The discussion at the table was in full swing.

Over the past few weeks, together with the client’s working group—a wine shop-bar—she and Giorgi had been developing ideas to increase wine sales.

At first, the task seemed manageable. But the deeper they dug, the more complexities surfaced. Sales figures turned out to be influenced by a web of factors: proper bottle arrangement, zoning of the shop space, strategies for drawing in customers, promotion planning… They’d tackled each of these, brainstormed different solutions, and discussed them at length with the client’s team.

And yet, sitting at this table now, Eka couldn’t shake the feeling that something more important was being overlooked. Giorgi, the senior consultant, had said the same before the meeting. Nika—the owner of the shop-bar—was giving off that same vibe with his unreadable expression.

“I don’t know… the main problem is merchandising. I think so,” Nika murmured as he walked past the shelves, occasionally stopping to spin a random bottle gently with his fingers. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to anyone else. “It probably isn’t just about layout. I don’t want to lose the essence of the whole concept, which is to introduce the consumer to wine, to make them fall in love with it.”

He returned to his chair and leaned his hands on the back. Giorgi, seated across from him, looked up, his eyes widening slightly—as if something had just clicked.

“We’re working on the merchandising issue,” Elene, the customer relations manager, said calmly. She glanced at Eka. “We reviewed the ideas with Eka, and we already have a plan. We’ll start rearranging things so that when clients come in, it’s easier and more intuitive for them to understand the prices.”

Eka smiled and nodded. She added,
“In addition, we’ve developed a campaign calendar with Nato,” she said, turning to the wine promotion manager, “which will help us plan campaigns in a more organized, high-quality way.”

“Yeah, for sure!” Nato leaned forward, placing her hands on the marble table. “It’s a really cool system. We used to do it all so chaotically—now I’ll actually know how to plan things. And it’ll be aligned with the winemakers, too. No more fuss, hopefully.”

Nika began pacing the shelves again. He shook his head slightly, visibly displeased. Eka wasn’t sure why, but something was gnawing at her. Maybe it was Nika’s dissatisfaction that was amplifying her sense that something critical was missing.

She glanced at Giorgi, who sat silently, his gaze locked on the table.

Something was definitely missing.

She looked back at the bottles.
Then opened her laptop and began scanning their materials. There had to be something they were overlooking—something simple. Her intuition told her the solution wasn’t complicated. She just had to find it.

She flipped through the presentation: merchandising, bottle placement, promotions, customer base, foot traffic… They were circling the same themes.

Then she opened a document that listed potential issues uncovered during their client interviews. Some had already been addressed, others the client was aware of and was working on. A few were identified through her and Giorgi’s objective observation.

As she skimmed down the list—nearly 40 items—a yellow-highlighted line caught her eye:
“Inappropriate involvement of sommeliers; inadequate understanding of the essence of their work.”

She paused. Had this point ever been discussed in detail during any of their meetings? She couldn’t recall.

Suddenly, as if stirred by a wave, she leaned forward and blurted out without thinking:

“Maybe we should give more meaning to the role of the sommelier…”

She immediately paused. Giorgi was looking at her with a slight, knowing smile. Eka cleared her throat and slowly leaned back into her chair.

She glanced around. The others were looking at her, surprised by her sudden comment.

“Sounds reasonable…” Nika’s voice came from across the room. Eka felt the tension lift slightly from her shoulders.

Nika leaned against his chair and addressed his team.
“A sommelier should be tasting wine with the customer. Explaining, advising, consulting. Right now, they’re running around the bar taking orders…”

“Well, we do need help at the bar. The sommelier can’t just stand in one spot, right?” said the bar manager cautiously.

“He’s important, sure,” Nato agreed. “But we can’t assign him to just one thing. He shouldn’t be stuck in place.”

The others murmured similar sentiments. Nika paced again. He stopped beside Soso, the sommelier he had included in the working group, and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

“What do you think, Soso?”

The young man wiped an awkward smile from his face, inhaled, and replied after a moment’s thought:
“I don’t know. Wherever I’m needed, I guess. The bar, the tasting table—both.”

Nika didn’t respond. He turned away and picked up his pace again.

“That’s the problem, you know…” he said, stopping near his chair and interlacing his fingers. He spoke to everyone and no one in particular. “People can’t take responsibility.” Then he looked at Giorgi. “No matter what we assign, they still look back at us, waiting for instructions.”

Silence followed. Then Nato snapped:

“Wait, what do you mean? Who can’t take responsibility—me?! We all do our jobs. What else are we supposed to do?”

Nika raised an eyebrow at her.

Eka leaned back even more. She had the sudden urge to melt into the massive glass window behind her.

“If that only applies to the sommeliers, I think it’s an unfair generalization,” Elene said calmly. “They don’t have the power to feel responsible. Their job is to consult, help customers taste wine—that’s all.”

“Well, it’s not enough. That’s a fact.” Nika’s voice grew louder. The conversation quickly devolved into a heated exchange.

“The sommeliers do their job well! What else do you expect—should they follow customers home and open their bottles there? Find one person who’s dissatisfied!” Nato was firm in her defense.

“It’s not about dissatisfaction. They should do more, Nato!” Nika insisted. “When a customer walks in, they should be there—ready, asking questions. They should offer the best service possible!”

“They do! You’re being unfair. They have so much to handle. It’s unrealistic for them to just stand around waiting… Other staff need to help too.”

Giorgi cleared his throat and straightened up. Eka watched his face. He looked like he had found an answer within the chaos.

“Some really valuable points have come up,” Giorgi began. Everyone turned to him. “First, multiple factors influence sales. Each one needs to be understood individually—promotions, shelving, and customer service. But the biggest realization for me today is this: this place wasn’t meant to be just a store. And it shouldn’t become one. If the goal is to introduce customers to wine culture—to make them fall in love with wine, to earn their trust by helping them find the right one—then the most effective sales mechanism is wine tasting. Which you’re already doing. But maybe now, you could look at that process a little differently.

“It’s not just about pouring interesting wines. The tasting moment could be more intimate, more personal. Ask the right questions. Offer thoughtful suggestions. Remember their taste for next time. A sommelier’s role shouldn’t be limited to simple consultation. The aim should be quality consultation.

“That doesn’t mean standing in one place. What matters is where their attention is directed. They should be thinking about how to create a meaningful experience. They can explain these approaches to other staff. They can decide who will take over when they step away from the table. I think they’ll handle that responsibility just fine,” he added, turning to Nika with a raised brow and a smile, “and they might even enjoy it more.”

Nika smiled too, bowing his head slightly. His shoulders relaxed.

After the meeting, he told Giorgi and Eka:

“To be honest, I really like this sommelier idea. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but the moment you said it, it just clicked. It made sense of everything. The goal should be introducing customers to quality wine and keeping them coming back. Sales on their own are just empty numbers, right?”

Giorgi agreed and shook his hand, smiling.

Eka checked her watch. It was 7 PM.

It had been an interesting day.

It was fascinating how, by simply structuring the process properly, outsiders like her and Giorgi could see the situation with fresh eyes and find solutions.

Solutions that seem obvious in hindsight—but even the most competent, motivated people can overlook them in the blur of daily chaos.

She glanced at the tasting table next to her. Around twenty bottles stood in an arc.

A little sip before going home wouldn’t be so bad, she thought.