NYC Wine Company

Andrew Harwood, Founder

Andrew Harwood has worked in nearly every facet of the wine industry over the last ten years. His love of wine started while working in a number of the country's best dining rooms. Yet his true passion was discovered while making wine in Hungary, France, and California.

After spending two years as the Assistant Wine Director at Picholine in Manhattan, he decided he wanted to experience the production end of the industry. He spent 1997 in the vineyards of Tokaj, Hungary and then went on to earn his Master of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University. During his first year he served as the Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Beverage Department under Professor Mutkoski. His second year of study was spent working at Chateau Lynch-Bages in Bordeaux, France and studying in Paris, France at L'Essec Ecole du Commerce. Following graduation, he went to work as the Assistant Winemaker at Limerick Lane Cellars in Sonoma County, California.

Limerick Lane has a total staff of two, so his work there was varied and diverse. In addition to making wine, he was involved in sales & marketing and obtained intimate knowledge of the workings of a small winery. Through this he was able to better understand what really goes into a bottle of wine and how the "Marketing Machine" of many bigger wineries really drives the direction of the wine trade.

He has been written up in Newsweek Magazine (October 6, 1997) for his work in Hungary and was featured in The Wall Street Journal (April 11, 2000) for his plan to convert tobacco fields to vineyards in Southside Virginia. His teaching experience includes Cornell University, City College of San Francisco, and Mercyhurst College, yet he has logged most of his hours as an educator as the founder of NYC Wine Class, a company he started in April 2002 that continues to make wine accesible to people by teaching them to get in touch with their own palate.