Wine Upselling Playbook
A floor-tested playbook for increasing wine spend without scripts, pressure, or awkward moments. This playbook is for the moment when a guest looks up and says: “We’ll just have the house wine.” That sentence is where wine revenue quietly disappears, or quietly improves.
About the playbook
Most wine upselling isn’t lost through rejection. It’s lost through hesitation. Staff don’t ask. Not because they don’t care — but because they don’t want to push, don’t want to sound awkward, and don’t trust their words enough in the moment. This playbook fixes that.
What this is (and what it isn’t)
This is not:
A wine course
A tasting guide
A pairing manual
A script-heavy sales system
This is a service playbook built for live floors, busy services, and real guests.
It focuses on:
Timing over theory
Language over knowledge
Confidence over performance
Because on the floor, words matter more than wine.
The core idea
Upselling wine is service, not pressure.
When it’s done well:
Guests don’t feel sold to
Staff don’t feel awkward
The upgrade feels normal
The goal isn’t perfection.
The goal is one better glass per table.
What you’ll learn inside
This playbook walks through wine service as it actually unfolds, chapter by chapter:
How the first words at the table decide the wine outcome
What to say when guests default to the house wine
How to recommend a step-up without sounding like you’re selling
Why most upsells fail after guests say yes — and how to stop that
How to handle pushback calmly without retreating
Where the second glass really gets won
How to repeat the same line all night without sounding robotic
How to talk about price without flinching
How to sell wine by reading mood, pace, and people, not lists
How to handle “I don’t like it” moments without panic
How to close the wine conversation so guests leave feeling good about their choices
Every chapter includes exact language staff can use immediately.
Who this is for
Front of House staff who run real service
Supervisors and managers coaching teams on the floor
Operators who care about revenue without sacrificing hospitality
Who this is not for
People looking for wine theory
Venues that rely on scripts and pressure
Anyone who thinks upselling means pushing
How to use it
This isn’t meant to be read once and forgotten.
Use one chapter per week in pre-shift
Practise one sentence per service
Let repetition build confidence
This playbook works because it fits how hospitality actually functions — in short moments, under pressure.
Format
PDF
~30 pages
Written to be read fast and used daily
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