Elevated at Burgess Cellars Napa Valley winery enhances hospitality to keep pace with consumer expectations By Stacy Briscoe

n May, Burgess Cellars launched its new ence puts guests in full view of the Burgess es- Mountain fruit. “Kelly gives of herself con- tasting experience, “Mountainside Tasting.” tate vineyards. The extended time, Miller said, stantly to the team, and this has allowed our A seated experience that is literally ele- allows hospitality staff to have a real conversa- team to really live what we do up here, and I vated: The new Mountainside Tasting Room tion with guests, immerse them in the winery’s best share that with our guests,” said Miller. is perched 1,000 feet on the winery’s Howell story and “indulge the most curious of guests What sets Burgess Cellars apart from other Mountain estate in Napa Valley. and the most wine-geeky questions.” wineries in the area, Miller said, is the effort Elizabeth Miller, director of hospitality for According to the Wines Vines Analytics the hospitality team puts into communicating Burgess Cellars, said the original “hospitality winery database, Burgess Cellars produces with their wine club members. “We are com- team,” when the winery first began to offer around 12,000 cases per year of , Petite municative with our members every step of the tastings after opening in 1972, was founder Sirah, and . Miller added way,” she said, “from always informing them Tom Burgess. Guests would squeeze into one that, in the future, Burgess will be expanding in advance of important dates, calling them of the winery’s barrel rooms, where Burgess to include and Zinfandel as throughout the year to check in and always himself would pour a selection of current re- well. The winery owns 60 acres of vines, and being a very friendly and helpful voice on the leases. “As Napa Valley wine tourism and Bur- the average bottle price is $50. other side of the phone.” gess Cellars grew, a few others joined Tom on the hospitality front through the years, but our Wholesale supports DtC innovation Tools of the trade tasting experience charmingly remained in that Miller said direct-to-consumer (DtC) sales make The Burgess hospitality team uses WineDirect active barrel room,” Miller said. up less than 50% of Burgess’s sales, and the new to manage its POS/CRM, email and wine club. It’s just within the last two years that the tasting experiences are intended to boost those The glassware is Andrea Robinson’s “The One,” winery began focusing on creating better guest sales. She said that the successes that the winery which Miller calls the perfect stemware that experiences. The “barrel room” transformed has seen through distribution has served as a caters to the wide range of grape varieties into the cellar tasting room (though still, in- stable financial anchor, allowing for investment Burgess produces, from to Petit deed, an active barrel room used by the wine- in the more innovative DtC approach. Verdot to Cabernet blends. To keep that stem- making team), offering intimate by-appointment Burgess staffs a small team, and Miller ware clean, the tasting room team uses the tastings that last about an hour. said she takes hiring and managing this team Jackson Avenger glasswasher. “Recently, it became clear to us that Napa quite seriously. “As our experiences are inti- When asked about any standout design Valley and its visitors have evolved,” Miller mate, and often nearly private, the wine edu- features in the new venue, Miller called out said. “Gone are the days of 10 belly-up-to-the- cator is a crucial part of visiting Burgess three educational artwork pieces located inside bar tastings in a day … Experiential and im- Cellars,” she said. the tasting room. “Each piece highlights the mersive-based wine tourism is the name of the Winemaker and general manager, Kelly defining aspects of our terroir and viticulture,” game now — here in Napa and globally.” Woods, often conducts what Miller refers to as said Miller. “We use these eye-catching pieces The “Mountainside Tasting” now joins the “out of the box” staff training, taking team as visuals with guests, so they can clearly see “Tasting in the Cellar” as an appointment-based members on vineyard walks, barrel tastings what’s happening on our mountainside grape- hospitality offering. The new 90-minute experi- and educating them about the estate’s Howell vines from root to berry.”

September 2018 WINES&VINES 53