In my former life, I worked in agricultural pest management research. This job took me all over California as I conducted experiments on safer pest management practices in walnuts, cherries, apples, pears, and wine grapes. Each week, as I visited all of my experimental plots, I would most look forward to visiting the Napa wine grapes. Nestled in fog-drenched hills, these well-manicured vines were my favorite field sites. The capital-intensive, careful management practiced in viniculture stood in stark contrast to the conventional agriculture I witnessed in the Central Valley. And I suspect that this is emblematic of many other differences between viniculture and other horticultural practices. People care about wine and its vineyards in a way that does not extend to other agricultural products. Yet despite the unfair advantage wine has over other agricultural products, I think there is still opportunity for other farms and food/beverage firms to adopt some of the successful practices of the wine industry. I hope that by gaining a better understanding of the drivers of success and failure in the wine industry through this course, I will gain insight into how others in the food and beverage industry might change their strategy to enjoy greater success as well.
Of course I am also taking this course because I love wine - its smell, look, taste and connotation. Wine is a part of many of my favorite memories - traveling, birthdays, anniversaries, dinner parties - and yet I know so little about it. I look forward to learning more about wine and thereby deepening my appreciation for it.
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