Over the years, I’ve had some memorable experiences at the intersection between business and wine.

One favourite iconic experience was exploring the Playboy Mansion wine cellar with Cooper Hefner. At that time, Cooper was a mentee of mine and I was working with him and his family and other shareholders to build a new digital business for Playboy … and so we spent quite a bit of time together. After a working lunch at the Mansion, we headed underground to explore the cellar. Our goal was to see what was special, what Cooper and Hef should be drinking soon and what was either just for show or past its best. For anyone that’s interested, the wine cellar is not in or near the Grotto; it is under the main Mansion building. There was some magic down in that cellar, including many wine bottle gifts from Hef’s extended social network and some old beauties. Hef has since passed and so Cooper has some wonderful, memorable bottles to enjoy with Scarlet. I won’t divulge family secrets other than to mention that some delicious Petrus found its way out of the cellar and into some glasses right at around that time.

Another was helping Christie’s reimagine and build their digital auction and ecommerce experiences. The days of swanning in to the London, Geneva or New York auction rooms to bid were waning because new wealthy were emerging all over the world and many had no interest in traveling to bid at auction. Plus, some interested auction participants were not able to attend auctions in person (e.g., some wealthy women from the Middle East).

Instead, we created a digital experience for bidders to participate in auctions from anywhere. It was thrilling to work with the Christies executive team to redefine their core business experience. 

I loved working with both Christie’s CTO and the wine team. The wine team regularly host BYO wine dinners for their extended wine auction community in the Christie’s Rockefeller Center board room. Guests tend to go all out so as not to be outdone on their wine choices that are donated to the dinner table. One very memorable evening included enjoying some 1875 Madeira and a lively conversation about old and new styled Barolo. I have made some lifelong friends through these unmatchable experiences. Today, more than 50% of Christie’s auction bids come through the digital experience we built together.

I’ve participated in some advisory work in the hallowed halls of the Institute of Masters of Wine as part of a team of MWs working on the mid, long, and very long-term strategy for the Institute. I am excited and honored to help shape the future of the Institute by bringing my strategy development experience to bear. We consider it a regular strategic checkup because all organizations must step back and review their mission and strategy occasionally. Covid frustrated many of the educational aspects of the Institute, and so there is work to be done in reimagining how learning can incorporate more virtual elements while preserving the critical in-person elements of wine-tasting learning experiences. For example, you can’t just watch a video about tasting wine, as you really must taste it to learn. Additionally, there are major challenges with supervising blind tasting exams virtually. I know this will be another group of people where great wine will be shared, friendships forged and memories made, all while strengthening the Institute.