Wine appreciation at HEC

#grandcru #frenchwine #frenchlifestyle

For the longest time, I have wanted to learn about wine. It was never enough to just taste it; I wanted to discover the different regions and classifications. When I heard about the Wine Marketing and Culture course at HEC I was pretty excited!

Taught by HEC alumna Aurélie Labruyère over two weekends, the class had an intense mini-course about the Bourgogne, Champagne and Bordeaux regions. I’m finally able to define terroir and appellation!

What about application?

On 21 February, HEC hosted the French premiere of Red Obsession, a wine documentary about the Chinese market and the Bourgogne region. Followed by a roundtable of academics and top managers from LVMH and Sura Wines, it was a highly anticipated event for both students and the public alike.

I particularly enjoyed the roundtable discussion; examining the demand/supply bubble created in 2008 and listening to industry experts was a fantastic opportunity to gain insights into the wine business.

L-R Christopher Spaenjers (Assistant Professor of Finance, HEC),

Jean-Guillaume Prats (LVMH, Estates and Wines) and Ravi Viswanathan (Sula Wines)

Grand Cru

For the more experienced oenophiles, there’s the French-speaking Grand Cru student association. With regular tastings from premier vineyards and visits from industry experts, it’s one of the most exclusive and popular associations on campus.

To find out more, I attended what turned out to be a ‘ Champions League’ tasting!

Domaine Chanson, one of the premier cru houses of Bourgogne, visited HEC on 8 March and brought along six fantastic wines. It was an incredible experience to listen to the representatives’ descriptions of the wine, and the discussion about different flavours and aromas the Grand Cru members found in each wine.

Contrary to my expectations, we started with red wine instead of white. We later discovered that it was a practice in Bourgogne, so followed suit!

One of the questions asked by a Grand Cru member was of particular interest to me, as I had studied the different occupations within the wine industry. The representatives explained that they were négociants, so whilst they worked primarily with Domaine Chanson, they also bought, bottled and sold wine from Bordeaux.