They listen to Frank Black and the Catholics, Death Cab for Cutie, Linkin Park and Jack Johnson.
They climb mountains, run marathons and drink pink champagne.
They toss out words like “dirty,” “racy,” “beef jerky,” “Big Red gum” and “Lemonheads” to describe their favorite wines.
Nicknamed the Kid, Jen-X and the Beav, they are the next generation of wine geeks.
Meet Jennifer Cossey, a marathon runner and sommelier, and Aaron Prater, a former Marine turned gung-ho wine salesperson for Glazer’s Midwest.
Ryan Sciara is getting ready to open a wine shop. Ryan Maybee also has plans to open a wine bar in the same neighborhood.
Zach Hangauer, a waiter at Krause Dining in Lawrence, Kan., has started his own record label. And Premier Cru wine sales representative Ryan Fry has penciled wine-making school into his future.
Unabashedly passionate about the avocation that has become their vocation, these Gen Xers want their customers and fellow wine drinkers to come along on their wine adventures.
The next generation is pouring the wines, updating the lingo and preaching the word of the vine. Instead of an unwavering allegiance to only the Old World wines their parents and employers revere, more often than not they gravitate toward new regions and new grape varietals.
They came into the business when the geography of wine got global. No longer exclusively focused on France, Germany and Italy, fabulous, fun wines are coming from nearly all 50 states and countries as far-flung as Canada and South Africa. This generation is just as comfortable with an old-growth Bordeaux as an Argentine Torrontes.
Yet, despite their thirst for adventure, they have not left the formal classroom behind.
“They are driven by learning,” says Jimmy Frantze, owner of JJ’s and Frondizi’s Ristorante just off the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. “Many have completed their first-stage sommelier test; others are starting Master of Wine classes. We old guys learned by the seat of our pants – buying books, picking wines we were interested in – not pursuing the credentials.”
Born to be wined and dined
Recently we hooked up with these wine Gen Xers who were born between mid-1972 and early 1978. As we shared appetizers and entrees at three restaurants and sniffed each other’s wines, here’s what we learned.
They speak a different language. Sure, their mentors and predecessors love their jobs, too, but they are less likely to articulate just what it is they like. Not these kids, a generation reared on school counselors and Dr. Phil, whose parents read child-rearing manuals and scrapbooked their lives ad nauseam.
“I love wine. I love talking about wine. I love helping people find new wines. I love helping people have fun and giving them good memories,” says Cossey, a 28-year-old sommelier who was most recently with the American Restaurant in Kansas City. “The wine industry can be such a snotty industry. It’s important to have something that keeps you really grounded. My age group values our grounded-ness. We want to remain connected with people.”
They believe they can change the world, one glass of wine at a time.
“So few people in this industry are hateful,” Cossey says. “We spend our lives studying history and other cultures and peoples and their food and wine. Maybe this is a lofty idea, but if more people would understand someone else’s food and wine culture, it will create less hate.”
They take their legal and moral responsibilities seriously. “When your life and work involves booze, you learn to live pretty carefully,” Prater says.
They work hard.
“People think this job is all fun, all the time. It is fun, but it is work,” Prater says.
The upside? Despite the hours and having to schlep heavy cases of wine, he values the personal relationships that develop between rep and client.
“I sell Aaron. I deal with these guys, and I meet their kids. I hang out at their houses.”
THE GENERATION GAP
Like the first women who entered the wine business, this generation has had to prove its mettle.
“It takes a while to break in,” Prater says. “It still is an old-boy network. But we get into the culture; it’s what we like to do.”
What do the old guys think of the new kids?
“I am, of course, utterly supportive of whipper-snommeliers, though in virtue of my own advancing age and proto-reactionary tendencies, I can’t help but wax nostalgic for the time when Old World wines were absolutely, positively accepted as the gold standard,” says Randall Grahm, the iconoclastic founder of Bonny Doon Winery and one of the first winemakers to use Stelvin screw caps.
“On the one hand, I don’t miss the close-mindedness and the acute lack of interest in a diversity of styles,” he says.
As far as Frantze is concerned, it’s all good.
“Wine is an art for us, a passion. As long as they keep a good attitude and don’t take themselves too seriously, they will enhance everybody’s enjoyment by bringing their knowledge to the table,” Frantze says.
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Lauren Chapin/The Star
Ryan Fry
Age: 28
Current job: Sales rep for Premier Cru
Nickname: The Kid
Favorite place to have a glass after work: JJ’s
Quaff du jour: Bubbles, white Bordeaux, Rhones
What my parents think about my so-called job: Glad I finally have a real job.
Best part of this job: Tasting new wines, predicting the next big hit, helping restaurants mold wine lists.
Favorite words to use to describe wines: “Sexy,” “silky,” “complex,” “luscious.”
The next rung on the ladder, or what I want to do when I grow up: Make wine.
On my last vacation: I picked grapes in Arroyo Grande at Laetitia.
Ryan Maybee
Age: 28
Current job: Entrepreneur/bar owner, JP Wine Bar and Coffee House opening later this spring in the Crossroads
Favorite place to have a glass after work: Velvet Dog, Harry’s Country Club, Osteria Il Centro
Quaff du jour: Beamish Irish Stout
What my parents think about my so-called job: My dad’s proud and supportive because I’m following my dreams. My mom thinks I take too many risks.
Best part of this job: Creative freedom and being able to meet new people and see that they have a good time.
Tunes to sip by: Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, Phish, the Strokes
Favorite words to use to describe wines: “Racy,” “spicy.”
When not on the job, I: Play my guitar, ride my bike, hang out with my dog and my friends.
On my last vacation: I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with Jimmy Frantze.
Motto: “Wine is fun. Don’t take it too seriously.” Aaron Prater
Age: 28
Current job: Marketer of fine wines with Glazer’s Midwest
Education: Seven years in Marine Corps
Nickname: The Beav
Quaff du jour: Anything pink, especially pink bubbles. Dry rose is one of the most misunderstood wine categories.
Best part of this job: There’s a lot to love, but I really enjoy the educational aspect, both learning and teaching. There is always something new to taste or some new place on the map to look at.
Tunes to sip by: Frank Black and the Catholics, the Kinks, George Clinton and P-Funk. Cracker has some of the best drinking lyrics every written.
Favorite word to use to describe wines: “Dirty.” Most of my friends don’t understand “earthy.”
To impress a date, order: On the red side, you’ve got to go to Gigondas. For the white, a Chbteauneuf-du-Pape. You don’t have to drop the same kind of scratch as you do on a red CdP, but you get an amazing bottle of wine.
If not wine, then: Everything. I’m not picky. Scotch, beer, gin, wine, cider, pre-mixed cocktails. I make my own beer, and were it not illegal, I’d run a still.
Ibuprofen or acetaminophen: Hair of the dog
Motto: “This is the summer of pink.” Jennifer Cossey
Age: 28
Current job : Sommelier. Launching new
business, Guide de Vin, to help restaurants develop wine lists and train servers.
Nickname: Jen-X
Why I picked this career: I love the experience behind eating and drinking, and I love the history and culture of wine, and food, for that matter. It brings family together; it brings friends together.
Best part of job: Watching people have memorable evenings and helping people
become more comfortable with wine.
Favorite words to describe wines:
“Unpretentious,” “chewy,” “delicate,” “lacy.”
On my last vacation, I: was in Lake Tahoe. We made food, drank wine, walked on the beach in the snow, sat in the hot tub, watched movies and just hung out. We laughed a lot. Laughter and friends are so important and such great medicine for life’s troubles.
Ibuprofen or acetaminophen : Ibuprofen and Bloody Marys
“It’s for everyone,
not just the elite.”
Ryan Sciara
Age: 33
Current job : Managing partner for Cellar Rat Wine Merchants opening this spring in the Crossroads
Education: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Washburn University
Why I picked this career: I prefer to carry a corkscrew to work rather than a gun.
How I got this job: Luck. Timing meets opportunity. My best wine customer at 40 Sardines was looking for an investment. I wanted to do something on my own.
What my parents think of my so-called job: They love it. I think they may even be a little jealous.
Tunes to sip by: Dashboard Confessional, Fiona Apple, Jack Johnson
Favorite words to describe wines: “Killer,” “rockin’,” “sexy.”
When not on the job, I: train for triathlons.
“Champagne is
an everyday drink.”
Zach Hangauer
Age: 29
Current job: Waiter at Krause Dining
Quaff du jour: 1999 Mount Langi Ghiram Shiraz from Australia
Tunes to sip by: Jeff Parker, “Like-Coping”; Lee Hazlewood, “Cowboy in Sweden”
When not on the job: I work on my record label.
Next rung on the ladder, or what I want to do when I grow up: Run a record label and invest in Lawrence.
On my last vacation: I went to New York, record-shopped in the East Village and ate at Per Se.
Motto: “Peasant wines are often the best wines.” For more Gen-X wine profiles,
go to E-6.
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(c) 2006, The Kansas City Star.
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