SOMM JOURNAL: Fresh Voices featuring Yellymary Montalvo
Getting Down to Business
WHY EDUCATION IS VITAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE WINE INDUSTRY
by Yellymary Montalvo, WSET Level 3, SWS, director of education at the North Carolina Wine Academy
WHETHER WE’RE SOMMELIERS, buyers, producers, or retailers, wine professionals often forget about one very important element of our industry: the fact that it is not all glitz and glamour but a business in which education is critical.
I sometimes find myself wishing that I could say I have been working in this exciting field for longer than the past decade. Sadly, this is not the case, which brings me to why education has been my cause for the past three years.
Why is it so impor tant? Well, let me guide you through how I joined the industry. I come from very humble beginnings
in Puer to Rico, and my family wanted me to aim for the traditional careers of lawyer or doctor. So I followed the “professional academic” route, settling for law school and successfully completing my law degree.
Once I began working at a law firm, I quickly understood that it was certainly not my passion. I moved to the mainland, where I started discovering the culture
of wine; within a year, I decided to leave the legal industry and open my own wine bar with zero business background. As I broadened my network and progressed in my education, I came to understand all the myriad possibilities for forging a career in wine and grew frustrated that I had not known about them until I was 30 years old. I had acquired so much student loan debt in formal education while there was an entirely different option that I could
have pursued instead.
Aspiring wine professionals have so many career options to choose from, from education and commercial enterprise to newer tech-oriented professions in online sales and, of course, social media, which is an uber-popular option given the power wine influencers exert on market trends. But no matter the field, it is imperative that the industry open its arms to inclusivity in every aspect. I never expe- rienced wine as a young adult in Puerto Rico, and I was not exactly welcomed as a brown girl with an accent when I ventured into the wine industry ten years ago.
Outreach to broader demographics is vital, as it could offer a life-changing op- portunity for those who want to better themselves but view college as daunting and financially impossible. I am forever grateful to those who did welcome me into the wine industry with mentoring, scholarships, and opportunities to grow; thisisthetimeforallofustopayit forward and spread the gospel that wine offers many paths to a formal career. Let’s start by mentoring and facilitating access to education; bringing awareness to the nuts and bolts of the business; and mak-
Yellymary Montalvo, WSET Level 3, SWS, director of education at the North Carolina Wine Academy
ing a commitment to create a beautifully diverse industry with opportunities for anyone who wants to share our passion for this wonderful profession.
Fresh Voices is a collaborative effort between The SOMM Journal, The Tasting Panel, and 501(c)(3) organization Dream Big Darling.The concept centers around providing opportunities to and amplifying the voices of the next generation of women in the wine and spirits industry.To learn more about Dream Big Darling, visit dreambigdarling.org or follow @dreambigdarling_org on Instagram.