Wine School

Filed in archive Wine News on May 25, 2006

Okay, this is the type of company I need to work for - a place that teaches you how to handle yourself around a wine list!

Actually, if you had to mucky-muck with a lot of big-wigs, I could see how this might come in handy. Though, honestly, I have never had a fear of ordering wine or eating in a fancy restaurant.

Food and wine do not intimidate me, and I've had no formal education.

Bring it on!

From Chicago Business: With wine appreciation now an expected skill in business circles - on par with golf, some say, without the seasonal respite - in-house lessons are becoming part of employee development at brokerage firms, law offices and banks. Wine instruction shows up as part of mentoring programs, as perks or even as recruitment incentives.

"I would put it in the same category as helping people dress better," says Mary Ann McGrath, associate dean of the Graduate School of Business at Loyola University Chicago. "You'd like to say people are judging you on your expertise, but really, all aspects of your person come through. (Wine appreciation) is part of turning out a professional person."

At Harris Nesbitt, Hamish Forrest, vice-president of investment and corporate banking, hired Don Sritong to enlighten the 30-member cash management sales group. "They wouldn't step into a business meeting unprepared," says Mr. Sritong, owner of Just Grapes Wine Shop in Chicago, "yet the transaction of wine can present a predicament."