Jared Brandt

Teaches at General Assembly

Jared Brandt’s interest in wine began when he worked at a small neighborhood restaurant, in Atlanta Georgia where he attended college. He learned to upsell wine as an opportunistic way to make more tips. This edge led him to begin actually learning about and studying the bottles that he was selling and eventually sitting in with distributors when they came to sell their portfolio.

After college, Jared moved to California and began working in technology, where he met his now wife and winemaking partner, Tracey Brandt. They spent much of their free time as very active consumers of wine: visiting vineyards, and wine tasting. In 2002, Jared and Tracey spent a sabbatical year in France working with natural wine producer, Eric Texier. When they returned from the Northern Rhone, they started Donkey & Goat winery following the same traditional, handmade techniques that they were taught and inspired by.