Thanks to her decade-long tenure in the wine industry, Grays established a network that would help her create her own wine club. She tapped a mentor and friend to figure out the details and logistics, including how many bottles she wanted to provide, the price point, and the frequency of the offerings.

Winemaking was a profession most South African parents could never have envisioned for their children.

But Black South Africans are today managing to break through multiple barriers into the renowned industry, transforming a landscape that was historically white.

Cha McCoy, international woman in wine, does it again. Previously featured in Forbes for leaving behind a corporate career to become a wine consultant and event sommelier, McCoy can now add retail proprietor to her growing list of achievements. Last week, she debuted her first shop dedicated to the wines and winemakers she loves in downtown Syracuse, New York. She named it Communion Wine + Spirits, a reference to her goal to break down barriers about wine while bringing people together.

With her enthusiastic, individualized approach and a magnanimous charitable streak, Tonya Pitts is a prime example of how sommeliers can impact the wine world far beyond the confines of the restaurants whose lists they shepherd… She has long supported female, Black and Latino winemakers, but Pitts is also an enthusiastic mentor, advocate and ambassador for women, BIPOC and LGBTQ people within the hospitality sector of the industry.

Meet Tanisha Townsend, France’s top wine influencer and an incredible Black woman wine tour hostess. Wine tourism is booming, to put things simply. Tanisha navigated an already flourishing industry and added her own unique spin on what wine tourism could look like..

As Sip & Share Wines grows, Kearney wants to continue to influence the diversity and inclusion of wine lovers and the wine industry. "We want those who #SipWithUs to know wine is fun and not to be discounted due to the gatekeepers and barriers," she says. 

Kilolo Strobert first stepped foot in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights wine shop Fermented Grapes to drop off her résumé in 2004. Fresh out of culinary school and unsure where a career in hospitality could take her, she had no idea that nearly two decades later, she’d be the owner of the very shop that jump-started her wine career”

“I've made wine all over the world. I've consulted and won awards. I believe I'm just an iconic winemaker now," says Ntsiki Biyela, smiling, without any arrogance…”