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Ilona Wallace

Recent Posts

A guide to Californian wine regions

Posted by Ilona Wallace on May 22, 2017 9:05:00 AM

There’s more to California than surfer bros and movie stars. The west coast of the USA has a long-established reputation for great wines. While Europe is still the dominant force in winemaking, sommeliers and bar staff should be aware of the breadth and quality of wine available from off the continent.

Rather than ‘defaulting’ to Italy or France, show the depth of your wine knowledge by confidently recommending drops from all around the globe.

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Topics: Hotels, Hospitality insights, Hospitality staff, Restaurants, Bars

A guide to Spanish wine regions

Posted by Ilona Wallace on May 4, 2017 12:15:00 PM

Information is just a Google away, making each of your potential clients a wine ‘expert’. If you’re a sommelier or your venue prides itself on its wine list, it’s more important than ever to understand the differences between wine regions the world over.

Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina all produce unique, high-quality varieties of wine. Which are similar? Which would complement each other? A sommelier will be expected to have this expert knowledge.

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Topics: Hotels, Hospitality insights, Hospitality staff, Hospitality training, Bars

How do you choose between the different wine certifications?

Posted by Ilona Wallace on Apr 11, 2017 8:30:00 AM

Wine is a specialist industry. To work with wine, you need to understand the vocabulary. And to understand the vocabulary, you need to understand the processes behind winemaking.

Whatever industry you work in, there are always benefits for attaining relevant qualifications. With wine qualifications, you have the bonus of getting to taste extraordinary wines (for ‘learning’ purposes, of course…). A qualification will also set you apart from amateur practitioners – wine bloggers and the like.

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Topics: Hospitality career tips, Hotels, Hospitality staff, Restaurants, Bars

5 myths about online training

Posted by Ilona Wallace on Mar 29, 2017 9:15:00 AM

Online training is effective, cheap and easy to do, but myths persist about it. What is it about digital technology that makes people uneasy?

We’ve picked a few of the prevailing myths about online education, and debunked them for you.

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Topics: Hotels, Schools, Restaurants, Hospitality training

How to add online learning to your hospitality training course

Posted by Ilona Wallace on Mar 15, 2017 9:05:00 AM

Perhaps because hospitality is such a hands-on industry, training development is often years behind other industries. Hospitality is a follower as far as technology is concerned – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you’re running workshops or multi-year diplomas at a TAFE or university, there are ways to include new technology in your teaching.

We’ve previously talked about the benefits of online learning for students and businesses, but there are also positives for teachers and trainers who integrate digital modules into their lessons.

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Topics: Hotels, Schools, Hospitality training