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Wine steward vs sommelier

The differences between wine stewards and sommeliers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sommelier has an average salary of $40,584, which is higher than the $36,420 average annual salary of a wine steward.

The top three skills for a wine steward include wine, POS and spirits. The most important skills for a sommelier are wine, fine dining, and POS.

Wine steward vs sommelier overview

Wine StewardSommelier
Yearly salary$36,420$40,584
Hourly rate$17.51$19.51
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs2,8351,802
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age2828
Years of experience--

Wine steward vs sommelier salary

Wine stewards and sommeliers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Wine StewardSommelier
Average salary$36,420$40,584
Salary rangeBetween $26,000 And $49,000Between $24,000 And $68,000
Highest paying CityPort Chester, NYNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew York
Best paying companyAlbertsonsDel Frisco's Restaurant Group
Best paying industryRetailHospitality

Differences between wine steward and sommelier education

There are a few differences between a wine steward and a sommelier in terms of educational background:

Wine StewardSommelier
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college--

Wine steward vs sommelier demographics

Here are the differences between wine stewards' and sommeliers' demographics:

Wine StewardSommelier
Average age2828
Gender ratioMale, 59.1% Female, 40.9%Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 8.1% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 9.0% White, 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between wine steward and sommelier duties and responsibilities

Wine steward example 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.

Sommelier example responsibilities.

  • Manage sales and inventory for premier wine destination restaurant.
  • Wine, spirits and fine products sale.
  • Direct guest interaction and up-sell of wine and spirits.
  • Inventory, purchasing and cost control monitoring, transaction reconciliation, POS programming, payroll, sommelier work.
  • Purchase wines for one of the largest menu varieties in NYC.
  • Market wine selections with sales team through upselling or pouring wine product samples for testing.
  • Show more

Wine steward vs sommelier skills

Common wine steward skills
  • Wine, 57%
  • POS, 14%
  • Spirits, 12%
  • Floor Displays, 3%
  • Strong Customer Service, 2%
  • Wine Tastings, 2%
Common sommelier skills
  • Wine, 44%
  • Fine Dining, 13%
  • POS, 5%
  • Culinary, 5%
  • Spirits, 4%
  • Sommeliers, 3%

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