Jahnavi Tampi, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2015-2016, India
Not everyone in grad school has a chance to spend their evening class tasting the most sought after wines from around the world and learning from the best of the best in the industry, but we did! We had the privilege of having a week-long wine class where we were taught by one of the best wine critics in the business - Eric Riewer. His animated style of speaking and a class full of wine enthusiast got the air buzzing with excitement. We were expecting to learn oenology, which is the science of wine, but in fact we were taught something even better, the cultural dimension to wine. Eric made us realize we were living in a time when wine has never been better, the best of times! But there is a paradox to this, it is also the worst of time where vineyards around the word are becoming broke and having to close down.
The finest wines are considered luxury and fit in just right with our long-standing passion for this industry. Wine is like fashion, it makes your daily life special and of course who can forget the health benefits that we keep reminding ourselves of every time we drink that glass of wine before bed.
We had a chance to learn about the craftsmanship of great wine and the importance of disruptive innovations in the industry like the invention of champagne. Just the origin of wine is not enough to make good wine, you need the human touch and good decisions, that’s what makes a great wine. The keeping of vineyards, the creation, the fermentation, blending and maturation these are the real secret to good wine.
It was fascinating to realize that different types of wine were created at points in time in
history where there was a cultural, sociological or economic turn of events. Eric taught us the art of wine tasting which was new to a lot of us who never really appreciated the essence of each glass we had consumed in the past, the art of using all senses, sight, smell and taste and how each sip can brings out a new ingredient in the wine. He took us through the wines from all the different appellations including Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and eventually ending with discovering wines from other countries like Italy, Spain USA and Australia.
We had the privilege of having two very respected guest speakers, who were here to teach us the business side of wine. Maggie Henriquez of Krug, one of the most charming and charismatic women, has changed the face of the brand during her time at the company. She linked timeless luxury with the rich heritage of Krug. She emphasize on the important of knowing your brand DNA and that nothing was more important while managing a brand than going back to the roots of how and why the house was created, in essence, the founders vision. This vision had to be carried on to the next generation for a brand to be successful. The uniqueness of each vintage wine is created by the blending of the cellar masters and the tastings of the family and the company heads. Maggie left us all wanting more after we had the privilege of tasting one of the most luxurious champagnes in the world.
Eric helped us appreciate a more modern view of the wine business by inviting guest speaker Sebastian Burel, the Director of Vinategandcie.com, a new distribution channel for luxury wines that has an omni channel strategy. He talks about contemporary wine - “The wine business is changing for many reasons, firstly environmental awareness is a growing priority in the industry, the business is getting more competitive and global, everything leading to better quality.”
After a week of tastings, wine dining will never be the same for any of us. The carefully selected wines we tasting over many evening left us light headed and chatty helping us get through the brisk walk home. We will all be forever changed in the way we appreciate wine, this was an unforgettable experience that left us yearning for yet another glass!
