Summary-

The Tasting Room Manager at San Simeon Estates is responsible for leading all wine-focused front-of-house operations and delivering a best-in-class tasting experience that reflects the estate’s coastal elegance, hospitality standards, and storytelling philosophy. This role owns the guest journey from arrival through departure, ensuring wine education, service flow, and team execution are seamless, consistent, and aligned with brand standards.

This position is distinct from the Restaurant Manager role, which oversees culinary operations and food service execution. The Tasting Room Manager and Restaurant Manager work in close partnership to coordinate pacing, reservations, staffing flow, and elevated guest experiences—each owning their respective discipline while collaborating to deliver a unified hospitality experience.

The Tasting Room Manager is the guardian of the San Simeon Estates wine experience. This role ensures every guest interaction reflects our standards of hospitality, our sense of place, and our commitment to selling wine through connection—not pressure. In partnership with the Restaurant Manager and Estates Experience Manager, this position helps position San Simeon Estates as a premier Paso Robles destination for elevated, memorable wine experiences.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities- Current duties may be changed if the job requires and/or additional duties may be assigned if necessary.

• Tasting Room & Guest Experience Leadership
• Own day-to-day tasting room operations, guest flow, and service standards across all San Simeon Estates wine experiences.
• Ensure consistent execution of estate tasting formats, including guided flights, private experiences, cabanas, tours, and by-the-glass offerings.
• Serve as the on-floor leader during service, setting the tone for hospitality, professionalism, and guest engagement.
• Act as a brand ambassador, telling the San Simeon Estates story through wine, place, and people.
• Help manage and lead wine education and training for wine educators and servers, ensuring confident storytelling and elevated wine service.
• Maintain tasting room SOPs, service cadence, and guest engagement standards.
• Partner with winemaking and leadership teams to stay current on wines, releases, and allocation priorities.
• Recruit, train, schedule, and manage the tasting room team, including wine educators, hosts, and support staff.
• Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and performance management to elevate individual and team performance.
• Build a culture of accountability, warmth, and pride in service excellence.
• Work closely with the Restaurant Manager to:
  • Coordinate reservations, seating flow, and pacing between wine and food experiences.
  • Align staffing levels to support both tasting and dining moments without overlap or duplication.
  • Deliver cohesive guest experiences where wine and food complement—never compete.
  • Partner on special events, private bookings, and high-touch guest visits, each owning execution within their discipline.
  • Drive wine sales performance through service excellence, upsell strategy, and thoughtful guest engagement.
  • Monitor daily metrics including covers, conversion, wine sales, and guest feedback.
  • Provide operational insights and reporting to the General Manager and DTC leadership.
  • Ensure compliance with ABC laws, safety standards, and internal policies.
  • Maintain reservation systems, POS accuracy, and daily operational readiness.
  • Support Salesforce case follow-up and guest communications as needed in coordination with DTC leadership.

Education, Experience, & Skills Required-

• 2+ years of hospitality or tasting room management experience, preferably in winery or luxury hospitality environments.
• Strong wine knowledge with the ability to educate, inspire, and sell through storytelling.
• Proven leadership experience managing front-of-house teams.
• Excellent communication, organization, and guest-facing skills.
• Ability to work weekends, holidays, and special events.
• Ability to stand for long periods of time and carry up to 50 pounds.

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