Crafting a Positive Narrative: Promoting Wine in the Face of Challenges

Eric Asimov

Organization:

The New York Times

Sessions:

Crafting a Positive Narrative: Promoting Wine in the Face of Challenges

Eric Asimov is the chief wine critic of The New York Times and the author of “How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto,’’ published by William Morrow, and “Wine With Food: Pairing Notes and Recipes From The New York Times,’’ written with recipes by Florence Fabricant and published by Rizzoli. His column appears in the Food section of The Times. He is on Bluesky and Instagram, @EricAsimov. A collection of his columns is included in “The New York Times Book of Wine,’’ published by Sterling Epicure.

Honore Comfort

Organization:

Wine Institute, California

Sessions:

Strength in Numbers: How Wineries Can Leverage Regional Associations to Handle Challenges and Drive Growth, Crafting a Positive Narrative: Promoting Wine in the Face of Challenges

As Vice President of International Marketing for California Wines, Honore Comfort draws on her more than 20+ years of experience in international wine marketing, brand strategy, and association management to build the global brand for California wines and promote export sales. Prior to joining Wine Institute, Honore held several senior leadership positions in the wine sector including Executive Director of the Sonoma County Vintners, President of Brack Mountain Wine Company, and North American Brand Director for Penfolds and Rosemount Estate with Foster’s Wine Estates (now Treasury Wine Estates).

Before joining the wine industry, Ms. Comfort worked in marketing and advertising in both public and private sector roles and holds post-graduate degrees in both Business and Arts administration. She lives in Healdsburg, California with her husband, where they grow and make their own wines in the heart of Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley.

TJ Douglas

Organization:

Drink Progressively Group, Massachusetts

Sessions:

Crafting a Positive Narrative: Promoting Wine in the Face of Challenges

TJ Douglas Founder and CEO, Drink Progressively Group

Over the course of his 30-year career, TJ Douglas has worked on all sides of the hospitality industry – including restaurant management, distribution, and beverage retail. TJ uses his decades of experience to lead several groundbreaking wine industry businesses, all of which are dedicated to creating community through beverage.

In 2010, TJ, along with his wife, Hadley, founded The Urban Grape, a ground-breaking wine store in the South End neighborhood of Boston which expanded to Washington, DC in 2024. The store concept is simple, but revolutionary – Drink Progressively. The store’s proprietary Progressive Scale system organizes wine by its body, instead of by varietal or region. The Urban Grape has become one of the most successful independently owned wine stores in the country as a result and was named the United States Small Business of the Year in 2021. The Urban Grape is also a 4-time Top 100 Wine Retail Store in America winner, a 2-time Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Nominee, a 5-time ICIC Inner City 100 winner, and a 6-time Best of Boston winner. The store has been nationally profiled in Food & Wine, The New York Times, NPR, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Axios, and Men’s Journal, among others. TJ and Hadley were named EY Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2021. In 2023, TJ was a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 winner.

In 2021, TJ and Hadley founded Progressive Wine Company, a new wine brand dedicated to creating access to the wine industry for BIPOC consumers, as well as others who have previously felt like the wine industry was intimidating and not approachable. In 2023, they founded the Drink Progressively Group, a Boston-based management company that oversees the work of the Douglas’ business ventures. TJ is also a founder of The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color, and the co-author of Drink Progressively: A Bold New Way to Pair Wine and Food.

TJ is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker at wine industry conferences and other industry events. He is a nationally recognized wine educator who travels around the country to lead wine tastings for corporations and other organizations. His specialized wine tasting, “My Life Through the Lens of a Wine Glass,” has been heralded as an impactful way for corporations to learn about the importance of DEI work.

TJ is an active member of his community, serving on the Steering Committee for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, the Board of Trustees of The Fessenden School, the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Metropolitan College at Boston University, and the VP and Founding Member of the Boston Black Golf Association.

Martha Stoumen

Organization:

Martha Stoumen Wines, California

Sessions:

Crafting a Positive Narrative: Promoting Wine in the Face of Challenges

Martha Stoumen is a Sonoma County based, first generation winemaker and business leader. She founded Martha Stoumen Wines in 2014 to produce commercially viable, naturally made wines in her home state of California. Martha champions dry farming and organic methods in the vineyard, and seeks to expand perceptions around what California wine represents. Annually, she produces nearly two dozen wines incorporating both unexpected and classic varietals, many of which come from historic, lesser-known growing regions. Martha Stoumen Wines is a majority female owned and operated business.

Martha Stoumen and her wines have been featured in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, the Washington Post, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Sunset, and Playboy, among others.

Martha currently lives in Santa Rosa, CA with her husband, Jon Patch, and their five-year-old son, August.