Climate change is omnipresent and particularly affects viticulture. Traditional grape varieties can no longer cope with the climatic conditions, causing existing grape variety “zones” to shift. Newly bred varieties are being cultivated, and so-called “historical” varieties—those grown a hundred years ago—are making a comeback.
For everyone involved with wine, the word TERROIR has an almost magical meaning. However, depending on whom you speak to, it can mean quite different things. One thing is certain, though: soil and climate are always part of it and form the basis of terroir. Alongside the grape variety chosen by the winemaker, they have the strongest influence on the wine. What does terroir taste like?
The taste of a wine depends on a wide range of factors. The most important are certainly the climate, the soil, and the grape variety—factors determined in the vineyard. However, winemaking, with its various possible cellar treatments, also has clearly “tastable effects.” And these effects can be clearly identified.
What is the difference between aroma, body, and texture? How do I distinguish good from lesser quality? What do appearance, smell, and taste reveal? What can I deduce from them? Describing wines “blind” and classifying them by quality can be learned!
Sparkling wines are THE current trend topic in retail and hospitality. The focus is not only on Champagne, the “classic” choice, but especially on PetNat sparkling wines and German Winzersekt – alongside Frizzante and Seccos, which remain as popular as ever. This seminar provides a detailed overview of semi-sparkling and sparkling wines!
Germany is currently considered one of the most exciting wine-growing countries in the world. What makes Germany special from the perspective of the wine industry? What characterizes the climate and the soils? Which are the characteristic grape varieties?
Wine knowledge often seems complex and complicated. But it isn’t! The most important basics and connections can be easily experienced and learned. Through clear explanations and visualizations, wine knowledge is conveyed in an understandable and accessible way.
To counteract the shortage of skilled workers with trained unskilled and career changers. Good restaurant service is not rocket science: we train the most important fundamentals for immediate application with guests. Satisfied guests are the foundation for successful gastronomy. In this one-day seminar, you will learn the most important basics in theory and practice. Create your own “skilled workers” whom you currently cannot find in the job market.
Do you already know everything and want to do a good job? This seminar focuses on soft skills EXCLUSIVELY for career starters, and you will experience firsthand what “good manners” have to do with success in the workplace. We will reveal the unspoken codes of the professional world and how you can inspire others. Dealing well with colleagues is much easier when you understand how they operate. We will also show you how your clients perceive you and what you can do to make them think highly of you. This is not about figures, data, or facts (i.e., what is on your report card), but about many good ideas, impulses, and tips on what you can do to make an impression, earn your clients’ affection, and find the professional world of the “old hands” much easier.
Nowadays, every supermarket offers value for money, good products, and a pleasant shopping atmosphere. Differentiation from the competition happens through your employees. With a “work-to-rule” mentality, no customer experiences a special shopping journey or feels genuine rapport and appreciation. Success is not just about expertise and skill. “Soft factors” play a decisive role in interpersonal encounters and, consequently, in economic success.
Michael Kugel takes new approaches and transforms sales staff into hosts. He places your employees in the “sales role” of their lives. He sensitizes them to the nuances of dealing with customers and brings hidden potential—regarding personality and skills—to light. Ultimately, the HOW is more important than the WHAT in what your employees do and say. They become “caretakers” and generate positive emotions and customer reviews. This makes consultation and sales more successful.
German wines occupy the largest shelf space in your market. Their market share—compared to international sales—is 45% in volume and 47% in value. Customers often reach for uncomplicated brand-name wines. Anyone wishing to generate higher sales and contribution margins with better wine qualities needs sound specialist knowledge to be able to explain what origin and vineyard site have to do with wine stylistics. Furthermore, the wine world is changing: new labeling requirements apply, and new Landwein regions will be added in 2026. Young winemakers have new ideas, and climatic changes are giving rise to new wine styles in Germany.
The image transfer from good wine advice to other product categories is desirable. But who really knows what’s on the shelf? With this interactive workshop, we want to provide confident insight and a clear overview of the wine department. Many employees have no clear idea of what is actually on offer at the point of sale. This doesn’t refer to the products themselves, but to what exactly is in the bottle. A sleek, cool package catches our eye, but what does a wine connoisseur see behind the glittering “bottle facade”? How can the wide variety of different products be meaningfully and expertly distinguished? Does it all sound complicated? No – we’ll locate the “beacons” on our shelves and learn plenty of new things, such as: What does VDP mean, who is behind ECOvin, what do the many labels for organic, Fair Trade, Fair Choice, and more actually mean?