What I can learn from the wine industry

I am taking this class for two main reasons:
1) I want to become a more knowledgeable wine consumer.
2) I am interested in the insights in branding and sales channel management that I can glean from the wine industry.

Regarding my potential as a savvy wine consumer, I have some big disadvantages. Firstly, I don't have a great sense of smell. I cannot easily perceive how much oak there is in wine. I don't easily detect "notes." Secondly, I don't generally like white wine. I have difficulty differentiating the subtle distinctions in taste and texture in white wines, and I have a hard time justifying spending more than $15 on a bottle. Thirdly, my father (quite generously) spoiled me as a teenager with great wine during dinners at home, wine that is resolutely out of my price range for the near future.

Given these disadvantages, I am eager to learn some ways to distinguish good wines from bad, determine the best wine pairings with food and specific occasions, and appreciate some of the complexities and nuances that each wine can have, all at price points that are accessible to me in my present stage of life.

Separately, I have three years of experience in consumer goods at Kraft Heinz and am quite interested in the relationship that consumers have with brands, how brands are built, and how businesses can manage sales channels as new technologies evolve. I believe that several of the insights about the wine industry from this class could be applied to consumer goods in general, and I can't wait to benefit from those learnings.