Wine Director

Canlis is a family-owned fine dining restaurant in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle that was founded in 1950. Member of Relais & Chateaux, winner of three James Beard Awards (including Outstanding Wine Program), and thirty consecutive Wine Spectator Grand Awards, we are looking for our next Wine Director to lead our wine team. 

 

Responsibilities & Expectations

• The Wine Director at Canlis is a floor Sommelier 4-5 nights per week. They are active in service; not only selling wine and interacting with the list but supporting the dining room elsewhere when they have the margin to do so. 
• We have a reputation for having strong relationships with our vendors, wine makers, etc. Stepping into this role, it is important to maintain those relationships: hosting and attending tastings, accepting invitations, going on visits and trips, etc. 
• It is your responsibility to manage our cellars, including buying, weekly receiving, and monthly inventory. There is fun and freedom in being the Wine Director: what impact do you want to make on the list? But with that in mind, communicating with the Owners and General Manager to meet cost goals. 
• Canlis has a robust Events program, and the wine department plays a large role in it. This can span from communicating with event hosts to select special bottles for their party, to hosting wine dinners, to helping us throw huge, over the top parties. 
• Education is key to our team’s success. In addition to producing tech sheets for any by the glass wine changes, the creation of our annual “Canlis University”-- a two week long multi-course class for the staff– was created by the wine team. This is a tradition that we still hold and is lead by the Wine Director. 
• The Wine Director is an active Dining Room Manager at Canlis. They attend weekly and monthly management meetings, participate in dinner service, and uphold the values of Canlis. They support, educate, and inspire the dining room staff alongside the Dining Room Managers, and collectively, work towards our mission of inspiring people to turn toward one another. 

Compensation:

• $95,000 - $110,000 annually

Additional Benefits:

• Paid time off
• 100% of health care premium paid by Canlis
• Eligible for 401K. Canlis matches 75% of employee contribution up to 8% of your monthly salary.
• Dining discount 50% off of all food and beverage, dinner for 2 dining stipend annually
• Annual clothing allowance
• The “10th day” – an experiment of working 4 days a week every other week. This is a great day to get administrative work done, and then have the night off. You’re technically on call and would be used in emergencies.