Μake us preferred on Google When a client handed Aani Nerlekar the wine list at a 2023 business dinner in a sleek San Francisco restaurant, Nerlekar knew it was a make-or-break moment.
“The guy had just spent two weeks in Napa, visited eight wineries, joined three wine clubs, sent cases of wine home, the whole thing,” he recalled.
Nerlekar, a 39-year-old fintech professional in the Bay Area, started getting into wine in his mid 20s. The bottle he selected for the business dinner, a Cabernet Sauvignon, was from a winery that he had recognized from his travels to vineyards. His choice was well received, prompting chatter about other wineries to visit. “It built a level of trust,” Nerlekar said.
Power lunches and on-the-clock golf outings may no longer be commonplace, but many people across industries say that wine knowledge can still offer a leg up at work. Some are investing in classes designed for wine professionals, with the hope that their education might open career doors.
Belinda Chang, a James Beard Award-winning sommelier in Chicago, said she has been approached by business school students and financial executives to lead workshops on how to navigate wine lists in corporate settings. They have paid fees ranging from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars, respectively, she added.
“I don’t think of it as a soft skill, I think it’s a hard skill,” Chang said. “How can you advance into leadership roles and entertain clients unless you know how to host, how to read a wine list and how to order?”
While others were perfecting their sourdough loaves or getting into bird-watching during the pandemic, Facundo Monteiro Kempf, a 35-year-old who works in cybersecurity for Microsoft, was memorizing Burgundian vineyard classifications. Monteiro Kempf, who lives in Miami, completed two levels of coursework at the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, a professional accreditation institution. Its rates vary by location; in Miami, enrolling in the two courses that Monteiro Kempf took would cost about $1,400.
Learning about wine has helped Monteiro Kempf maintain longer-term relationships with like-minded colleagues and clients, he said. These days, he often shares tasting notes and bottle recommendations with business contacts via text messages and on the wine app Vivino.
Nearly half of those who enroll in courses offered by the Wine & Spirits Education Trust work in industries other than hospitality, said Dave Rudman, a partner and managing director at the International Wine Center in New York, where many people complete the coursework.
Some go so far as to receive diplomas from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, Rudman added—a level of accreditation that many full-time wine professionals don’t ever attain. Diploma coursework alone can cost nearly $10,000. It requires 130 hours of class instruction, five exams and a 3,000-word research paper.
Others take a less-structured approach to learning. Jennifer Ward, the 51-year-old owner and managing partner of a law firm in Philadelphia, has studied wine independently for years. Every few months, she invites colleagues and clients to attend virtual Wine Down tastings led by an educator from Dutton-Goldfield, a Sonoma winery she likes.
“There’s something about wine that gives everyone the permission to slow down and connect,” Ward said. “You should be your authentic self in how you engage business.”
A genuine passion for wine can only enhance a technical education, said Ed Zimmerman, a partner at the New York law firm Lownenstein Sandler.
Zimmerman recalled a business dinner where he carefully selected a bottle and told the table why it was particularly meaningful to him. The conversation subsequently became more personal, he said, imbuing a sense of wine-soaked camaraderie into an event that otherwise might have been business as usual.
“You find your people and pursue the things that are interesting to you,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve never played golf and I never will.”
