Here's What's Up (Why I'm Taking This Class)

Wine was never a part of my life until relatively recently.

My parents aren't big drinkers and never have been, so my exposure to wine growing up was very limited. At most, there would be the occasional wine bottle left over from when my parents would host a neighborhood party; I suppose my high school friends and I would enjoy those abandoned bottles, but saying that you love wine after consuming bottles of two-buck chuck is like calling yourself an expert in cinema having only watched movies starring Adam Sandler: you might have enjoyed the experience, but something just doesn't add up.

In all seriousness, my love of wine comes from the sense of community that sharing a few good bottles with friends and new acquaintances inevitably cultivates. 

I moved to San Francisco after graduating from college with no friends or family in the area. Since my job at that point consumed a lot of the free time I would have otherwise spent forming relationships, I can't say I felt entirely comfortable in my new city at first. I wasn't able to make it back to Boston for Thanksgiving that first year out of school, so one of my friends from work invited me to a pre-Thanksgiving celebration that their friend's family was hosting. One of their guests brought a few bottles of Williams Selyem, which I happened to sample (and continuously consume throughout the evening), and I've been hooked on wine ever since.

From that point forward, I've been using wine as an excuse to get together with old friends and new acquaintances, experiences that have brought me closer to everyone involved. From the casual weekend tasting or pick-up weekend in Sonoma to the impromptu meet-up at a neighborhood wine bar, wine and experiences involving wine were central to the process of how I came to call San Francisco home. It's been central to a lot of the experiences that helped create strong relationships over the past few years. Indeed, wine has been an integral part of some of my most memorable experiences at the GSB thus far.

While my interest in and love of wine are what motivated me to sign up for this class, I'm looking forward to taking this class because I have invested relatively little in my education on wine. I know what I prefer, but I have a lot to learn. Of course, with this class being offered at a business school, I thought this was the best opportunity to do a deep dive on two things that I have come to enjoy in my adult life: wine and business. Bringing together these two things made me truly excited to take this course. I am looking forward to exploring the industry ecosystem generally, and supply chain dynamics specifically; how established and emerging winemakers think through customer acquisition and retention; the strategic implications of the choices involved in sourcing; the pros and cons of different approaches to marketing and positioning; industry trends and variations in geography; and, of course, the tastings.

I can't wait for all that we'll explore this quarter. Cheers!