Ep. 1463 Tonya Pitts | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

Since twenty seventeen, the Italian One podcast has exploded and expects to hit six million listens by the end of July twenty twenty three. We're celebrating this success by recognizing those who have shared the journey with us and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the on success of the shows. By buying a paper copy of the Italian wine unplugged two point o or making a donation to help the ongoing running costs, members of the international Italian wine community will be given the chance to nominate future guests and even enter a price draw to have lunch with Stevie Kim and Professor Atigioshenza. To find out more, visit us at Italian wine podcast dot com. Welcome to Mastercross US Market with me, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews of expert and sales and distribution, social media, communications, and so much more. We will quiz each of our esteemed guests at the end of each episode to solidify the lessons that we've learned. So sharpen your pencils, get out your notebooks, and join us each week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wine market. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Tonya Pitt to the Italian wine podcast. Tonya is the beverage director at one market in San Francisco. She's got over thirty years of experience in the restaurant industry starting out at the iconic restaurant stars from chef Jeremiah Tower and chef Judy Rogers as well as Zuny Cafe. She's been a Sonya wine director for over two decades, telling the stories of both Benchmark and undersung regions on producers. While championing diversity and inclusion on and off her wine list. She was just named Samuel of the year by wine enthusiasts in two thousand and twenty two. I thought the pleasure of getting to No Tonia over the last five years or so here in the Bay Area and feel very lucky to know her firsthand and can attest to her warm and loving nature. I'm so lucky to have her here on the show today. Thank you for joining us, Tonya. It's great to have you. Hi, Juliana. It's so great to be here with you and and talking to everyone. Absolutely. Thanks again for joining us. We're gonna talk a little bit today about wine competitions for Somoyais in the US. There's so many of them and you've done quite a few of them yourself. So we're really excited to dive into that. But before that, let's dive in a little bit more to your story. Tell us about your journey And what's led you to your current role today at One Market? Well, if you told me many years ago that I was going to wind up in the hospitality industry and working as a sommelier and a wine director, I would have told you no. I'm going to law school. I'm going to be a lawyer, which actually I was in a program for three years and then decided that I didn't wanna do that. And I wanted to pursue art which is what led me to San Francisco. And one thing led to another. And immediately, I was kind of submerged within the industry and wine, but to back up when I was studying law in in Saint Louis, Missouri, I was working in a restaurant and unbeknownst to me, that's where everything would kind of take place in just my thought and synthesis for wine and food would actually kind of take flight and give me everything that I needed to be here in California and pursue it. And so now, you know, here we are. I think that mentorship is something that is is solely needed. And I had that in my youth and growing up and starting in the industry, and it was really because of just those mentors who supported me and were encouraging to really push to be in the industry that I'm here, and that's why I also do the same for others. I think it's really, really important. And, you know, that's how I ended up here at One Market, and I've been here for, gosh, September, it'll be fifteen years. I can't even believe it. Time flies when you're having fun. Yeah. And outside of your role at one market, tell us a little bit more about what you're doing in terms of mentorship with your work, with organizations, like, Wine Unify and United summary Foundation. United summary Foundation. I'm on the board for United summary Foundation. We have started a lot of programs to help within our community, not just those that were financial help via crisis, which actually started during COVID, but we're also offering now seminars that on just lifestyle things that we need as a community. Financial knowledge, as well as career knowledge, those that are ready to make a career change. So those are two seminars that were just held within the last two months with why UNIFY Amplify, which actually welcome, elevate and amplify are the three pillars of that organization welcoming. If you are thinking about getting into wine, have your toes dipped in, but need some support, need some mentorship, need glassware, wine, the financials to be able to take the certifications. That's all something that is offered to you. Elevate. Elevate when you are in the industry, but need a little bit more help with that and more mentorship. There's elevated amplifier, those of us that have been in the industry for a long time, but do need all those other aspects as well because you never stop learning. Right? Right. So very motivated in terms of supporting people from the beginning of their wine careers and then through the more advanced stages as well. Absolutely. It's really, really important. And You know, you need it all the way through. We all through. Everyone has someone that they look up to or lean on and ask advice of. It doesn't matter what your stature is within the community. Something that we all offer to each other. Yeah. Absolutely. So, Tonya, in this episode, we wanna continue talking about that role of mentorship, but in the context of how Stommelier's engage with wine and competitions and promotions, which are another form of education for Sommelier's in the US market. Tonio, you've been a judge in these competitions. Most recently, the sicilian wine Maestro competition for wines of Sicily, but also promoted in many of these promotions and competitions yourself. So for today's master class, our three key takeaways are number one, how can somebody at competitions engage US trade in a particular region? Number two, what are the different formats that work for these regional promotions? And then finally number three, how do we make these promotions and programs more inclusive in the US market? So we're really excited to talk to you about these things today. So, you know, first things first, talk to us a little bit about your own experience with some of the competitions and promotions. Which ones have you participated in yourself? Any promotions that have been particularly memorable? Tell us a little bit about your experience. Well, as I think back, it has been so long since I've participated within a competition myself. It's been many years. But what I usually have done quite recently before the Cecilian competition was judging wine. And within that, we don't always see a lot of diversity there as well. But most recently with, sicilian wine Maestro competition, which this is actually the second year that we've done that. It allows you and gives you the opportunity to take the knowledge that you have and use it to your ability to see how you as a witness or how you test up against others within our community, but it's also a lot of fun. There's a part of all of us that has this gene of being competitive, and that allows that to kind of come through. It's almost like sparring a little bit, but I also think what it enables everyone to do is to just bone up on their knowledge. Because you can you never stop learning. Right? But it's almost it's an excuse to continue learning and to learn more and just to take a subject and a region in an area and focus on it. For a period of time. And you may find in doing so that it may actually wind up being your strong suit and taking that and becoming a scholar for that particular region. Now I know that there are those of us who have gone through and gotten certifications and all of that. And then there are those of us that have been in the industry a long time and are just super knowledgeable and people come to us for our expertise. There's also that as well. But what's been really awesome to see is that no matter where someone is in life within their journey, If they have the experience and the knowledge, they are welcome to participate. And I just think that's awesome and amazing. And it's also, you know, less intimidating as well because I think a lot of folks feel that, oh, I have the knowledge and some of the experience, but I don't have the certifications to back me up. So therefore, I'm not gonna participate. And especially this last time, I had people that reached out to me and said just that, and I encouraged them to actually participate. Yeah. Because maybe biting off one region at a time too, might feel more approachable than something like a course through the court or through W Set where you have to retain information about the entire winemaking world with these regional competitions, you can become that master of one specific area. Right? Yep. Absolutely. And then you figure out what you really like. You know, you can taste so much wine and know that you like a particular varietal, but then when you kinda dive in because there's so much that's attached to that. There's the story and the history of the people, history of the land, and how it came to be, and what's happening now. There's also culture, lifestyle, there's food, there's travel, all of that goes along with it. Right? And sometimes, you know, it's not always about a cash reward, right, within winning. Sometimes it's just about the cultural experience that you have to be able to to journey to that particular space in place, especially if you have never, you know, gone before where there's a lot of us we've studied and studied for lifetimes, but have not been able to do all of the travel because it's quite expensive. And this allows us the opportunity to be able to do that and be shown the best of the best and everything in between on those journeys. Yeah. And I think those trips are a way to really make a region and stand out and become even more memorable in the minds of the recipients of that trip or those engage in that trip. And now on that note, there's a lot of regions in the US promoting their wines wines of x y z. Right? We've seen so many competitions and promotions. How do you think a region can really stand out in the US market for the Somier audience today? What can they do to really stand out with their competition or their promotion for the trade. Italian wine podcast, part of the mama jumbo shrimp family. I think what we have to remember is that in the end, we are all storytellers. And in being storytellers, that is how we enable our guests or the client to be able to take that journey with us. So if you haven't been there, haven't really dived into the region, into the wines that are there, into the culture, how can you disseminate and and pass that along to someone? The best way to be able to do that is to actually go there and be there. The next best thing is being able to sit through a super detailed tasting in seminar where you're almost transported to that place. That's another really good way to do things as well because I know that it does get quite expensive to put everybody on a plane, pay for airfare, pay for a place to stay. It's almost works really well. If you do something like wines of Australia did several years ago, they came up with an idea called Decantit, and they basically brought Australia on the road and to certain regions. And it was as though you were transported to Australia. The winemakers were here. The wines were here. It was over three days, and it was a submersion. And I think something like that works well. I would love to see more people do something like that. And what do you think was about buying Australia promotion that was especially successful in immersing audience to the region and making you, like you said, really feel like they brought us Australia to this market? Like, what did they do particularly well? So as I said, it's all about storytelling. It's all about the culture and the lifestyle. We had roundtable discussions Whereas it was almost as though it it really was. There was storytelling. They gave us back story of the region and how certain regions came to be. We found out about the plant matter that was bought. We were able to taste the foods and the spices and the wines. This was all over three days, and it was absolutely amazing. The other thing is is that while we were inside for some of this, we were also outdoors for some of it. Which I think made a difference as well being out in the sunshine and the elements to really kind of give you a sense of being somewhere else and in another place and in another space. Right. And that's unique too and memorable to have it outside. I think they held that in Lake Tahoe. Didn't they? Yes. They did. Yeah. So, I mean, that's a much more unique space than being in a hotel conference room or, you know, even a restaurant, right, to be somewhere outdoors somewhere where you're a bit more removed to really be able to focus on on the subject matter. So I love that example. I think that's a really good example as I think about. You know, when we think about the format for these summary competitions, regional promotions, You talked about these seminars, these round tables, discussions with winemakers. Are there any other formats, that you've either seen done or would like to see done in these promotions that you think would be especially effective? I just finished with think tank called Arena Global, which is a think tank, for fine wine. And each year, they invite sixty wine professionals from around the globe to join them in these discussions about different issues within fine wine, whether it's production, climate change, my roundtable was at actually on education now in the future of education. I would almost like to see something like that happen. And a piece of that is that these discussions take place in different wineries and different places. And so you're able to taste the wines from the region, have a one on one with the winemaker and actually be in this place and touched the land as well. And I love how they've done that, how they've been able to do that. Last year, we were in South Africa for this same roundtable, and that's how they did it. And I just thought it was just super super unique in the way that they have done things. And I think that's maybe possibly a model that could be used for line competitions within the summary community as well. Yeah. I like that idea a lot. The more open discussions round tables, think tanks, getting people more engaged, right, in the conversations around the stories. Like you said, it all comes back to storytelling for this audience and giving the trade, the real stories around your region and your particular line that they can translate to to their audience and to their customers. Right? Yeah. And the end of the day, it's sales. And how do you sell? You sell through being able to tell a story about the product about the region, about the people. It comes in bite sized pieces. You have to know the audience that's in front of you as well. Definitely in giving them the right information. Yeah. Exactly. We spoke a little earlier about your work with Wine Unifi and United Sound Foundation, do you think the regions that are in the US market doing these regional promotions and some way competitions can work to make the participant groups more diverse and get more people from different backgrounds involved in these programs? Well, I think that they have to make sure that they're reaching out to the appropriate and the best channels. One source that I think is really great that we don't always talk about is, black wine professionals, which is actually a direct three that was started and put together by Julia Cooney. And it actually holds and lists all of the bipoc professionals, black professionals that are in the United States as well as Canada. I believe she may also have international folks in it as well. And I actually really think that other people should do the same. How can people find you and know who you are and what you're doing if, you know, they don't know. Because for a long time, it was all kind of word-of-mouth and trying to connect people in that way, either by telephone, by an email, you know, but there for a long time there, those of us that knew knew of each other, but had never met. Right? During COVID, that all kinda changed because everyone had to stop. Right? And I think now there's been more attention to detail and more energy being put into the fact of connecting everyone. Connecting Southeast Asian, the, you know, Latino component of folks, OB two Q plus, just everyone, making sure that everyone is welcome and that everybody has acts assess. And there's so many different organizations that have come to fruition and been generated and started. You know, there's a new one every couple of months, you know, because people wanna be heard and listened to and They wanna feel welcome, and they wanna have the safe space. So, I mean, organizations like Black wine professionals, Hispanic, and wine, regions tapping into those networks and making sure that they're sharing the information and promoting through those networks that have created these safe and inclusive spaces for people from different backgrounds in the wine industry. That feels like a really important way for regions to engage with different audiences. I think it's very important, but I also think that not all of those regions know about these organizations. I know I've had conversations with some people, and they have no idea. So the next thing is how do we get the word out to there's hundreds there's hundreds of regions that, you know, have societies that are looking for new and other demographics to be able to sell their wines and and be in other markets. And that's a way to tap in. Go to the source. And this podcast is a just one small start of that. Hopefully, getting, you know, the word out there of these organizations, at least two, our Italian wine regions, and those of us working in Italian wine. So keep spreading the word and we will get more awareness around the the great work that those organizations are doing. Tony, I also just wanna talk a little bit as we wrap up a little bit more about the wine competitions because you mentioned earlier that you've been a judge for many regional wine competitions. I know you recently worked with the wines of La War. So talk to us a little bit about those wine competitions. What role do you think they play for our trade audiences? When we all come together to do these things, There is strength in numbers. We come away from these competitions that we do. Need they be, you know, sparring competitions, our judging competitions, and we go back into our environments and back into our communities and talk about the work that we've done, the wines that we've tasted when we're able to. And in doing so, we're spreading the word about those particular regions and those particular wines. And giving people another opportunity to learn and to taste something different. For me, it's something that I keep saying is that when we came out of the pandemic in COVID, people were taken out of their comfort zones and we're given an opportunity to learn about a lot of different regions, a lot about different wines, different beverages, period. And we need to continue to ride that wave of curiosity. And that's what I'm calling it, the wave of curiosity, whereas we had less people being curious. Now we have a lot more people being curious because they were pulled out of their comfort zone. And that's not to say they don't go back to their old favorites because they do. It's just like when a new restaurant opens up, the new hot spot, what do you do? You wanna go. You wanna enjoy it. You wanna have a good time. You wanna experience what they have to offer. Right? But at the end of the day, you still go back to your old favorites. But now you have some place else to go to add to the favorites. Yeah. And something else in the case of a cell made to add to your repertoire depending on your audience, right, and what they're looking for. So giving somebody is the tools, the information to better sell these wines is so critical and important, like we've been talking about. Yeah. Well, the only way to do that is to actually taste it as well. Cause if you know about the wines, you know about the regions, but if you've never tasted them, you know, that's a handicap as well. You need to make sure that people are are able to to taste the wines and not just you know, the benchmarks that have the higher price tag that are the scarcity wines as well. They need to be able to taste everything. Well, right? You know, we're seeing a lot, you know, the proliferation of this more kind of fast casual or more casual dining atmosphere that still has a wine program, you know, they're gonna be looking obviously for wines for volume and for a different price point than our fine dining experiences. So it's showing those those different ranges. I think is really important as well. But we have to also remember that everyone that's buying wine now, and I don't like to say that it's, you know, millennials or gen z. I like to think of it as being much more global and all encompassing. People are drinking less, but they're drinking better, and they're drinking more of the better. But that's not to say that they don't have something super simple and profitable as an everyday drinking wine just to have with a meal as our our friends in Europe and other places do, they have that as well. You've got both sides of the coin on that one, and I think we need to remember that. Yeah. That's a really, really good reminder. Well, Tonya, we're wrapping up. We could talk all day and for hours as we know, but, I wanna make sure we get to our rapid fire quiz, which we do at the end of every episode of the podcast to really hammer home some of our key takeaways and the lessons that we learned from you today. So if you can do your best, please, to answer these questions in around one sentence or less, that would be lovely. So number one, how can somebody accomplish and promotions, engage US trade in a particular region. Make themselves more available. Question number two. What formats for PsalA competitions and promotions do you think are most success those that, are much more engaging where you allow people to be themselves and bring themselves to the table and allow for creativity to show off their knowledge. I love that. Absolutely. And finally, number three, how can regions and wine regions make these so many promotions, competitions more inclusive? Making sure that they get the information out to all people within our communities, within the wine communities, which is pretty vast, but there's ways to do it. And there's channels to go through. What most people are using now is, of course, Instagram and TikTok, which I know is not always super, exciting for people. But, you know, we are a content driven society now, and that's the way to to get it out there. Content. Yeah. And like you said earlier, people have gone beyond their comfort zones are spending a lot more time online connecting with one another including in the trade and in the soviet community. So I think those platforms and social if platforms are vital for for reaching this audience in today's day and age. Absolutely. Well, Tanya, thank you so much for joining us today on the Italian one podcast to talk a little bit more about some of your competitions. We'd love to have you back in the future to talk about all things wine and life and maybe art and law as well. But thank you so much for being here today to join us. How can our followers connect with you? My handle on Instagram is Norar Samoye, and you can also type in my name, which is dame Tonia Pitts at instagram dot com. And then there's also a website Tonia Pitts at tonya fits dot com. And you can also come and see me at one market restaurant here in San Francisco if you are in San Francisco, California at some and then you give important time. I'm pretty much always here. I'm a staple. I love that. Thank you, Tanya. And hopefully, we can see you soon in Italy as well. That would be amazing. Alright, Tanya. Well, thank you again for being here with us today on the Italian podcast. Thanks so much, Sheriana. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned to each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. I remember if you enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.