The accidental Wine Princess

Can you imagine being 17 years old, standing on a stage in your hometown, and being named a Wine Princess? And not having a clue what you’re doing?

That’s the experience of today’s guest, Sabine Wagner, who was not only a Wine Princess for two years but ultimately became her town’s Wine Queen.

From there, Sabine never looked back. She found her calling and realized that the wine business was where she wanted to build her career. So build it she did – from getting a Bachelor of Science degree in International Wine Business to a Master’s degree in International Wine Marketing. She interned in Italy and the US and ultimately ended up working in Germany.

She had lots of adventures along the way – including learning English in the school of real life in the United States.

Find out how Sabine did it… here at Wine Behind the Scenes.

What you will learn from this episode:

• Find out how wine and culture relate together and how they celebrate these two in Germany.
• Learn about a course that delves more into marketing and sales, including international wine selling aspects of the wine business.
• Discover the various jobs and exciting opportunities that await you in the wine industry suited to your passion and inclinations.
• Be awed and get inspired at how you can have a one-of-a-kind experience in wine tasting, meeting wonderful people, traveling to gorgeous places, and getting a feel of each place and country’s culture.
• Hear about the perspective of selling wine not with its price but with stories.

Our guest Sabine Wagner was born in Mainz, Germany. Currently, she is the Key Account Manager at Remy & Kohlhaas GmbH Eltville, Germany . She used to be a Product Manager at Grands Chais de France Mainz, Germany.

She spent one of the highlights of her professional experiences in marketing, sales, and export at Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen, Pfalz, Deutschland.

Her university degrees include a BSc in International Wine Business specializing in Marketing, Sales, and Viniculture at Hochschule Geisenheim University, Geisenheim, Germany. And also she has an M Arts in International Wine Marketing at Hochschule Burgenland, Eisenstadt, Austria.

A host of other course-related internships and language courses experiences were spent in the US, Italy, England, China, and Japan.

And she’s also held honorary titles as the Wine Princess and Wine Queen in Germany’s regional and national arena.

Connect with Sabine Wagner:

• Email: sabine.c.wagner@online.de
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bine_chrissy/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabine-wagner

Topics Covered:

01:32 – Which lovely city is she residing in Germany?

02:52 – How her career in the wine industry started [accidentally becoming the wine princess of her hometown and ultimately the queen]

03:48 – Celebrating wine and culture in Germany [choosing wine princesses and a queen from among the wine regions in Germany]

07:07 – Studying international wine business [what the whole course covers]

08:54 – Big international markets for Italian and German wines

10:35 – What her job entailed after getting a degree in international wine selling [internships, work exposures, and experiences]

14:03 – Having a good command of the English language

16:10 – Jobs she took in between internships

16:35 – Describing her role working as a product manager

17:47 – Talking about the marketing and sales part of the wine business [ wine design, flavor profile, pricing, creating different portfolios of wine suited to one’s choice and preference]

21:18 – Painting a romantic view of the wine business

23:46 – What she would tell now, her younger self then, being the wine queen once upon a time

25:15 – Valuable thoughts[challenges and wins] on her stepping stone to the career she loves

26:08 – Amazing work opportunities and great experiences you can have in the wine industry

29:52 – One great thing she loves about her work in the wine business

30:31 – Selling wine based on stories [winemakers philosophies]

31:23 – A career many aspire to be in

Quotes from Sabine Wagner:

“I more or less by accident became a Wine Princess of my hometown.”

“There are 16 German wine growing regions, and each of those has a Wine Queen.”

“I think my English was pretty good when I went to the States, but I remember the first two or three days when I was talking to local people, I was like, oh my gosh, do I even, can I even speak English?”

“I was responsible for the German wine portfolio, and we did everything from product development to labels.”

“The important question is, who is my customer? Where do I want to sell it? What does the customer want?”

“I do remember that day when I was standing on the stage becoming the Wine Princess. And I was standing there, and I was so nervous, and I was like, what the hell am I doing here? Like, why am I doing that?”

“There are so many different aspects and so many different opportunities for jobs in the wine business.”