Kara York

Wine Trends Sales Professional, Dayton

After finishing up her college education, Wine Trends Sales Professional Kara York got her first job working in an area wine shop. As she got more involved at the store, Kara began to educate herself on the types of wine that the store was selling and the areas of the world that it came from.

Shortly after starting that position at the wine shop, one of Wine Trends competitors came calling and offered her a job as a sales professional. Kara accepted and began selling wine. Two years after that another company talked her into taking a new sales position. “Ernest Brown (Current VP of Sales for Wine Trends) and Brad Thomas a former Wine Trends Associate asked me if I wanted to come and work for Wine Trends,” Kara said. “I said yes, and I have been here ever since.”

Kara recently celebrated her sixth anniversary with Wine Trends at the end of 2018 and is quite content with where she is. “I love my accounts and the people I work with,” says Kara. “Even though Wine Trends is small, every time we all get together it feels like we’re a big family.”

One thing that has changed in her time working in the industry is seeing the popularity of wine increase, while the age of the consumer has decreased. “A lot more people are drinking wine and a lot of 20 and 30 somethings are drinking wine and that has really expanded our base,” says Kara. “You have the people who want to learn more about wine and experience all of the different things out there. That has really helped the $10-$20 price point grow significantly.”

One of the most rewarding parts of her job is working with her accounts. “I really love being able to work with them on developing great wine lists,” Kara says. For the most part, they’re usually interested in trying new things and experiencing new styles and tastes.”

“Kara keeps her restaurants and their customers up to date on the latest styles and best vintages through hosting events such as tastings and wine dinners. She says she has at least one such event every week. “On-premise is where things can get changed a lot,” Kara says. “When restaurants change their food menu, they will also want to change their wine menu. Sometimes we’ll pair wine with specific dishes. Other times a winemaker comes with us and we will exclusively taste wines from that vineyard.”

As one of two Wine Trends sales professionals in the Dayton area and working with both on and off premise accounts the hours on the job and the miles on her car can pile up. “We all keep really busy,” says Kara. “It’s a lot of miles on my car, I’m not even sure I want to know how many!”

When she is not hosting wine dinners all over the Dayton area or working with wine buyers and chefs on creating new and improved wine lists, Kara loves spending time with her three boys: ages 16, 12 and eight. “They all play soccer and basketball and that keeps us busy year around,” Kara says. “Anything that we can do together outdoors, camping, canoeing, that’s always fun.”