Wine Immersion Success Stories – Jennifer Amis

Designing a Future

You never know where following your passion will take you. In the case of Jennifer Amis, the career journey started with providing business planning, marketing, and financial expertise in Washington, DC and New York. But her love of wine and a strong entrepreneurial spirit inspired a leave-it-all-behind move to the Napa Valley.

Once in the Napa Valley, Jennifer initially consulted for wine-related businesses. But what she really wanted to do was start her own company and use her creativity to make wine fun and approachable to a younger audience. Although she had taken the occasional wine class, Jennifer knew she needed to immerse herself in the type of wine education that would give her the confidence and knowledge to develop creative ideas about a wine-related company.

"I was looking for a program that had a heavy emphasis on tasting, and that's what I found in the CIA's Wine Immersion," says Jennifer. "Tasting a great number and variety of wines in a very methodical way every day truly educated my palate." When Jennifer completed the Wine Immersion, she took the CIA's Certified Wine Professional (CWP) exam.

The variety of instructors and topics—and spending time with respected winemakers via trips to vineyards and wineries otherwise not accessible—gave Jennifer an intimate understanding of winemaking and the wine industry. Networking with the other students in the program was critical to the exponential growth of her confidence and connections.

And now?

Jennifer has one of the coolest jobs you'll find in a wine-related business. She has partnered with Michael Roché, one of northern California's most sought-after designers and brand marketing experts, to form Spit Bucket, a company that produces beautifully designed wine and bar ware and accessories with a fun approach to enjoying libations. Current products include Vinocoast coasters (a modern take on the 5 S's of wine); Vinodote (a wine-tasting game); Vinostop (a series of resolutely unstuffy wine stoppers); and CocktailCoast coasters. Products in development include wine racks, ice buckets, stoppers, and, of course, spit buckets.

Jennifer's quick to credit Wine Immersion with helping to make her company a reality. "After researching various wine studies programs, there was no question that the CIA Wine Immersion was for me, and it certainly didn't fail to impress," she says. "Not only did it instill the knowledge, confidence, and motivation I needed to launch Spit Bucket; the program also provided excellent networking opportunities. In fact, Spit Bucket's Business Development Director and Sommelier, Simon McAuley, was a classmate."

Sounds like Jennifer Amis has designs on a long and happy career.

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