Wine Sourcing: How to Balance Story, Sustainability and the Bottom Line

Sandy Bridger said something to me the other night that I haven't stopped thinking about: wine isn't the drink you serve alongside dinner — it's another ingredient in the meal. Once you hear it that way, you can't unhear it.

Sandy is the co-owner of DRINK, a Raleigh wine shop she runs with her husband Cam under the tagline "The Somm and The Mom." By day she leads a nonprofit; by night she curates small-production, family-owned wines and designs winemaker dinners people remember. Her philosophy is "intimate, not intimidating" — exactly the skill our industry needs when wine shows up on an event floor plan. And I'm glad Cam, "The Somm," is joining her on this week's Eating at a Meeting LIVE, bringing the technical read of the glass to Sandy's food-and-experience lens.

If wine is an ingredient, you cook with it. Sometimes you pair to mask a flavor — heat, bitterness, richness. Sometimes you pair to enhance a dish's best quality. And some wines are incomplete on their own — high-acid, high-tannin bottles that only come alive with food.

Why should planners AND suppliers care? At most hotels and convention centers, planners get a short, pre-selected wine list and little say. It's about making the most of it — or making the case for something with a story behind it. The right pour makes guests slow down and connect; for hotels, caterers, and venues, that's experience and revenue on your F&B line.

We'll also get into how they source what they pour — family-owned, small-production, "drink globally, source locally" — and how to deliver a "story in a glass" without a $200 bottle.

Come watch LIVE and bring your questions. What's the best — or worst — wine you've been served at an event? Let's talk in the comments.

Every meal matters. So does every pour.

Like what you heard? Subscribe to our newsletter for more episodes and insider content delivered right to your inbox!