products quickly and use necessary equipment, including box cutters.
   * Communicate openly and professionally through appropriate body language, facial expressions and speech, also communicating in writing when necessary.
   * Listen to and understand verbal and non-verbal communication of customers and fellow members.
   * Stand for long periods of time, bend and twist, and frequently lift and/or maneuver merchandise and supplies weighing 30 - 50lbs.
   * Lift 50 and maneuver up to 100 lbs. while breaking down large and very heavy pallet loads of produce cases, boxes and bags.
   * Operate manual and electric pallet jacks.
   * Often work in walk-in refrigerated coolers.
   * If called upon, night crew clerks may need to learn use of cash registers.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right wine steward for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your wine steward job on Zippia to find and recruit wine steward candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting wine stewards requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new wine steward

   Once you've selected the best wine steward candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new wine steward. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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