Fred Dexheimer’s mission is simple: “Make the world a better place to drink and to rock your wine world.”
As one of only 210 official master sommeliers in the world, Dexheimer has worked alongside James Beard Award-winning chefs and restaurateurs and has served as the national wine and beverage director for BLT Restaurant Group.
Now, Dexheimer can add Omni Hotels & Resorts to his resume. Earlier in June, he was asked to join the company to grow its wine footprint across its 60 properties in North America. As part of the partnership, Dexheimer will work with properties to consult on wine lists, develop training programs and host wine events and tastings.
HOTELS spoke with Dexheimer about the new partnership and his goals for Omni’s wine program.
HOTELS: How did you connect with Omni?
Fred Dexheimer: I’ve been a consultant for over six years. One of my clients is the Wines of Chile — I am an ambassador, educator and speaker. I met Omni through that organization when I did an event to educate Omni’s F&B directors about the wine. Omni liked my syle and approach to wine. It was really one of those serendipitous situations where you have two parties that weren’t necessarily looking for each other, but found some sparks.
H: What are your responsibilities in this new role?
FD: My role with Omni is to help reinvigorate its wine program and bring some new energy and ideas forward. Omni is a very progressive hotel company. My goal is to do with wine what they are already doing with everything else. My first steps are to figure out how Omni as a hotel company works and get to know the properties. Right now, we are in the developmental phase.
I’m focused on bringing in wine that matches the brand. I want to bring in wine that tells a story. The idea is to connect with more of those types of importers and suppliers. I’m trying to match Omni with the right relationships that I think will help them grow and be more unique, interesting and luxury as a brand.
H: What are your first steps?
FD: The first task is to look at Omni’s wine lists and start to do some crafting. Then, I will meet with all of Omni’s F&B directors this August in Austin, Texas, and help them redevelop their core beverage programs.
Some of the F&B managers have also reached out to me asking to collaborate on specific events at their hotels. I’m a hands-on guy so this is where I think I can do the best work and be the most useful. Each market is different with unique clientele and concepts.
H: How does working with a hotel company differ from other work that you have done at bars and restaurants?
FD: There are a lot of little details and complexities to consider. Hotel workers are different than restaurant workers. The personalities are different. Hotel restaurants also operate differently than standalone restaurants. They have built-in relationships with suppliers who have been there for years. My initial goal is to bring in a few new things and have everyone on board and excited.
People are also often eating at hotels because they often don’t have a choice, whether they are traveling for business or for other reasons. You also have people coming from all over the world to your hotels, which is a huge advantage because you never know when someone will identify with a cool, geographically unique wine.
H: What challenges do you foresee as you develop this relationship with Omni?
FD: The challenges don’t exist at the executive or management levels. They are already on board and are excited. I think the challenge will be the staff. Anytime you change something at a hotel that has been fixed for a long time, the training mechanism takes a lot of work. The moment you start to make changes, you have to get your staff to buy into it. They can’t be blindsided by changes. It’s important for me to communicate that the guests will get a better product once we lock in all of these pieces. That’s the challenge for any consultant gig — getting people to buy into what you’re up to.