What Can We Learn from Each Other? The Changing Definition of Fine Wine | Pauline Vicard

As we grapple with our own definition of “specialty,” Pauline Vicard shares ARENI’s journey of defining “fine wine” and explores opportunities for mutual learnings between industries.

Special Thanks to Our Partners, Pacific Barista Series

Re:co (Regarding: coffee) is a unique event designed for high-level discussion, leading innovation and strategy development for those passionate and influential in the world of specialty coffee. Innovating to Meet Opportunity, the third session of Re:co 2021, was supported by Pacific Barista Series.

About the Speaker

Pauline Vicard
Principal and Executive Director, ARENI

Pauline Vicard co-founded and directs ARENI Global, a research and action institute dedicated to the future of Fine Wine, gathering top international experts in a think tank format. Growing up working hands-on in her family vineyard in Burgundy, Pauline broadened her vocational commitment to wine by joining the regional wine body and French Embassies in Cuba and Norway. She then created a successful corporate wine events and education company, and was named France’s largest official on-trade union wine educator, before moving to London to lead ARENI. She is currently studying to be a Master of Wine, exam famously known as one of the most difficult in the world and a title only hold by less than 400 people in the world.

Pauline is also a Wine and Spirit Education Trust certified educator, mother of two little girls, and an Ultimate Frisbee champion.

About this Session: Innovating to Meet Opportunity

This glimpse into the future, alongside the upheaval of the pandemic, is full of boundless opportunity. For those who have found themselves with unexpected time as lockdowns came into force, there were opportunities to test new ideas, build stronger bonds with communities, or even just to re-examine and repair the systems and the structures of “before” to usher in the future unraveling before our eyes. But what is innovation? How is it different from novelty? And do the ways we currently work need to change if we want to encourage it?


Directly connect to the people and conversations driving coffee at Re:co, the industry stage for leadership and ideas. Addressing the most pressing topics facing our industry today, Re:co blends expert speakers, sensory experiences, live discussion, networking, and community engagement opportunities.

Re:co returns as an in-person event in 2022, hosted at the Westin Boston Seaport, MA, USA, from April 6-7. Learn more or register: recosymposium.org.