Julian Brind Award nominee: Clara Rubin

Clara Rubin is the National Training Manager at Berkmann Wine Cellars, where she launched Veraison – Wine Service Education in June 2016.

Veraison provides objective-led wine training tailored to the demands of great hospitality. The training features eight unique course frameworks, which educator-qualified tutors tailor to fit the needs of the specific business and staff.

“Working with Berkmann has afforded me a chance to provide peerless communication of wine knowledge to the uninitiated, by means of productive and creative professional education and engagement”, Rubin says.

“Tired of seeing good people prematurely leave what I perceived to be one of the world’s most rewarding industries, I wanted to ensure the future of the quality wine market in the UK by investing in the education and development of people working in service”.

Since the launch of Veraison, Rubin and her Education and Engagement team have added 0.08p onto the gross profit of every bottle sold to Berkmann’s largest single account.

The team of three have now delivered over 500 Veraison sessions to 37 different operators UK-wide, with each session catering for an average of ten participants. They have delivered the message of quality wine, great service and career development to over 5,000 front of house staff since the launch.

Speaking of Rubin’s achievements, judges said that she is “warm, engaging and goal-driven, with a clear-minded business acumen”, and “a fresh energy within the industry”, adding that “she has changed the shape of drinks education for the better”. 

@clararubin
@VeraisonEducate
www.veraison.education 

The winner of the Julian Brind Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Achievement in the Wine Industry will be announced at the IWSC Awards Banquet on 14 November.