My three greatest loves: Cooking, Coffee, and Wine

A personal goal of mine for many years has been to become more educated about wine & the wine industry – it was always something that I thought I would do as part of a cooking class series or on my own. I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to take a course in business school dedicated to the topic!  There are several reasons why I am taking this course: (1) my experience living abroad in Europe as a child and as an adult (2) the relationship with cooking and food and (3) my pre-GSB career at Starbucks Coffee.

I spent six years in Brussels, Belgium from the age of eight to fourteen so I grew accustomed to there always be wine at dinner, especially when my parents hosted dinners and parties with friends. At that age, I didn’t appreciate the product – I much preferred juice boxes and Capri Sun. Fast forward to undergrad when I was fortunate to spend 6 months living with a host family in Grenoble, France. My host mom was keen on exposing me all sorts of French wine; every dinner featured at least two types of wine paired perfectly with her French cuisine. I absolutely loved learning about the different types of wine and what paired well with that types of foods. At the time, I didn’t realize how lucky I was to live with a host family that made my French cuisine and wine education a priority. At the end of my time in Grenoble, I spent a week in Bordeaux, France with a few friends where I took my first wine tasting class at L’Ecole du Vin. It was incredibly fun and where I learned I have a knack for picking out different smells in wine.

In college, I spent my summers working as a prep chef on a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming. You might ask what this has to do with my taking this course, but it was here that I fell in love with cooking and the culinary arts. As you know, the relationship between food and wine is undeniable. As an amateur chef, I am very interested in learning more about wine and how it relates to food. Although I feel that I have a general sense of how to pair wine with a certain meal, I know I have so much more to learn. The course and the reading list are a great way for me to become a more informed chef when I cook for others and I want to match the food with a perfect bottle of wine!

Lastly, I spent two years working in Product Innovation (aka Research and Development) at Starbucks before coming to the GSB. Although I felt I knew a good deal about coffee before joining Starbucks, I had no idea how much more knowledge about the actual product and industry I would learn about the those two years. There is such a rich history surrounding coffee that I gained such an appreciation for while with the company and I can only imagine how rich and beautiful of a story exists with wine. From a business perspective, I learned an incredible amount about the coffee industry to where my love for coffee only became stronger. I have a feeling a similar appreciation will happen for me with wine as we move through the quarter.