While you might chuckle at your one friend who prefers a glass of pinot noir when everyone else is knocking back BuzzBallz, one class at NYU shares their affinity for wine — and tastings are only the tip of the iceberg. 

Offered every spring by the Steinhardt Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, the three-credit Beverages course revolves around all things wine, from local industry trends and regional histories to different types of grapes and the farmers behind every bottle. Jack Brogan, who will teach the class for the first time next semester, aims to highlight not only a wide range of wines, but also the supply chains, laws and consumer preferences that continue to shape the beverage’s image.

“I love being able to show people that wine is not just this snobby, esoteric universe — this is an agricultural product, and it’s someone’s life and story,” Brogan said. “You can taste a wine from somewhere else and be transported to that place, and have a small glimpse of this faraway land and story that is not yours.”

The class, which has a $175 entry fee, no pre- or corequisites and is limited to students aged 21 and up, takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of wine, with an emphasis on the experiences of industry professionals. Brogan said that the entry-level course will host a variety of guest speakers — including general managers of restaurants, wine shop owners and possibly winemakers — and will involve wine tastings almost every week.

“In keeping with professional spirit, we spit everything out, so there’s not a drinking component to the class so much as there is a tasting component,” Brogan said. “It’s not the most glamorous thing, but if you want to keep actually tasting wines and thinking about them, that’s sort of what you have to do.”

This spring marks Brogan’s first time teaching at NYU, where he will contextualize the class with current events and trends that influence the industry in New York City — from the Trump administration’s 15% tariff on European bottles to the growing popularity of tart, slightly funky low-intervention wine, also known as natural wine. 

Brogan, whose parents’ enthusiasm for wine sparked his own, took the Beverages course when he was a senior at NYU. 

“Where the class was impactful to me is that it showed me how the industry works, and gave me a slightly more practical view of how you can use wine and beverage as a career path,” Brogan said. 

Even after graduating in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in theater, he immediately began working in wine shops and has been in the industry ever since. He has also taken courses with Wine & Spirit Education Trust, an organization that offers foundational classes on everything to do with wine, and is currently a sales manager at Super Glou, an importer and distributor of natural European wines.

Steinhardt senior Vera Mak wants to work in the food and beverage industry and took the Beverages course last spring, calling it one of her favorite classes at NYU. The Nutrition and Food Studies Department also offers a two-credit Wine and Spirits graduate-level course, where students similarly delve into various wine topics, from fermentation to retail business.

“After taking this class, I’ve really come to appreciate winemaking so much,” Mak said. “Now when I’m out shopping for wine or at a restaurant, I can recognize things — I’ll be like, ‘I know where this grape is from,’ or ‘This is a dry wine, this is a lighter wine.’”

Though consumption trends indicate that many Americans — particularly young people — are drinking less wine and other types of alcohol, the beverage remains a critical part of both the restaurant industry and dining culture. Bars and restaurants earn roughly a 70% profit margin on wine, and bottles sold tableside are often priced two to three times higher than when sold at wine shops — making wine all the more valuable for businesses, and all the more worthwhile as a topic of study. 

“If you want to work in wine in the United States, New York City is the place to be,” Brogan said. “Wine, to me, is storytelling and connection. If I can foster a little bit of that in the class, then I will view it as a success.”