My introduction to wine came from an unlikely but very lucky source: Master Sommelier Michael Jordan. We met in the early twenty-aghts at Napa Rose, the restaurant he co-created with Chef Andrew Sutton inside Disney's Grand Californian resort. Napa Rose was a celebration of wine unlike anything I have seen anywhere since. The wine cellar is a glass temple that showcases wines in every format and then some, but it’s just a glimpse of the entire inventory that runs in the tens of thousands, close to if not six-figures in totle.
My wife and I always sat at the chef's counter and visited often enough to become regulars, wining and dining off menu. Michael was generous with his time and his knowledge. Over many visits he took us around the world through different expressions of terroir, cultivation, and farming. He inspired a curiosity that continues to this day—we rarely order wine ourselves preferring to lean on recommendations from the people who know what's in back.
Earlier this year I started working with the awesome team known as Offset Partners. They continue to serve the wine industry after seventeen years with the kind of passion and care that I haven’t been around in a long while. Offset is a unique combination of DTC software platform and brand studio. Drawing on my years owning and operating a design studio and leading digital product teams, I've joined as a fractional chief of staff. It's the best seat in the house: I get to support everyone in the company. I know this work well, but my knowledge of the wine industry is not up to par, yet.
As writing is the best ways to retain knowledge, this site will serve where I will build up awareness and document insights as they come. I'll share my notes as an outsider learning an industry I've always appreciated from a distance.
Also, this should be obvious but lets be clear, the opinions expressed here are my own.