Ep. 1754 Christopher Sachs | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pods. Welcome to Mastercost US Market with me, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews of experts in 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 Weidmar it. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Christopher Sachs to the Italian wine podcast. Chris is a wine and spirits professional based in Central New Jersey. He was classically trained in culinary arts at the culinary Institute of America where he took a short course in the study of wine. That's where his love of food and wine really blossomed. So shortly after graduation, he worked in the restaurant industry at several restaurants. And today, he works as a sales rep with Skurtick Wine and spirits in the New Jersey New York area. He also consults with various retail and restaurant partners on a daily basis. Welcome to those show, Chris. It's so great to have you here. Happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. And excited to talk to you today a little bit more about Midaly International Academy. Like me, you're an Italian wine Ambassador, and we know that the, via course is coming to our home here in, New York City in March and just a little over a month and a half away from now. So I'm just gonna dive more into the course. You've also studied wine in a number of other universities and programs outside of the culinary Institute. So We'll talk a little bit about that too, but we're really excited to have you here on the show. So before we dive into today's discussion about Via, tell us a little bit more about your background, Chris, and what led you to become an Italian wine ambassador. So like you said, I went to culinary school, took a really short course on wine, and it just wasn't enough. So going into my professional studies on my own, of course, got the w set diploma, and I've been just hungry for other opportunities in early twenty twenty two. I saw a message come through a couple of emails about this program called the Vin Italy International Academy, and I've never heard of it. I've heard of it. Didn't know that there was an academy or any education. So I started calling a bunch of friends. I I researched, and I found a few of the colleagues who I've worked with, who were ambassadors, picked their brain, and they said it was a fantastic program incredibly in-depth knowledge. And it doesn't hurt that I love Italian wine, so it kind of seemed like a perfect fit. So I went down that rabbit hole, and here we are today. Amazing. And you've also are a certified Cherry specialist. Is that right? Yes. So I got the certified Sherry wine specialist with the wine scholar Guild, and it happened to be sponsored by Lu Stau, who is a brand that I happen to represent. So it it was another fun opportunity to to be with some other Sherry lovers, which it's a small community of us. Very cool. Yeah. And what's great, Chris, is that you've got that background for the diploma and the Sherry program and the wine scholars guild to really Think about Via and then Venitally International Academy in the context of other wide education programs, which I think is great for our conversation today. So, Via, this is, like, the twenty seventh edition of the Via course, and the Via community now spans forty six countries around the world and over thirteen hundred people have taken the course, but just three hundred and forty six have actually passed the exam to become certified Italian wide ambassadors. Two of those are me and you. And sixteen are certified Italian wide experts, which is the more advanced level, of course. We'll dive a little bit more into what it means to be a part of the via community in the US and in New York specifically. And since you took the course in New York, we're really excited to just hear from you a little bit more about that experience. So our three key takeaways We're today's master class and what we're excited to learn from you are. Number one, what does it take to become an Italian wine ambassador? Obviously, has a pretty competitive past rate. So that's, I think, a big question probably in a lot of our listeners' minds. Number two, what does it like to take the course in New York City versus taking it in Italy? I believe you've taken courses in both. So, again, you'll have a great point of comparison for us. And then finally, what does the Italian wine Ambassador and the Via community bring you as an industry professional? So Chris, let's just start, you know, as you mentioned, you've done your diploma, the certified Sherry wine specialist. How do these educational programs in addition to being an Italian wine ambassador help you in your role, as a sales rep with Scernic? Well, from the very beginning, it helped me become, reputable in the market. I started as a distributor as a salesperson at a very young age to where most of my clients didn't realize that I actually have had alcohol before and I did know a little bit about wine. So I went down the education road to prove myself Okay. To cut my teeth, get some letters after my name, and and show that I actually knew what I was talking about. Right. And that was about eight years ago. When I first started. So nowadays, it helps give me a more well rounded approach. Of course, looking at a lot of other products and other producers and other winemakers outside of my own portfolio outside of the Scernic book. Mhmm. But it has also just shown me how much is out there and what other buyers and restaurant tours are looking for and what they're seeing. So it helps me bring a little bit more focus to what I work with. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm giving you that that broader perspective that makes a lot of sense as you said just to give some reputation to yourself as a wine industry professional to get those courses under your belt and and those letters after a title. I know in my work as well that that definitely is something people recognize when you have it in your signature. And, you know, knowing that you've gone through a few of the different programs, tell us a little bit about how the Italian wine ambassador certification and Vine Italy International Academy compares to the diploma and w set as well as the wine scholar guild. So I think the closest comparison for me would be with the diploma program. Through the wine scholar guild, I only took the Sherry program, which was a pretty defined short term course. Okay. But the diploma program, like I said, is the closest equivalent. Right. And where the diploma is a much broader spectrum, I'm not gonna say surface level because it does get a little deep, but it's a lot of context and it's a lot of regions and a lot of wine and it takes a much longer time to get through the whole program. It takes a couple years, right, to do the diploma, typically? Exactly. It took me about two and a half years to get through the whole program Okay. And only having to retake one session. Wow. Good for you. Congrats. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. The Via program is much deeper. And I joke by saying it's a rabbit hole, but it really is. It is a, the Italian wine world is always changing, b, it is very specific. You're talking about one country with so many different regions, so many different styles, so many different indigenous grapes that most normal consumers have never heard of. So it's a lot more going back and researching and looking up different grape varietals and trying to go find those grape varietals on the shelf so you could experience them and try them. My philosophy is a travel by wine. That's a side company that I run. And that's the best way to taste. Open a bottle. Let it take you to where it's from. Taste the grape, taste the culture, taste the place. So it's it's a lot more multifaceted specifically in the region of Italy. Right. Now I think it's a lot to wrap your head around sometimes. Yeah. Every region has such a a different culture or personality, especially when it comes to wine, right, as we know, and just really diving into all those nuances. And what I really loved about the program is that it's also multifaceted in the way you are thinking about wine is not just tasting and talking about the characteristics of the grapes, but it's also geology and history and science. I found that it went a little bit more into that science realm than perhaps the WSA program does. And, you know, I guess that's fitting when one of our teachers is, atelier Shienza, which translates directly to science, but I really like that about the program, that really science aspect of it too. I thought was super interesting. Absolutely. And science not only in the fact of talk about chemical compounds and flavors. Again, not necessarily focused on tasting, but social science of the transport and the actual domestication of the vine and how it traveled through the entire region Right. From Greece, from the caucus mountains. It goes way back and provides a lot more context to the wine world as a great whole, not just within Italy, but within the wine world at large. Yeah. Exactly. Absolutely. So tell us a little bit more about your experience with Vineita International Academy. What was that like for you to prepare for the course? Just talk to us a little bit about the logistics of it. Well, when I first took the course, I took it twice. I started out in New York in February of twenty twenty two. And in case you don't remember twenty twenty two, we were still kind of in the middle of this little pandemic thing that was going on. So the team from Italy didn't actually know if they were gonna be able to get into New York, if what the logistics were gonna be, who was coming, how quickly they were gonna be able to do it, all the fun pieces. So I had about seven days of preparation time Wow. To consume most of the content. The way that they do the program now is all of the actual education learning content is on a virtual platform. Watch it at your leisure. Go through it, take your notes, watch it two, three, four times. And then in New York, specifically, they will have the sit down sessions, three sit down sessions of tastings. I took my program with Henry Divar, I believe Sarah Heller hopefully might be able to make it out to New York this year. Yes. She will be. She will be here. Fantastic. So we'll get the full Monte. The program that I had was much more condensed. That's was ultimately my undoing for the first round, but It's intense. It's in-depth. There's a lot of content to go through. Not just the virtual presentations, but reading the books, reading the publications that are a part of the, the official syllabus as well. Italian wine unplugged, which just Yeah. It's a lot of content. Exactly. Italian Wanna plugged two point o, which was just recently edited, Sanjay Lambrusco, which is the book written by Atilla Shenza, all of that compounds and adds layers and layers of of information that needs to be understood and comprehended. Coming back to America, Van Italy International Academy, the ultimate Italian wine qualification will be held in New York City from four to six March twenty twenty four. Have you got what it takes to become the next Italian wine ambassador? Find out at benitely dot com. Yeah. Exactly. And what about the test itself? What was that like for you? The test was honestly a bit daunting. It's multifaceted yet again. It's gonna be a a recurring theme for this program, but it's not just multiple choice. It's not just open ended, and it's not just tasting. It's a combination of the three pieces. So Right. About nine I wanna say it was ninety multiple choice questions. It was such a blur that I actually forget, but it was a lot of multiple choice questions. That sounds about right. A lot of questions, and each question had five answers, which throws me for a loop here in the US. Most of the times, it's four answers. You could easily process the elimination and hopefully fingers crossed. You get a fifty fifty chance of getting the answer right. But with this program, you truly need to know the context and what you're talking about and know your information There's no hints or tips or tricks to get through the program, to get through the exam. Right. It's just really a deep knowledge of the material that you're taking in from the books, but also from those webinars. Absolutely. Absolutely. And and then knowing how to apply that information, knowing how to put it all into a package, for specifically the open ended questions, and even the tastings, take that theoretical knowledge that you've been taught and apply it into the other questions or other opportunities that are are presented on the test and make it make sense. Right. Right. Exactly. And, you know, Chris, you're also in addition to, you know, having these these certifications I saw that you are also teaching the Italian wine maestro course in New Jersey. What's that all about? Tell us a little more about that. So that's what I consider the one zero one course. Okay. The Italian wine maestro. It's kind of a foundational stepping stone that was put together. Also part of the Vititally International Academy program. I decided to become an educator and go through that syllabus as well because for myself, I'm a wine nerd for lack of a better term and I I feed on education and the the nitty gritty of these programs. But for anybody else that's out there who's looking to learn more, it's a very big jump to just dive head first into the ambassador program. Mhmm. I agree. So I want to offer this stepping stone, acclimate consumers, whether they're wine lovers, whether they're other professionals, whether they're restaurant tours, I wanna help acclimate them into the via program. Build the foundation and then offer them the opportunity to take the ambassador program without any fear of of failing Very cool. Much like I did the first time. So it's kind of a precourse, then you'd describe it as Exactly. It's a pre course that has its own certification level. And for most people, they're they're more than willing to stop right there. Okay. It's a great foundational knowledge. It it covers much of the same content as the ambassador program. And then the ambassador program takes it and jumps over the line even further. Right. Okay. And are you administering this course in person online? What are some of the the logistics of this program? So I am administering it in person. I've been trying to recruit several times to get some courses off the ground. Right now I have a facility, a client of mine who I'm working with in I'm not gonna say the upstate area, but outside of New York City in a town called Japan, New York. So, we are offering it there. It's about Okay. Not too far upstate, like maybe an hour outside of the Exactly. The city or so? Easy train ride. And it's eight weeks Yeah. Couple hours a day for eight weeks, once a week, and tastings, lectures, a little bit of reading, so everyone is on the same page. It's a pretty fun course. Awesome. You have to taste about eighty to a hundred wines depending on my mood and what we need to taste. Okay. It's great opportunity to whether you're, like I said, just an Italian wine lover and wanna build your knowledge and taste some things that you've never had before. Or you're looking to get a little bit more education. We're offering that up at a Mendara wine in Japan, New York. Mendara wine. Is that a a retailer? A restaurant? It is a retail. Yep. It's a retailer that Okay. Just recently opened with a a beautiful education center in the middle of his building. We're looking, we're actually gonna be teaching w set classes and other seminars as well. But the first and foremost, because I already have it locked and loaded is the Italian winemaster program. Very, very cool. And how can our listeners find out more information if they were interested in potentially signing up for the Italian wine master program that you are administering. So there's two websites that they can check out. They can either go to travel by wine dot net, or you can head to Mendara wine. Dot com, m a n d a r a y dot com. Gotcha. Okay. Perfect. So, Chris, let's talk a little bit more about the Venalia International Academy community. I there's a very active WhatsApp channel that you and I are both subscribed to. I have to admit that I silence the notifications because there's lots of chats coming in all the time, about all things to tell you why, but tell us a little bit more about how the community has benefited you professionally. You spoke earlier about how the knowledge is how you in your in your job to talk. Just a little bit more about what you think about the community itself. So above and beyond the actual knowledge, I think the community is one of the strongest proponents of the program. Yeah. And I've been telling a few friends who are signing up for the New York course this year. The community is is the best above all else. And like you said, that chat group has messages going on and off all the time, but it's people asking, it's it's other ambassadors asking for advice, for recommendations, for connections, it's requests for interviews, for podcasts, it's visits, it's everything under the sun, but it's ultimately advice. It's everyone connected all at once all for the same love of Italian wine and business, which is really, really cool. So I think the community has helped me make connections with other winemakers, has helped me learn other sales techniques, has learned what is working in other markets? So I'm able to either influence my current, my own market, or showcase what's working maybe in Florida or California. It's so many other layers. And and it's a high of mind mentality. The more people, the more information, the more feedback, the better you can make yourself. Definitely. And I think, you know, for a category like Italy, like we spoke about earlier, the density of the information, the diversity of the wines, and just how unique it is in the world of wine. This type of program is really, like you said, empowering the trade that are here, selling wine to better sell Italian wine ultimately. Right? I feel like that also is a huge benefit of the program just for the industry and, you know, here in the US market for the the sales of Italian wine. And we've seen the category be remarkably strong and only kind of get stronger and stronger over the years. How would you say, you know, just knowing that you work for Scvernic, you've got a portfolio of wines from or on the world, not just Italy that this program kind of compares or or helps you in in that aspect of your job. I mean, it certainly puts a magnifying glass on our Italian portfolio I actually a funny story while I was in Verona in April of twenty twenty two when I passed, after having maybe one extra glass of sparkling, French recorder that I probably didn't need. I made the phone call to our portfolio manager, Mark Faratale, and was explaining how I passed and how excited I was. So nowadays, that's his favorite story whenever we have someone in the office to tell. Yeah. But it puts more emphasis on our Italian portfolio for me specifically because I do have that love of Italian wines. I'm an ambassador. I've taken the time to to get to this level. I now need to also show that in my business and show that in my my daily sales. So not the only focus of mine, but it's definitely a heavy one. Yeah. I bet. Of course. Is there anything else that you wanna add just about, you know, the Italian wine master program you're teaching or about Via or about the upcoming course in March? Well, I'd I'll love to start by saying the Italian Wind Maestro program. I can't say that we're the only ones offering it on the East Coast anymore because I believe there's also, of course, being taught by a friend, Noel Dorsey down in Boston, but it's a very well rounded. It's a very fun program that doesn't just talk about wine, food, culture, place, people. It's a well, a beautiful program, and I hope more people would, would love to come out and and take the program and chat with me about it. On top of that, I wanna go back for a quick second to the community. Aside from the Via program, the test, there's so many other fantastic facets of the the Italy international academy, from wine to wine business form in the fall to five star wines to the actual verona course itself, the flagship. If New York isn't your time, definitely keep on it and check out the flagship course in verona tons of master classes, tons of consortiums come together to provide the best showing of Italian wine in one singular place. Totally. And we know you even talk about the Gita Skolastica's the trips that you can join. If you're an Italian wine ambassador, I just did one in November and my market for four days. That was fantastic. Oh, you were truffle hunting? Well, we ate a lot of truffles. Not not hunting now, but we, we definitely can quite a a lot of truffles at our first dinner. It was fantastic. But these are very immersive trips, typically in a singular region where you're driving in to really better understand that place and the wines, meet the producers. We tasted something like seventy five wines plus per day. So it's differently, you know, intensive from that perspective, but it's also a really great opportunity to bond with other Italian wine ambassadors. And I like the size of them. They're about twenty people. And you've got people from around the world, which is also really cool just to be interacting with with industry from from around the globe too, all over Italian wine. Yeah. I was actually out in Montalcino this past November while you were in the Marque. Oh, amazing. Last year, I went to Frank Acorda with the group. Cool. So it's it's a truly, amazing opportunity that is more of a storytelling opportunity. It's not a sales thing. You're not necessarily going to buy or look for wines, but it's about telling the story And I think that's what we're here to do as ambassadors is tell that story Exactly. For you to translate for anybody who wants to listen. Exactly. So, Chris, as we wind down today's episode, we always do our rapid fire quiz at the end of every master class where we'll ask her guys three questions that help our listeners better understand the US market. So please try to answer these questions in a sentence or so. Question number one, what is your number one tip for mastering the US wine market? For our listeners. To understand that mastery is impossible, but to always keep at it and to keep working on it and to never give up, keep finding new ways. Yeah. I like that advice. Very good advice. Number two, what is something you might have told your younger professional self? It sounds like you started in this industry quite young about selling wine in the US. To tell myself that I'm that you know more than you believe you know. Believe in yourself, people will listen to you. It's not about age. Okay. I like that advice. And finally, what is your favorite travel hack when doing market work? Sounds like you travel to Italy quite a bit, and I know you're probably up and down. East Coast, and your role with Scernic and and, teaching classes. So what helps keep you sane on the road? Favorite travel hack, just on a daily basis. Pack a snack. Pack a snack. I mean, snickers hit the nail on the head with their they're you're not you and you're hungry. So pack a snack. I love it. That's a great one. Alright. Well, thank you so much, Chris, for being here today on Masterclass US wine market on the Italian wine podcast. How can our listeners connect with you? So I'm not that all over social media, but if you find me on Instagram, either travel by wine or agent alcohol, I'm sure you can find me on Facebook. Email me travel by wine mail at that should be a pretty good place to find me. Alright. Well, thanks again, Chris, for being here today. It was great to have you on the show. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. And remember if you enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.