An elective course helped this alumna discover her passion and a job she loves.
Danielle Baldwin was a year away from earning her bachelor’s degree from Wilmington University when she sat down with her advisor and made a decision that changed her career direction.
At the time, the choice didn’t seem particularly momentous.
“My advisor told me I needed to take an elective,” Baldwin says, “and since I had just turned 21, she said I could take a wine class. I was like, ‘A wine class? I didn’t even know that was a thing.’”
Laughing, she adds, “And I didn’t know anything about wine. But I figured, how hard can drinking be?”
She soon learned that the course — The World of Wines — was about far more than drinking, or wine.
“It encompassed a lot of different things — art, science, history, geography,” says Baldwin. “It ended up being kind of challenging. There was always something fresh and new.”
True to its title, the course opened a new world to Baldwin, a world in which she is now fully immersed.
She earned a degree in Business Management with a concentration in Human Resource Management in 2016. A graduate of Hodgson Vocational Technical School in Newark, Delaware, Baldwin had been working since she was 14. While attending WilmU, she worked in collections for Sallie Mae, the latest in what she labels “call center jobs.” But because of her growing interest in wine, she got a second job with Collier’s of Centreville, a Delaware wine shop owned by Linda Collier, the mother of Kristen Van Riper, who taught WilmU’s wine course.
“I would get off my call center job and go work at Collier’s, and I loved that so much more,” Baldwin says.
Van Riper recommended Baldwin to her mother. “Danielle was a great student. She had a love and a passion for wine and learning about it, and she wanted to pursue learning more about it,” says Van Riper.
By 2018, Baldwin had decided wine would be her calling, and she began scouring the industry for work. Delaware, which seems to favor craft beer brewers, offered few opportunities, but she soon found a job in North Carolina, working at one of Foxcroft Wine Co.’s four locations in the Charlotte area. She managed the wine store, which doubles as a restaurant.
She says she “learned a lot there” before returning to Delaware and becoming general manager of Girard Craft and Cork, on Ninth Street in downtown Wilmington. In addition to wine, the cozy shop sells craft beer, liquor, and boutique-style gifts.
Baldwin has brought energy and creativity to the business, which is part of the Ninth Street Development group that includes Faire Café, Blitzen Bar, Decoursey Beauty Lounge, and Red Brick Marketing, all located on the 200 block of West Ninth Street.
She leads tastings every Thursday afternoon and has introduced such innovations as the “Build Your Own Charcuterie Board” class, held at Faire Café last October. The evening of “wine, vibes, and charcuterie” attracted nearly 35 patrons, who paid $65 to attend. With Baldwin as instructor, they learned how to build fall-themed charcuterie boards.
“We like to focus on hands-on activities,” Baldwin says, “so we’re planning other classes, like a mixology class where we’ll have a local bartender come in and demonstrate how to make various cocktails. We also have wine classes where we actually deep dive into different wines, different regions.”
Baldwin, who lives in Newark, now has a thorough knowledge of wines and the wine industry. She has learned on the job, and she has visited nearby vineyards in Pennsylvania as well as North Carolina and Seattle.
“I like to teach,” she says, “and I like to teach about things I’m passionate about. I could talk about wine all day. Beer and spirits too.”
And she’s no wine snob. Her advice for partaking of the grape: “It doesn’t matter what I like or what someone else likes. Some people like a fruity taste, some like more tannin. Drink what you love. The best wine is the one in your glass.”
—Bob Yearick
