We had the good fortune of connecting with Naushad Huda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Firstly, I’m geeky about wine. By day I lead customer strategy for a global technology & management consulting firm. When I started geeking out on wine I naturally started to look at the industry deeper. What I observed 7 years ago was a multi-billion dollar industry that was stagnant and un-relatable to modern consumers. Today’s consumer discovers, purchases, advocate for and becomes loyal to a brand much differently and through multiple channels than they ever have in the past. In my opinion the Wine world did not and still hasn’t harnessed and understanding of the modern consumer. Wine is by and large un-relatable to younger and diverse consumers.

To frame it differently, there’s a multibillion dollar industry that is un-relatable to an ever evolving modern consumer on whom it will rely on for future revenue. So the question I asked myself ‘how do you align the two?’

So I started the company I Like This Grape. Today we focus on 2 things, first a modern wine book series designed purposefully to give younger, new consumers confidence when visiting a wine region. The second is a very intentional

popup winemaker tasting series called VINO POP. The mission was to bring the tasting room experience out of the tasting room. We don’t announce the winemaker nor make tickets available until just 2 weeks prior to an event! Some tickets have sold out in less than 24 hours – our NPS score is over 90 and over 50% of guests at each event have attended more than 3 VINO POPs!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In OC – for the weekend I’d take them to the following spots in no particular order:

-Pick up coffee and random conversation with strangers at Laguna Beach Coffee.
-Oysters and martinis in Laguna Beach at the Deck sitting on a deck on the sand watching the ocean and the scene!
-Meander the streets, art galleries and beaches in Laguna
-Dinner at Vaca in Costa Mesa with a beautiful Spanish wine recommended by their wine guy Donny!
-Night cap at a speakeasy (can’t tell you where this one is :))

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I was motivated to learn more about wine through a client of mine who is the director of digital marketing at Yamaha Watercrafts – and founded the popular blog costcowineblog.com

Website: https://www.vinopopevents.com / https://www.drivethroughbooks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilikethisgrape/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naushadhuda/

Image Credits
none – all mine

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