Apprenticeships

Having spent some time growing up in Switzerland, I am very familiar with the apprenticeship system. For many years and many professions, it has made sense that the majority of people don't need to go to college. Instead, they go to a vocational school and do an apprenticeship. Even today, less than 20% of Swiss students go to university, compared with 65.9% of American students.

After high school, instead of the typical pre-college summer experience, I decided to go to rural Switzerland, take a break from the grind, and apprenticed at a bakery for a few months. It was an incredible experience. AND, it looks like the Kingston Family Vineyards have an experience that is a bit more structured, but also more free form. Something to keep in mind if anyone feels the need again to take a break and regain contact with the world :)

Would anyone consider doing this? Or does anyone know of any similar apprenticeships in other cool areas?

Women of Wine

In each of our classes thus far we’ve gotten to meet and hear from a number of successful female wine moguls. Between guest speakers Christine, Terry and Courtney (not to mention our very own Alyssa and Amanda), we have heard from female wine entrepreneurs leading and dominating the production, distribution and branding/marketing sides of the industry. So, I couldn’t help but ask myself, are women beginning to dominate a segment of the wine industry or have we simply been lucky to hear from a select few?   

In an attempt to answer this question, I did a quick google search and stumbled upon the following article which explains the evolution of women’s role within the wine ecosystem. “The Rise of Women in the Global Wine Industry” traces the origins of women and wine from ancient Greece (when women found drinking could be sentenced to death) to their role as winemakers in the 21^st century. The article also explains the unique relationship between wine, women and religion and the modern evolution of “feminine wines.”

Ultimately the piece answers my (naïve) question that yes women are still an overwhelming minority in the industry (like many other industries) but those numbers are growing steadily. Furthermore, the article suggests that women maintain a unique set of skills including interestingly enough a superior tasting profile upon which they can continue to grow their footing. As the article optimistically concludes “women have risen to unexpected heights throughout the wine world. The real answer to the question “Where are the women?” --is “everywhere.”

Why It’s So Hard to Sell Wine on the Internet

I recently read a Bloomberg article titled, "Why It's So Hard to Sell Wine on the Internet" and I found it quite fascinating as it hit on some themes we have discussed in class. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-13/the-secret-to-selling-wine-online?mc_cid=eef05f185f&mc_eid=165016ea80

As the article writes, a major reason it is so hard to sell wine today is, "About 25,000 different wines are for sale right now, says Nielsen, with 14 percent of them having hit the market in the past year. Not even the most soused sommelier can keep up, let alone everyday drinkers who, if lucky, find a label they’ve tried before."

As we have seen through multiple guest speakers, brand, design, and a good story are crucial (along with delicious wine) to sell large quantities of wine in today's world. However the company highlighted in the Bloomberg piece, called Winc, decided to go all-in on the Silicon Valley approach and use data to figure out what their consumers wanted. By analyzing what wines they liked, the commonalities amongst them, etc, they were able to design a wine from scratch to hit on their demographics needs. Is this the future of wine? What is the balance between making traditional wines the traditional way and using data and technology to invent the perfect wine for a particular group at a particular price point? For cheap wine and self-centered millenials is this going to lead to the growth of "wineries" such as Ava Winery, "Wines without Vines", a San Francisco start-up that is making synthetic wine without grapes – simply by combining flavor compounds and ethanol?