Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/197145
compliance similar to accountants in being steadfast in their work and not easily rattled. Look at different avenues and even ask about openings if you go wine tasting. DS: Spend time studying the TTB website. Volunteer for crush at a winery. Look for intern-type positions at wineries during harvest, which allow you to get familiar with the process and the winery setting. SV: Somebody who is wanting to start out, taking a harvest position is a great place to start. In my opinion, a grape field tag is one of the most important "source documents" in compliance, so a scale house position would be a great introductory position. This will give somebody a good understanding of documentation process. Seasonal positions in general will give them a really good understanding of the overall process and how compliance fits into that. Harvest positions also will often accept people with no experience. JW: Go to the websites (TTB and ABC) and see if this is something you really want to do. You also need to be OK with being the "party pooper." Take what classes you can find. Reach out to someone who has been in the industry for a long time and ask them about their experiences. Question No. 6: What characteristics do you have that make you well suited for compliance work? WF: I like having instant access to information, and you have to have a good sense of organization. I am also numbers-oriented, a problem solver, and if I don't know the answer I will find it. You also have to have an interest in the information you are keeping track of. You have to be comfortable with being the "good cop, bad cop." KH: Tenacity. If you find something is wrong in the records,you must have the drive to dig in and find it and fix it. Curiosity, organization and diligence. Also the ability to have a sense of humor about it and step back and detach from it at the end of the day. My clients will often call me the party pooper when I explain all the regulations to them. DS: Attention to detail. Details really matter. Following through and making sure that everyone is complying. You have to be the enforcer. Communication with everyone so you have as many eyes as possible checking that your wine records are in compliance. SV: The most important thing is somebody who is very detail-oriented. And somebody who has an auditing frame of mind, so you are always looking for potential problems. You do not want to get comfortable, which means you can miss something that can cause a big error (headache) down the road. Being so detail-oriented means you can catch things before they become a problem, so no harm, no foul. You are the first line of defense for the winery and for your custom-crush clients. JW: I am willing to take the time to really delve into all the details and determine what is occuring and what is legal. Tracking wine is often like a puzzle — you need to like that dynamic. There is also the "party pooper" role, you need to be OK with that, and so not always being popular. You also need to be a little devious in potentially anticipating what "might go wrong" and plan ahead to protect yourself. Question No. 7: Who are some great contacts you can recommend at the TTB or ABC? WF: Most of the TTB staff I knew are gone now (my true mentor Perky Ramroth has retired), but I can recommend Amber Sipple with the NRC office in Cincinnati, Ohio. KH: Jennifer Berry from the regulation and ruling division at the TTB has been Fine Wine Begins With Mueller ® Paul Mueller Company designs and manufactures equipment for all aspects of winemaking. Superb craftsmanship and strict attention to detail make our products the most desired among today's prominent winemakers. Call us at 1-800-MUELLER or email sales@paulmueller.com for all your winemaking needs! ©2013 Paul Mueller Company 100 p r act i c al w i ne ry & v ine yard NOVEMBER 20 13 380-9 amazing for tax paid bottling warehouse questions. Kelly Hartley with the TTB wine division branch and Jennifer Van Court with the CDFA for the California Grape Crush Report have also been helpful resources. SV: We have a lot of interaction with the California ABC, the local Salinas office. Veronica Moore has been good to deal with. Our local investigator, Francisco Gonzalez, is appreciative of our awareness of their regulations and is very supportive of us. In regards to the TTB, although Perky Ramroth was everyone's "go-to-person," after her retirement, I have worked a lot with Mari Kirrane and I have found her to be very helpful. JW: Perky Ramroth was really helpful, and she is now retired. Doing these interviews was a lot of fun for me. They were a great opportunity to get caught up since I am not in regular contact with many of these people and had not heard their stories.I am grateful to all of my interview candidates included here for taking the time to share their interesting stories and valuable insights with me. They (and anyone else out there doing similar jobs at wineries) are what I have come to call the unsung heroes of the winery world. They are charged with the often challenging task of keeping wineries on the up and up with the TTB (and other regulating agencies) while also providing extremely valuable winemaking data to the businesses they work for. PWV Ann Reynolds is a winery compliance educator, author and trainer with more than 20 years of experience in the wine industry. She teaches at Napa Valley College. Wine Compliance Alliance provides wineries with on-site training and system development for their "grape to bottle" winemaking compliance. She can be contacted at ann@winecompliancealliance.com.