Welcome to Global Dynamics of the Wine Industry, Winter 2018. You are the fifth vintage of students to take this course and we have a dynamic quarter ahead (pun intended).
Your first blog assignment is to share with me and your classmates why you are taking the course. It is due by EoW.
See you at 3 pm!
I used to work for a wine lobbying firm in D.C., so I was exposed to some of the intricacies to non-tariff barriers to trade and the wine industry as it relates to the WTO. I found the business side of wine really interesting, and was hoping to further my understanding of the global market (I’m more versed on the U.S. and Indian wine industries).
ReplyDeleteTo note, I also want to learn how wineries are attempting to sustain themselves given newer competitors and a trend towards small batch / craft. A revolution is occurring across beer / wine / spirits where newer, smaller brands are gaining traction. While the wine market as a whole is growing (and there's an argument to be made around just how quickly given the encroachment of beer and spirits), I'm curious how staid brands are competing with small / new wineries.
DeleteWhich one?
DeleteMy favorite client when I worked in consulting was a spirits and wine company. I'd love to continue to learn more about the industry. Also, on a personal note, I am looking to be a more informed wine consumer!
ReplyDeleteMy post-GSB goal is to focus on the food and beverage industry and taking this class is a way to focus on a specific segment of the beverage industry. I am excited to understand the strategies behind both new and existing brands and how regulation plays a role in governing the sector. I also became even more excited about the class after I learned about how acquisitive the industry is - my previous background was in M&A consulting so I want to understand how wine companies are extracting value from these transactions and how they are integrating two companies. Lastly, as a self-proclaimed foodie, I am looking forward to enhancing my dining experiences with my newly found wine knowledge!
ReplyDeleteI worked on a startup in the hospitality industry and found that I most enjoyed gaining deep knowledge on the industry. I want to use this course to better understand the importance and trends of wine in the hospitality industry. Personally, I want to educate myself on wine and how to better appreciate it, as it is always an important part of my meals!
ReplyDeleteI'm taking this class for several reasons. I love wine and would love to continue learning about it and its industry. I'd love to be a more educated consumer of wine and to have a better understanding of the global industry. Back in college, when I was a "science" person, I took a class on the chemistry of wine and absolutely loved diving deep into the topic from such a specific angle. Now that I am a "business" person, I'm eager to continue deepening my knowledge, but from the angle that most interests me now. As a consultant, I have some experience in the food and beverage space, and I'm particularly excited to learn more about the global supply chain that fuels the wine industry. Lastly, I'm looking forward to learning more about and broadening my appreciation for different wine varietals and regions.
ReplyDeleteI am taking this class because it provides a deep dive into a interesting niche industry. Over the years I have learned snippets of information about wine production and understand the basics but am hoping to tie the pieces together and learn about the economics of the industry as a whole. I want to research and discuss the industry's challenges with classmates who have had professional experience in Food & Beverage and even in wine specifically. Additionally, I am interested in Latin America and hope to pursue a career focused on the LatAm region post-GSB. Wine is an important and growing industry in Chile and Argentina and contributes to the economic growth of those countries. I would like to learn more about the impact wine has on the region today and how that impact could be grown/expanded in the future.
ReplyDeleteI've always been very interested in the luxury business, and while I've had a lot of exposure to other luxury products like beauty, apparel, art, etc., but I know very little about wine. I'm looking forward to learning idiosyncrasies about the wine industry, unique challenges in selling and marketing, and how global consumer preferences are changing.
ReplyDeleteI am taking this class because I am interested in improving people's education of where their food comes from, and it fascinates me how much people care about where their wine comes from. The average U.S. diner will order a steak, pork or chicken dish with zero knowledge of it's origin, but will pore over the wine list for 15 minutes asking questions about where it is from. Why is there such a dichotomy? I am excited to explore the industry and hope to gain a better understanding of why there is such a passion towards what wine someone chooses to drink. I want to understand what the impetus was for such detail around wine choices, and how to potentially use similar techniques in the food world to encourage individuals to care more about where their food comes from.
ReplyDeleteI am taking this class because I grew up working a small hobby vineyard with my father and grandfather. Although the wine we made over the years turned out terrible, I developed quite the affinity for the agricultural side of the winemaking process and am excited to now dive deeper into the business side of the industry.
ReplyDeleteOn the professional side, this course seems like a great vertical view of an entire industry. I'm interested to see how it can incorporate economics, strategy, supply chain, marketing, sales, and other GSB courses into a holistic view of the wine industry as a "capstone course". On the personal side, I love food and wine and would like to better educate myself on the industry to better my own lifestyle!
ReplyDeleteI first became interested in wine through wine seminars I took in college. The seminars taught me about the different wine varieties, wine growing regions, and tasting. However, I did not get much exposure to the business of wine. As a consumer, I want to be able to both properly taste / consume wine as well as know about the economics of the industry. I'm taking this class to complement the tasting skills I've acquired.
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ReplyDeleteUnlike many of my peers I am not entirely certain what I would like to do after business school. I am therefore using my first year to learn as much as I can about different industries that interest me and to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Pre-GSB I worked in the entertainment industry and I believe there are many natural partnership opportunities and synergies that exist between wine and new media (particularly social media and video marketing). I hope to learn generally about the industry and how my previous experience could be leveraged within the market if I decide to move into the global wine industry.
I grew up in a completely dry household and so my love of wine is relatively new. As an Australian, I am eager to learn more about new world wines and the ways in which these brands can compete with the more established labels of France and Italy. I am also fascinated by the growing interest of Chinese consumers in the Australian wine industry and this is something I would like to explore further.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that the knowledge we will gain from this class will stay with us for life, and I am excited to enrich my dinner conversations with some fun facts and a more nuanced understanding of the wonderful world of wine!
Like many others, I am excited to be part of this class for both personal and professional reasons. On a personal level, wine held importance in my life from a very young age. Growing up, my Italian grandfather would make his own table wine, which upon completion he would funnel into a 3-liter Carlo Rossi jug. Most nights, we had a touch of red wine mixed with our ginger ale alongside our pasta and gravy. As such, wine has always been synonymous with bringing people together and enjoying a good meal.
ReplyDeleteOut in the working world, I quickly recognized the importance of possessing knowledge of wine. At client dinners, the person who selected the wine immediately had control of the conversation and the respect of the group. More important was that the topic of wine was a way to forge immediate connections with clients, regardless of where in the world they were from. Additionally, our firm often hosted events centered on wine tastings. Again, these events were successful in building strong relationships and increased my desire to learn more about the industry. Similar to sports like tennis and golf, an understanding of wine and the wine industry not only makes you a more well rounded person, but also proves to be a useful skill for life.
Overall, I am really looking forward to the quarter ahead. I am eager to use this class as an opportunity to explore local vineyards and bond with my fellow classmates while doing so.
My "big, hairy, scary" dream is to start a Lifestyle Brand company that centers around food and has some social component. For me, taking this wine class means exposure to an industry that is completely new to me. I grew up with a father who considered himself a wine connoisseur, but unfortunately that knowledge of wine was lost on me. I want to gain a better understanding of wine, and perhaps gain inspiration for a future venture. I spent this past summer with a few CPG and Food/Bev companies and I am fascinated to learn about the wine industry and how it is run.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I've recently gained a keen interest in learning more about the demographic makeup of the industry. I read accounts about how there are very few black-owned wineries that exist globally, and even fewer that are owned by black women. I am excited to hear diverse perspectives from leaders about how they broke into the industry and what it takes to "make it", since I know it is a tough industry to crack.
I really enjoyed learning more about new world wines during my GST to Argentina and Chile, but felt like I was just scratching the surface of the global industry and its dynamics. I hope to learn more about the regions and types out there to become a more educated consumer. I’m also intrigued by innovative marketing/distribution models - eg direct to consumer wine clubs, distribution to a limited set of restaurants etc. Finally, I would love to learn about ancillary businesses - eg customised wine (like Vines of Mendoza), on site hotels etc.
ReplyDeleteGetting through the quarter by taking a cab (or two…)
ReplyDeleteThat dreaded moment when a waiter turns to you at the table and says “would you like to taste the bottle?”
Yes, it’s fine, you just have to tell if the wine has gone bad it doesn’t matter
Omg I can’t even remember what we ordered I just know it was $42 and that was the second cheapest
Oh wait I think I heard you aren’t supposed to get the second cheapest anymore because that’s a trap
Do I say something like “oh, this I nice…” or just smile and move on
It would be nice in this moment to at least know what to expect for some of the key varietals. Color, smell, taste, etc. I’m excited to get some background on this in the class but I am self-identifying as a candidate for remedial study.
So here is my plan- I am going to work through a few varietals of wine that are commonly ordered at restaurants: to start I’m thinking Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinor Noir, Syrah, and Merlot. I will spend at least 2 weeks trying a good number of different glasses of the varietal – both dining out and in the comfort of my passdown house. The goal will be to actually drill into my brain what they taste like, figure out specific wineries I like, and perhaps have some good company and conversation in the process.
Cheers to giving it a go!
Drinking wine has been my go-to way of relaxing with friends, or just by myself enjoying a old Netflix movie. But in choosing the right wine for me, I have always been overly conservative - buying the same one or two bottles of wine that I know I will definitely enjoy. Without knowing the key attributes of each type and each bottle, it is hard for me to venture off and experiment with new bottles.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be an insurgence of tech-enabled wine startups looking to solve this problem. Startups are using artificial intelligence combined with human expertise to predict what people will like based on their prior preferences. I would love to understand how this technology works, and how much of the human preferences can be predicted by the observable attributes of each bottle.
This was Bottlenotes' 1.0 business model. We'll discuss it and other third party marketing firm concepts this week!
DeleteI'm interested in taking this course for several reasons. Firstly, my mother has always been a big wine drinker, but I've never really taken her up on her offers to help educate me on wine. I want to learn how to taste wine and how to appreciate the history and culture around wine drinking so that I can join my mother (and try some of the expensive wines she has).
ReplyDeleteSecondly, my interest in wine was sparked when I did the Marathon du Medoc in 2015. This Marathon involves running in costume through 28 Chateaux in Bordeaux, trying a little wine at each of them. We ran through Lafite, Latour, Cos d'Estournel and many other beautiful vineyards and I became intrigued about the history behind this amazing area. As an employee of one of the Rothschild banks I had access to their wines at list price (they were actually reserved for MDs but I managed to sweet talk the PA of the person in charge of the wine disbursement), and helped my mother buy some great wines. Although I still don't feel capable of really appreciating them, it made me want to learn more.
Thirdly I went on the Argentina & Chile wine GST last year, and as a result I began to learn something of the business side of wine. This is equally fascinating - it seemed remarkable that such a similar process with relatively few tweaks could produce such wildly different results. I want to learn more about it - not that I think I will necessarily go into it - but because it is genuinely very interesting.