{"id":4621,"date":"2023-04-26T18:50:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T18:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=4621"},"modified":"2025-02-07T05:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T10:01:37","slug":"the-education-of-an-oenophile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/26\/the-education-of-an-oenophile\/","title":{"rendered":"The Education of an Oenophile"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column4621_45912b-69{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column4621_45912b-69 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column4621_45912b-69 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"an-elective-course-helped-this-alumna-discover-her-passion-and-a-job-she-loves\">An elective course helped this alumna discover her passion and a job she loves.&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Danielle Baldwin was a year away from earning her bachelor\u2019s degree from Wilmington University when she sat down with her advisor and made a decision that changed her career direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, the choice didn\u2019t seem particularly momentous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy advisor told me I needed to take an elective,\u201d Baldwin says, \u201cand since I had just turned 21, she said I could take a wine class. I was like, \u2018A wine class? I didn\u2019t even know that was a thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laughing, she adds, \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t know anything about wine. But I figured, how hard can drinking be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She soon learned that the course \u2014 The World of Wines \u2014 was about far more than drinking, or wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt encompassed a lot of different things \u2014 art, science, history, geography,\u201d says Baldwin. \u201cIt ended up being kind of challenging. There was always something fresh and new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>True to its title, the course opened a new world to Baldwin, a world in which she is now fully immersed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u201ccall center jobs.\u201d But because of her growing interest in wine, she got a second job with Collier\u2019s of Centreville, a Delaware wine shop owned by Linda Collier, the mother of Kristen Van Riper, who taught WilmU\u2019s wine course.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would get off my call center job and go work at Collier\u2019s, and I loved that so much more,\u201d Baldwin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Van Riper recommended Baldwin to her mother. \u201cDanielle 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,\u201d says Van Riper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.\u2019s four locations in the Charlotte area. She managed the wine store, which doubles as a restaurant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says she \u201clearned a lot there\u201d 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Baldwin has brought energy and creativity to the business, which is part of the Ninth Street Development group that includes Faire Caf\u00e9, Blitzen Bar, Decoursey Beauty Lounge, and Red Brick Marketing, all located on the 200 block of West Ninth Street.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She leads tastings every Thursday afternoon and has introduced such innovations as the \u201cBuild Your Own Charcuterie Board\u201d class, held at Faire Caf\u00e9 last October. The evening of \u201cwine, vibes, and charcuterie\u201d attracted nearly 35 patrons, who paid $65 to attend. With Baldwin as instructor, they learned how to build fall-themed charcuterie boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe like to focus on hands-on activities,\u201d Baldwin says, \u201cso we\u2019re planning other classes, like a mixology class where we\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI like to teach,\u201d she says, \u201cand I like to teach about things I\u2019m passionate about. I could talk about wine all day. Beer and spirits too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And she\u2019s no wine snob. Her advice for partaking of the grape: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t 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.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014Bob Yearick<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An elective course helped this alumna discover her passion and a job she loves.&nbsp; Danielle Baldwin was a year away from earning her bachelor\u2019s degree&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[335],"class_list":["post-4621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2023"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":335,"label":"Magazine Spring 2023"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Spring23Mag_Oenophile-480x480.jpg",480,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Marchione","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rachel\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":335,"name":"Magazine Spring 2023","slug":"magazine-spring-2023","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":892,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":24,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14896,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621\/revisions\/14896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}