Why wine?

Wine has a way of weaving itself in and out of life. These days, I frequently share wine with friends, order wine while out for dinner, and visit wineries and tasting rooms when family comes to visit. Many of my favorite memories and traditions stem from experiences with wine, and I notice I spend more on wine as my tastes mature. I am taking a class on the dynamics of the wine industry because I feel wine will have a lasting place in my life; I am eager to further my knowledge of the wine industry and hope to share this knowledge to elevate the wine-drinking experience of others.

In the shorter term, this class will dovetail with a wine venture with my classmate and business partner are pursuing through Startup Garage. Our company, Cab Labs, was born when Sarah took the Dynamics of the Wine Industry last year and approached me with an idea to bring a modern voice and new brand to wine. Since last Spring, Sarah and I have spoken to more than 50 wineries and winemakers and countless wine consumers to refine our business plan. As a result, I have become enthralled by the wine industry, particularly the complexity and opacity of the wine supply chain. I am excited to continue learning through this course and am especially interested in innovations that might change how consumers experience wine differently in the future.

Why I'm taking this class

When I think wine, I think of happy moments. I only really started drinking wine during my undergraduate at university.  Ever since, wine has coincided with happy memories in my life. I did study abroad in my final year of my undergrad near Paris, which involved a lot of wine drinking. Subsequently, I started my consulting career, which involved many dinners and gatherings at seniors' homes. Seniors were very happy to share their knowledge and collection of wine. Earning an income also meant being able to travel to Australia's wine regions during weekends. I visited the Hunter Valley during 25th birthdays and the Barossa Valley to celebrate anniversaries and a colleague's 40th birthday. These tours made me appreciate the complexities of wine and the wine business, which operates at the intersection of art, agriculture/nature, science and business. The industry fascinates me and I hope to learn more about the global wine industry through this class, out of both interest and potential future investments in the sector.

Why this Class?

I first heard about this class from a friend who’s an MBA 2. I was finding the process of figuring out how to register for foundations classes and leave space for the “right” electives daunting, and welcomed any signals that could send me in a good direction when it came to planning.

I’ve been slow to learn more about wine in general, though I’ve been curious about it. For most wines, I’m at the point where I know I prefer drier wines, red ones over white ones, and that Malbec’s always a good bet. My one spot of deeper knowledge is in sparkling wines, which I love. This class felt like a good opportunity to learn more, and I like that its scope goes significantly beyond tasting different wines. I’m looking forward to understanding more about how the wine market operates and how the people in it think about how, when, and why to produce the drink.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to visit the Douro wine region in Portugal. With the backdrop of acres beautifully green vines, I learned a bit about port wine, and discovered either my palate had changed or that I’d previous tried bad port. It was a nice reminder to be more open about trying wine, something I’m looking forward to exercising this quarter. Once I know there’s a wine I like on a menu, I tend to go for that over exploring, something I’d like to change so I can learn more about what the wine world has to offer.

I’m not convinced that I’m ever going to work in the wine industry. But I’m hoping that the lessons it can teach me about how brands stand out in a crowded market can be carried over to whatever my future entails. I’m especially interested in how this is done in a market where there’s relatively low knowledge on the consumer side about what differentiates products within the same broad category.

Wine Not?

            My absolute favorite thing about wine is that it’s appropriate in pretty much every situation. Reconnecting with old friends? Yep. Family dinner? Often a necessity. Paired with pancakes? Just add OJ. Even in church? It’s actually considered holy. We use wine across the board to celebrate, to smooth over, and to just plain have more fun. The question is rarely “Why do we need wine right now?” but rather, “Wine not?”

Though my parents didn’t foster a particularly knowledgeable “wine culture” when I was growing up, they still drank the stuff. Then when I hit college, they would send me off each semester stocked with bottles of Trader Joe’s finest in an effort to keep me away from frat house punch and shots of peach flavored Burnett’s. Turns out, it worked. Though my friends were astounded when I insisted on bringing a solo cup of syrah to a party where there was free Natty Light, there was no way I was going back.

My bar for wine was admittedly pretty low for most of my college career. It wasn’t until I studied abroad that I learned how to appreciate the stuff that was in the glass. It’s amazing what traveling to five major wine producing countries, accompanied by a professor of wine who leads tastings at every stop, can do to educate the aspiring oenophile (and maybe one day winemaker??).

Experiencing these wines and the places where they were grown was what really got me hooked. I found I couldn’t appreciate what I was drinking without understanding the biology of the fruit and terroir, the chemistry of fermentation and aging, the economics of production decisions, the culture of when and how it’s made and consumed, and the art of sensing when each of these is just right. Studying wine is perfect for the student who wants to major in everything in college. Or the consultant who refuses to pick a specialization. There is quite literally always worlds more to explore.

And so whenever I’m presented with an opportunity to learn more about those worlds, I have to take it. To me, the question is not “Why would I want to learn more about wine?” but really, “Wine not?”

Why wine? In search of truth

“In vino veritas” – roughly translates to “Truth in wine”. From its origins nearly ten thousand years ago, wine has had a consistent thread through the fabric of society. There is no drug more divisive, no libation more celebrated, and no indulgence more shared. How did we get here, and why are we still so fascinated with this beverage?

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, proclaimed two thousand years ago that wine was “a part of a healthy diet”. Our love affair with wine increased exponentially over the next thousand years, and at its peak large portions of the world turned to wine and beer as a safer form of hydration when water sources were widely contaminated. And yet as we rounded the corner into modernity a ‘temperance movement’ took hold, espousing the societal and physiological benefits of complete abstinence from drinking. This segued into prohibition, which was undoubtedly America’s worst hangover. As the dust has settled in the hundred years since, no substance has been more frequently studied by modern medicine, and yet we’re still no closer to the truth.

Looking back through the empty glass, wine was responsible for the invention of coca cola, pasteurization, and pretty much everything Hemingway penned. It led to the expansion of Rome via its legions, gave confidence to the crusaders, and even fueled the expansion of the American Revolution. While all of these may just seem like anachronistic tidbits of history, they’ve all contributed to the tight weave of wine in our societal fabric. Whether wine is good for us or not, it’s a part of our history and is here to stay. My hope is that over the quarter, understanding the current dynamics in the wine industry may get me a little closer to finding the truth.

Why wine class?

I took this course to learn about an industry I know little about.

In college, I co-founded the craft beer club and secured school funding to brew beer weekly, visit breweries across the state, and buy tons of great craft beer. I enjoyed learning about the industry and the nuances of the different types of beer. I look forward to similarly exploring the wine industry.