After having the pleasure of knowing and working with Laura for the past few years, I can tell you that it takes an exceptional person to become a Master Sommelier.  If you aren’t familiar with the title, a Master Sommelier is a highly skilled and accredited professional in the wine industry. They possess an incomparable depth of knowledge about various types of wines, their origins, and how they pair with different foods, along with superior tasting abilities. This title is achieved after extensive study, training, and passing a series of rigorous exams.

“Master Sommelier” is not a title you achieve once and call it done and move on. Laura lives it, breathes it, loves it, and has dedicated her life to sharing her knowledge and passion with people who love wine too.

What makes Laura’s story especially impressive is that she grew up in a dry county – in the middle of a small Arkansas town.  She discovered her affinity for wine while she was an au pair for a family in France.  She recounts this delightful story of the parties the family would host and how their cellar was a world of wonder. How passionate conversations were lifted with the sip from each glass. By the way, Laura’s slight southern lilt can be heard once in a while, if you have the opportunity to spend an evening drinking glasses of wine specially curated for your tastebuds with her.

Laura’s biggest challenge was that her expertise was usually only shared with industry associates or the affluent while opening $2,500 bottles of 30-year-old wine in Michelin Star Restaurants. While she certainly wasn’t complaining about the opportunity to taste these bottles, her circle of sharing didn’t run bigger than the areas she was physically in. I understood that frustration and wanted to help her create something that would allow her influence to break not just the physical boundaries, but the financial ones as well, making wine more accessible to everyone.

Having been lucky enough to taste wine with Laura in both social and business settings, I’ve been surprised that many of her favorite bottles aren’t expensive. They aren’t necessarily well-known, either.  Even more exciting, she usually finds these undiscovered gems in vintages and scoops them up before they go mainstream.  It’s fun to watch her face light up as she opens up a bottle (like it’s this big secret) and talks about all the reasons it’s brilliant. When she cooks for a specific bottle of wine (all organic, healthy, and delicious), it’s even more glorious.

Laura also has a very simple method for tasting. Nothing complex. Matter of fact, the practice becomes repetitive, and when you do it enough, you begin to pick up on the flavors and nuances without having to think about what you’re supposed to be looking for.  Laura’s strategy allows you to understand the complexities of wine tasting in a non-complex way.

Like any smart entrepreneur, Laura also wanted to create an additional income stream, one that would open up to higher ticket offers, like group trips to taste Old World wines, private dinners, or even private bespoke trips. 

I think the biggest surprise for me was that Laura wanted to build something now for later.    I don’t know why it’s a surprise now that I think about it, she has methods for success in everything she does.  She wanted the assets prepared for her to begin marketing and selling when she was ready to consistently work on her brand.

Essentially, we needed to create a path for accessibility, bridging the gap between the Michelin Star Professionalism of a Master Sommelier and the soul of this amazing, generous, southern charmer. Something that would allow her to build relationships and a community and encourage wine drinking everywhere. That’s a fun job, huh?

I began thinking through what is absolutely magical about attending a tasting with Laura. 

Hands down, it’s her ability to share her knowledge through captivating storytelling. What leads her stories to the end-all-be-all all impact is the use of all of our senses as we see, smell, swirl and sip the wine she’s telling the stories about.

Our solution needed to be fun, interactive, useful, experiential, and affordable for every budget.

Perfect!  🙂