Andrea Immer directs the purchase of some 600,000 cases of wine.
Photo by Michael Reiss

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Andrea Immer, the 33-year-old wine wiz kid, has her work cut out for her. As Beverage Director of Starwood Hotel & Resorts, she directs the purchase of some 600,000 cases of wine (7.2 million bottles of wine) and 5.3 million bottles of spirits. That amounts to $235 million in annual domestic sales for Starwood.

That’s a lot of wine and spirits sales, and that’s a lot of cash. And Starwood, who manages Westin, Sheraton, Four Points Sheraton, The St. Regis Hotel, The Luxury Collection (including the Palace Hotel in San Francisco), and The W- Hotels—thinks that wine and spirits sales are so important that they created this new job for Andrea Immer as Beverage Director.

Andrea Immer is not an enfant terrible. Rather she comes from banking, has an MBA, and is as comfortable discussing accounting and inventory-control, as she is talking about acid/fruit balance in wine.

And Andrea Immer feels that buying and drinking wine should be made easy for Starwood guests. And keeping in mind the goal to sell more wine requires simplifying things. Andrea has launched a three-pronged attack.

First, all wine lists are simplified and made into a “progressive wine list.” This means that each hotel’s food service will use the new “Wine-Buzz” software to reorganize their wines into new groupings based on “Light-Bodied, Medium- Bodied, and Heavy-Bodied” wines. Out are country categories. Out are complex descriptions.

Second, Andrea Immer teaches waiters, Sommeliers, restaurant managers, and food and beverage directors how to present wine to customers. By using this method customers can make an easy, informed wine-buying decision. All this wine-service know-how is presented in a new curriculum called “Wine Buzz- The Starwood Wine Project- Uncork Your Potential.”

Those suit and-tie executives at Starwood are nobody’s dope. If they can get customers to increase buying just 10%, that would mean about 24 million dollars more in sales!

Third, Andrea Immer has orchestrated an actual wine-tasting experience, complete with wine-food pairings, as part of the “Wine Buzz” Program. The event we experienced was at the famed Palace Hotel in San Francisco, a property that is a crown jewel in Starwood’s “Luxury Collection” line. Food and beverage personnel from the surrounding properties were treated to Sauvignon Blanc with oysters, Pinot Noir with Salmon, and Vintage Port with cheese and desert. This hands-on food and wine tasting dramatizes the importance of enhancing the dining experience through wine and food pairings.

The San Francisco Palace Hotel is employing the “Wine Buzz” Program with great effect. We experienced the “Progressive Wine List” at the gracious Garden Court Restaurant at the Palace Hotel. The Garden Court Restaurant---indisputably one of the most beautiful and luminescent spaces in San Francisco with its classic columns, marble floors, gold leaf sconces, mirrored doors and breathtaking, expansive stained-glass ceiling—is now molding itself into one of the finest gourmet dinning experiences on the West Coast.


The Garden Court Restaurant offers gracious dinning.

Photo by Michael Reiss

Andrea Immer's one page Progressive Wine List was inconspicuously placed on the table upon being seated. Robert, our waiter, now trained in wine presentation skills, smiled and asked, "Do you prefer light, medium, or heavy-bodied wines?" Food selection followed naturally in tandem with the wine selections, which were offered by the glass, allowing greater wine-food pairing possibilities and also providing an opportunity for a richer dining experience.

We started the meal with the “Caramelized Onion Flatbread, White Corn, Camembert, Truffle Oil, Chives” appetizer ($9.50), served with a glass of Indigo Hills, Central Coast sparkling wine ($5.00), which paired nicely. In addition, for an appetizer we had the “Basil Garlic Shrimp, Artichoke Hearts, Pine Nuts, Focaccia Crouton,” ($9.50), paired with Columbia Crest Chardonnay, Washington, 1998 ($5.50).

The food was flavorful and carefully prepared. We would characterize the food as Nouveau California-Mediterranean, with touches of regional American and international flair. For example, for a main course we had “Saffron Seafood Paella, Prawns, Scallops, Andouille Sausage, Blood Orange Vinaigrette” ($28.00). In this dish the fish was delicately cooked, and had Spanish inspiration, New Orleans Cajun Andouille Sausage, and yet it was finished in a ̶ 0;light” California style with the vinaigrette, rather than heavy olive oil. We drank a BV Coastal Zinfandel, California, 1997 ($5.50), whose spicy character complimented the dish.

Our second main course was a “Steamed Chilean Sea Bass, Grilled Cirrus Rice Cake, Stir-Fried Vegetables, Lemon Grass Broth” ($23), paired with a Sonoma Coast La Crema Pinot Noir, 1997 ($8.50). This was an Asian-inspired dish in a delicious sauce.

For dessert, we had a flowerless chocolate tart with a glass of Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port, 1994 ($6.50).
All in all the Garden Court Restaurant at the Palace Hotel was a memorable dining experience. We had inspired and carefully prepared food with excellent and reasonably priced wines by the glass.

So Andrea Immer’s "Wine-Buzz Program" was off and running, all the while enhancing the dinner experience via selling more wine.

Here is an expert from the "Wine-BuzzProgram" to give you a “taste” of what the program is like:

Presenting the Bottle
*Present the bottle to the host (i.e. the guest who ordered it).
*Show the label and say the name of the wine and vintage.
Point with two fingers to the info on the label as you’re saying it.
*Wait until they approve.

Pouring for Host & Table
*After opening the wine, wipe the bottle top and casually present
the cork to the right of the host’s wine glass.
*Wait to see if the host wants to do anything with the cork.
*Pour a taste for the host. A tasting portion is about 1* ounces.
*After the host approves, serve the ladies first, then gentlemen,
then the host last, clockwise around the table.
*Fill the glass 2/3 full, or share the bottle equally among the
guests who are having wine, if it’s a large table.
*Don’t “run out” so they have to order another bottle. That’s
the host’s choice.
*Then remove the cork from the table after you've served the
host and say, “Enjoy your wine!”

(from “The Starwood Wine Project- Wine Buzz-Uncork Your Potential.” )


Andrea Immer's 'Wine Buzz' Program packs quite a punch.
Photo by Michael Reiss