My third word was “Char-don-nay” (no, really)

As a sixth-generation winegrower, I have known for most of my life that I wanted to work in the wine industry. My family owned vineyards in Switzerland in the 1800s, and founded the Alpine Winery in St. Joseph, MO in 1883. Although the winery was sold before my mother was born, she always dreamed about starting a winery of her own, which lead to my parents founding Darcie Kent Vineyards in the Livermore Valley in 1994.

From an early age, I fell in love with the curious juxtaposition of wine as both a consumer product and an art form. My father, who worked in marketing at Gallo, encouraged my passion by bringing his work home with him, asking me to help him choose label designs and product concepts. Later, my father took over The Wine Group, where I spent several summers in high school and college working as a marketing intern.

Growing up in the Bay Area, I also developed a strong commitment to environmental responsibility. The cross-section of environmental sustainability and the wine industry became an area I was extremely interested in. This spurred my decision after 2 years at Bain to pursue a 6-month externship with the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, a nonprofit that works to educate wineries and winegrowers about environmental, social and economic sustainability.

In this class, I am hoping to continue deepening and developing my knowledge of the wine industry, especially in the global sense. Although I have absorbed much about the California wine industry through my family and work experience, I still have much to learn about Old World and other New World wine regions. In order to be successful in my future professional endeavors in the wine industry, I know that gaining this knowledge will be critical.

Although I plan to return to Bain for a few years after the GSB, I am planning to take over the reins of Darcie Kent Vineyards from my parents soon after. In addition to setting up DKV for future success, I hope to make Darcie Kent Vineyards a leader in environmental and social sustainability, and put the Livermore Valley on the map as a premier US wine region. I am very excited about this class!!