North Carolina Fine Wines Society - The Back Room Team

January 25, 2017

Autumn Creek Vineyards Sleeping Vines

Pruning at Stonefield Cellars Winery

The North Carolina Fine Wines Society may be having their Inaugural Fine Wines Competition, but this isn't the first time at the rodeo for many of those involved. Right out of the gate we had our minds made up to invite highly respected individuals to the team and make sure that we harnessed the talent to make this competition exceptional.  And while the Sommeliers are often in the spotlight, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure a quality competition has been branded.

The Society has consistently been guided by quality in our processes. We started with online entries and software management from Enofile Online. This software allows for the vineyards to both electronically file with us, and then once their wines have been entered into the system, the vineyards can quickly enter other competitions without having to fill out the same information multiple times.

Once all the information is collected, the back room management team can dynamically order and arrange flights for the competition on the fly. We'll be using their many features such as printing the labels to go on the bottles and corresponding glasses that will be served. There is an extensive process to get bottles received, cataloged, inventoried, verified, and photographed so that their entry condition is recorded.  The unique numbering process allows us to track back to the wines so that the judges are not seeing anything but a coded sheet for each wine entered.  Once the judges have scored the wines, those scores are recorded and calculate the winning entries.

Cellar 4201

Our Back Room Manager is Carl Bandy, who has worked for over 25 years with the Indy International Wine Competition.  He is assisted by his wife Nancy, who also has over 20 years experience as a judge with the Indy International Wine Competition.  Together they have been on both sides of the judging room fence and know how to make the process efficient and unobtrusive. With extensive documentation and procedures, we've got decades of talent ready to implement a new competition.

Lazy Elm Vineyards

With dozens of flights in a couple of days, we were fortunate to enlist the assistance of the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics' Hospitality students. Professor Erick Byrd is bringing in 32 students over two days to participate in the competition. The students will be graded by the Professor for their poise and professionalism in the competition. We're excited about having the students being involved in this real world application of high hospitality standards.  And it gives all of us a chance to interact with some of the top Sommeliers in the South East.  These same students will be tasked with presenting a Gala event later in the year for UNCG.

Lazy Elm Vineyards Spring 2016

Once the flights of wines have been delivered and returned, the results will be collected and calculated by our treasurer and verified by Executive in Residence, Sam Troy from UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics. The calculations will be sealed and held confidential until Saturday, February 18th, 2017.

It will be during the Inaugural North Carolina Fine Wines Awards Gala at the Millennium Center in Winston-Salem where the results will be shared at this public gala. There are currently less than 70 seats left to the Gala, which will feature a six course meal paired with six Fine Wines from the Fine Wines Society Board. The North Carolina Fine Wines Case will be a collection of the top 12 wines from the competition. The vineyards that are represented in the Fine Wines Case will be invited to pair their wines at the 2018 Awards Gala dinner - the ultimate way to keep paying it forward.

We deeply appreciate the help and guidance of the UNCG Bryan School of Business & Economics. Their guidance and support has been especially helpful in this past year for the Society. UNCG has long been interested in the success of the North Carolina Winegrowers Association and the Grape Council.

Thanks again for your support of North Carolina locally grown foods.