Courtney Cochran ’01, M.B.A. ’05
Writer and Owner of Hip Tastes

Courtney Cochran ’01, M.B.A. ’05 gets paid to hold wine tasting parties. Here, the certified sommelier talks about her new book, Hip Tastes, her job as Your Personal Sommelier and pairing wine with tater tots.

1. Tell us about the book Hip Tastes: The Fresh Guide to Wine.
I’m really proud of Hip Tastes, which is my first book, because it captures the spirit of my special events company, Hip Tastes Events, which I started after business school at Anderson. I gained a following while hosting stylish, offbeat wine tastings (wine with tater tots, anyone?) in San Francisco bars and clubs, and these events were the inspiration for the book. In it, I break down the essential facts everyone new to wine should know, from the 411 on grape varieties and wine and food pairing to decoding wine labels and ordering confidently from restaurant wine lists. It’s all packaged in a fun, stylish voice - so it’s different from most wine books. It was a ton of fun to put together, and preliminary feedback has been fantastic.

2. How did you land your book deal?
A lot of it had to do with timing – I’d launched a wine blog called Hip Tastes right when I started my company, and it gained a lot of attention for its fresh take on wine. I was also writing a wine column for a couple of newspapers, so I had a record of publishing stories that were met with enthusiasm from readers. I had developed a captive audience for the book at my monthly Hip Tastes Events tastings. I was able to find a literary agent in New York who helped me create a winning book proposal, and she sold it to Penguin. The key was having a platform from which to sell the book (my Web sites, blog and events), along with the timing of the blog-to-book phenomenon, which has launched quite a few books in the last year or so.

3. What insights can you provide to potential book authors?
First, I’d recommend starting a blog or contributing your writing to a Web site or newspaper, even if you work for free. This is how I got started, and although it’s a lot of work without reward in the short term (or so it seems), it can really pay off. I’d also recommend doing some research on the market for your book; publishers are much more likely to be interested in a book for which there is a proven market interest. In my case, I was able to show that 20-somethings are the fastest-growing category of wine consumers, and that there isn’t currently a “Wine 101” book that resonates with them. Bingo!

4. What made you decide to leave the music business to start Your Personal Sommelier?
The music business was a lot of fun, but while working as a marketing manager at Universal Music, I felt like something was missing. So, I started taking wine classes at night, and by the time I went back to school for my M.B.A. (at UCLA, naturally), I was on my way to becoming a certified sommelier. I suppose this made me a natural fit to head up the wine club at business school, and I was soon chosen to be the president of the 300-member group. Not surprisingly, I had a lot more fun hosting wine tastings for the club than I did reconciling balance sheets, and I started looking for a way to marry my love of wine with my interest in business I launched my first company, Your Personal Sommelier, just before graduation as part of an independent study. Around the same time I passed the rigorous sommelier exam with the International Sommelier Guild, and then, there was no turning back.

5. How did you turn your love for wine into a business?
I started by launching Your Personal Sommelier, through which I offer wine consulting services to private, corporate and restaurant clients in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Services offered include wine tasting events, wine seminars, restaurant wine list creation, cellar management and public relations and marketing consulting. I’ve had a lot of success in all of these areas, and it’s been a ton of fun to develop client relationships with people who really love wine, whether it be their in-home wine collections, at corporate team-building events or in one of San Francisco’s Top 100-rated restaurants, for which I’m revamping the wine list right now.

Having an M.B.A. definitely helped – it gave me confidence to take the leap, since I felt that I have a solid academic grasp of business and financial fundamentals. But really, the most important part is belief in my vision and really going for it. And that’s something you can’t learn in any class or at any institution – it comes from within.

6. Who is your target audience and what marketing methods work best?
My target audience is anyone who enjoys wine. But, I’ve found that my brand and image tend to resonate with young women, something that’s probably not a huge surprise since women buy more wine than men. It also can’t hurt that I’m a young woman in a traditionally male-driven business. A lot of women approach me with questions about wine, and I get the feeling they’ve felt embarrassed to ask them until now. Since I come across as a peer, they feel more comfortable asking me basic questions.

Tactically speaking, the Internet has been pivotal to the success of my business. I was able to establish credibility through a blog and Web site, whereas without these outlets it would have been much more difficult to make a footprint in the wine industry at such an early stage in my business. It’s also helped to be a writer, since my blog posts and writing in various publications reach a broad audience – probably much more broad than the audience I’d have carved out just through word of mouth and my Web site alone.

7. Do you think an M.B.A. is necessary for starting a business? What are the benefits to having an M.B.A.?
I definitely don’t think an M.B.A. is necessary to starting a business. What’s far more important is to have a solid grasp of the product or service you’re providing, and to understand the market you’re going to sell it to. A lot of people become “mini experts” in micro fields (like wine) just by doing what they love – this could be anything from skateboarding (you become the nation’s premier builder of custom skate parks), to exercising (you develop an online personal training concierge service), to cooking (you open a meals-on-wheels service for busy professionals).

Critical to turning this passion into a profession is then supplementing your expert status with real business acumen – and you can do this by enlisting the help of others – an accountant or a lawyer – community college or extension classes, or internships. Also, lots of people who start companies work at real jobs in the early years in order to stay financially afloat while they grow their businesses.

All said, though, the M.B.A. definitely didn’t hurt – I learned a ton at Anderson that has helped me with my business. It’s helped me understand when I need capital, when it’s OK to take loans, how to price and market my services and much more. The entrepreneurial focus at Anderson (it’s one of the world’s top business schools for the discipline) has by far been the best foundation for what I’m doing now.

8. Describe the most satisfying moment in your career so far.
Landing the book deal was huge. That’s got to be it.

9. What wineries do you recommend in the Los Angeles area? In Northern California?
About an hour and a half south of Los Angeles you’ll find the charming Temecula wine country – an area that’s quickly becoming one of Southern California’s best new vacation spots.

Santa Barbara County – not far from LA - has some amazing wineries that are a lot of fun to visit (Sideways, anyone?). I highly recommend a trip up there for anyone who hasn’t gone yet. I love to stay in the charming town of Los Olivos (although nearby Buelton works too, and is cheaper for lodging), and branch out from there for tasting. My favorite wineries for visits include Sunstone, Melville, Foxen and Sanford. Northern California is a total joy for tasting and wine country touring, and I love to stay in the town of Sonoma in southern Sonoma County (about an hour north of San Francisco) and head out from there to taste in both Napa. Favorites for visits include (but are definitely not limited to) St. Supery, Domaine Chandon, Rutherford Hill, and Beringer Estates in Napa; and Gloria Ferrer, Buena Vista, Cline, and Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma. And, there isn’t room here for the many other cool Nor Cal regions – Sierra Foothills, Mendocino, Lodi, Livermore Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey … they’re all worth seeing!

10. What are some key tips on wine tasting?
I go into a lot of detail on tasting in my book, which is a great resource for the nitty-gritty details on tasting. But, a few Dos and Don’ts:

Do:

• Try lots of different wines – it’s the only way to find out what you like most!
• Drink water and munch on crackers and bread along the way.
• Organize wine tasting parties with your friends around themes (e.g. California zinfandels, Italian reds) and have everyone bring a bottle. A great way to get familiar with specific styles of wine, and it’s a great excuse for a party.
• Travel to the regions making the wines you like most – it can be an amazing way to take your tasting experience to a whole new level.

Don’t:

• Listen to critics too much – point scores aren’t nearly as important as your own gut when it comes to sniffing out a great wine.
• Break the bank while you’re just starting out. Tasting doesn’t have to be expensive, and you can always work up to pricier bottles as your familiarity with wine (and salary) grows.
• Drink and drive. Duh.

11. What is your favorite wine?
My favorite wine is a crisp, refreshing but complex riesling from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region in Germany. These wines offer up a ton in terms of aromas and flavors to sort out and enjoy, and always leave me feeling refreshed rather than weighed down (lots of them are just about 8% alcohol, compared to about 13% for most California wines). Easy, intriguing, fun.What more could you want?

*Hip Tastes will be published nationwide on Oct. 4 by Viking Studio, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA). Courtney will be signing copies at Borders in Westwood ( 1360 Westwood Blvd.) on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. There will be wine available.

— Catherine Luu ’05