Industry Expert April Reddout Tapped to Manage Wine Business Management Certificate
By Sue McMurray
Simply put—helping students fills her cup. That’s why April Reddout, a busy, successful wine consultant based in Kennewick, accepted a new role as the manager of the online Wine Business Management Certificate in the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management.
The noncredit program offers six learning modules developed and taught by WSU business faculty and industry professionals, including Reddout, who have unique expertise in wine business marketing and fundamentals; small business management; financial management; and specific legal, compliance, and trademark issues. In addition to the online classes, the program requires two weekend networking experiences in the Tri-Cities’ wine country.
“I really believe in the program; the more options wine professionals have, the stronger the industry becomes,” Reddout says. “This program is affordable and delivers a lot of content in a short time frame. The online format makes it flexible for people to succeed, which I love.”
A natural fit for the role
Robert Harrington, director of the hospitality school, tapped Reddout to manage the program based on her extensive background and experience in the wine industry.
“She was a natural fit for the role,” he says.
Reddout began working in the wine industry in 2008 after she and a neighbor spent an afternoon on the porch enjoying a few glasses of boxed wine.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘We live in wine country. Why are we drinking wine from a box when there are all these great wineries? Let’s get jobs in tasting rooms!’” Reddout says.
Though the idea occurred in a moment of levity, Reddout actually followed through with it and got a part-time job at Heaven’s Cave Cellars, a sister winery of Alexandria Nicole Cellars owned by Jarrod and Ali Boyle. Under Ali’s leadership, she learned to manage operations including the wine tasting room, staffing, banking, catering and events, and compliance issues.
“My neighbor ended up going to nursing school, but I was really bitten by the wine bug and wanted to learn more,” Reddout says. “My part-time job became full-time, and I just kept saying yes to opportunities. I learned so much about wine, marketing, and how to develop my palate.”
A few years later, she was part of the team that opened the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center, where she met the late Byron Marlowe, a WSU Tri-Cities assistant professor of hospitality and director of the wine and beverage business management program.
She loved her job directing the wine program at the Clore Center and established a great rapport with Marlowe, not knowing at the time that she would later help carry out his vision for the Carson College’s wine and beverage programs after he unexpectedly passed away in 2021.
Education and consulting experience add relevance to the classroom
After working at the Clore Center, Reddout became a guest services manager at Col Solare Winery. While there, she realized corporate-level work requires a formal business education, so she earned a bachelor’s in business management and a master’s in management and leadership. She also earned wine certifications through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, which prepared her for the next step in her career—becoming a professional wine and hospitality consultant specializing in direct-to-consumer programs.
“The perspective I’ve gained working with my private consulting clients gives me a relevant point of view with the challenges future wine business professionals will face,” she says.
In addition to fundamental business skills, she suggests students develop emotional intelligence, for example, the ability to stay neutral or gracious amidst polarizing industry topics such as gender-neutral restrooms and being able to pivot when customer expectations change.
Above all, Reddout is excited to carry out Marlowe’s legacy and raise awareness of the wine education opportunities at WSU. The wine business management certificate is one of four wine-focused certificates WSU offers. Students may also pursue certificates in viticulture, enology, and wine tasting room training.