Episode 140 - Sarah Hughes Bray - Wine Writer, Educator, and Brand Consultant

This episode features Sarah Hughes Bray, a wine educator, writer, and brand consultant who is the 6th generation of an Atlanta-based family and was recently named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 2024 Future 40 innovators in wine. After a diverse career journey in publishing and the auction world, including stints at SAVEUR magazine and Sotheby’s, she found her calling in the wine industry. Sarah is a co-founder of the women-in-wine organization Bâtonnage Forum and runs the Wine Writers’ Symposium based in Napa, CA. Fluent in Italian and French, she served as European Director of VinConnect, building out DtC strategies for wineries, and Brand Ambassador for Vini Franchetti's Tenuta di Trinoro in Tuscany and Passopisciaro on Mt. Etna. She has completed her diploma with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, and she helped build programming and curriculum for The Wine Center at Meadowood in Napa Valley while also serving as a contributor to AFAR, GuildSomm, California Homes, VinePair, and other publications. In her spare time, she leads sales and marketing initiatives for T. Berkley Wines with her husband, winemaker Taylor Berkley Boydstun, a Loire-varietal project based in northern California. You can follow her @sarah.h.bray on Instagram, check out her “Life by the Glass” substack, and visit www.batonnageforum.com or www.winewriterssymposium.org to learn more about her initiatives.

Recorded November 1, 2024