Wine Retail Associate

We're looking for a full-time Wine Retail Associate who gets that wine isn't just fermented grape juice in a bottle – it's personal. Personal to the customer trying to find the right thing for their dinner party, personal to the winemaker who put their heart into it, and personal to the place it comes from. You need to be someone who can geek out about oak regimes with the wine nerds AND simply say "you'll like this" when that's exactly what someone needs to hear. The ability to read people and adapt your approach on the fly? That's the whole game here.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

Your days will be a blend of the glamorous wine stuff and the very unglamorous retail stuff:

The customer-facing part: You'll start every interaction by figuring out what the customer wants and how they want to be talked to. Some people want to hear about the soil composition in Burgundy. Others just want to know it'll go with chicken. Your job is to read the room, draw on your wine knowledge and product stories, make real connections, and sell wine that makes people happy. This is the heart of the job.

The wine buying part: You'll participate in vendor tastings, taste through wines with both your own quality radar AND your "what will customers actually want to buy" radar, then make smart purchasing recommendations.

The social media part: Help us keep our Instagram and Facebook actually interesting by developing themes, scheduling posts, and creating static images and Reels (sometimes you'll do it, sometimes we'll work with outside vendors).

The teaching part: Lead public tastings and classes where you share what you know in ways that work for everyone from first-timers to sommeliers.

The retail operations part (this will be a LOT of your time): Stock shelves, receive shipments, process online orders, run the register, manage inventory, keep the shop clean and welcoming. Basically all the grunt work it takes to actually run a wine shop.

The communications part: Write clear, effective emails to customers and vendors. We do a lot of business via email, so this matters.

Expect to work 40-42 hours weekly including most Saturdays and Sundays, with shifts often ending at 7-8pm, seldom later than 9:30. October through December is all hands on deck – no exceptions during the holidays.

What We Need From You

The non-negotiables: You need 1-5+ years of experience actually working in the wine trade (retail, restaurant, distribution, or production). If you haven't worked in wine, this isn't going to work. You also need deep wine knowledge – not the kind you got from reading Wine Folly, but the kind that lets you connect products to people in authentic, meaningful ways.

The other essentials: Outstanding instincts with customers – the ability to read people, systematically figure out what they need and want, and adapt how you talk to them accordingly. Strong sales skills and comfort presenting products on the floor. Excellent written and verbal communication (your cover letter will show us this, by the way).

Solid computer skills: A positive attitude that makes customers and colleagues actually glad to be around you.

The physical requirements: Valid driver's license, reliable personal transportation, and ability to drive our delivery minivan. Ability to stand for extended periods, walk, bend, reach, lift and use a hand truck, and lift/carry 50 pounds up and down stairs multiple times daily.

What You Get

Full-time salaried position starting at $55-65k depending on your experience, plus an annual performance bonus (typically 3-10%, but great years can push that higher). Two weeks paid vacation your first year (three weeks after that), paid holidays, health benefits (we pay 50% of the premium), and a compelling employee discount on wine.

Fair Warning

We are not Metro/public transport accessible. You must have personal transportation to get here.

How to Apply

Send your resume AND cover letter to jobs@cbcwine.com or upload here. Your cover letter is an extremely important part of your application – we have to sell wine by email every day, so your ability to sell us on you in your cover letter is part of how we're evaluating you. It needs to explain why you're interested in this position and why you'd be a good fit. Applications without cover letters will not be considered.

Please, no phone calls and no recruiters.

Pay: $55,000.00 - $65,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Employee discount
Flexible schedule
Health insurance

Work Location: In person

Chain Bridge Cellars

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