Falling in Love with Malbec & Argentine Culture

Back in the summer of 2009, the world felt shaky. As the United States was just emerging from the trough of the Global Financial Crisis, I was finishing up my first year of college and was supremely grateful to be in school. An aspiring economics major who was unabashedly excited to jump right into the labor force, I quickly learned that no firm on Wall Street would be willing to hire an unskilled 18-year-old economics geek (or really anyone, for that matter) at this bleak point in time. Moreover, in the wake of the financial crisis, I was keenly aware that the global banking system had failed millions of people. And so, somewhat disillusioned with the traditional financial industry, I set out to test the theory that financial services could be used to promote financial inclusion and enable upward economic mobility for the poor. This hypothesis is how I landed my first (very much unpaid) summer internship at a tiny microfinance bank in rural Argentina. 

Now, I know that you are thinking something along the lines of, "Nike, stop rambling about finance for once and just write the damn blog post about wine." Ok, well here you have it: I went to Argentina to discover microfinance (this is its own story), and I accidentally ended up falling in love with Malbec. At the tender age of 18, I had not yet been exposed to wine (at least not the kind that didn't come in a box), and so I was thrilled to be of age in Argentina. I was even more thrilled by the fact that the exchange rate allowed me to buy very nice bottles of wine for next to nothing. In a country where I knew no one (except my host family) and was not yet fluent in the language, Malbec facilitated my introduction to the people and culture of Argentina. During my time in Argentina, I opened many a bottle of Malbec (typically from the Mendoza region) with my coworkers, host family members, and anyone else who was willing to befriend a helpless yet aggressively friendly American. I loved the big, juicy, slightly spicy flavors I discovered in those bottles, and I loved even more the conversations about Argentine politics (which are messed up to say the least), Argentine economic history (even more messed up than the politics, unfortunately), music, food, and politics that ensued. Not surprisingly, the Malbec loosened up my tongue and allowed me to flex my Spanish language skills and try out distinctly Argentine phrases without inhibitions. These experiences allowed me to develop my fluency in Spanish and later caused me to pursue a minor in Spanish. Before I knew it, I was an American speaking Spanish with an Argentine accent (I accidentally broke into Spanish in my calls back home more than once...I know this sounds pretentious, but it actually happened), and I was completely mesmerized by the warmth, resilience, and general spiciness that characterized Argentine culture and people. Strangely, I felt very much at home in my new, adopted country, and this incredible experience largely colored the rest of my personal, academic, and professional experiences (in fact, my time in Argentina wove its way into all of my business school applications).

At the end of the summer, I took my love for Malbec back home and introduced my family and friends to my delicious new discovery. (Side note: I did not bring home the Argentines' affinity for mixing cheap red wine with Coke or Fanta, which still makes me want to gag.). Interestingly, in 2009, Argentine and Chilean wines were still relatively unknown in the United States. The available selection as well as the price tags on Malbec have expanded since 2009, but I am happy to see the growing awareness of New World Wines in the U.S. 

Since my time in Argentina, I have developed a growing appreciation for New World Wines, especially those from South Africa (I was so excited to visit the Stellenbosch region last Spring!) and Australia. One thing I'd like to explore in our class is the economic history, as well as the economic outlook, behind New World Wines.

Basically, I am saying that I am a huge economics dork, and I would love an economics-based reason to continue to study (and drink!!) great wines.