All Roads Lead to Wine: This Woman's Life Journey

Interviews

Mar 26

As we are nearing the end of Women’s History Month and our current Women in Wine series, in this article we transition from women working in wineries to a woman wine entrepreneur: Burley Tuggle.

Here’s Burley Tuggle tasting Clos Des Amis wines after our last VeroTalk at her tasting room, Divino, in Newark NJ.

Fresh from moderating our last VeroTalk with fellow woman in wine Gretel Meys Compton, vigneron of Clos Des Amis winery, Burley Tuggle is a business woman, wine enthusiast & expert, with WSET 3 certification. Along with Court of Master Sommeliers courses under her belt, Burley also studied at 3 top culinary schools. Burley founded Divino Enterprises, a New Jersey-based wine tasting education, events and consulting company, in 2009. Her company has various branded activities, including Sipper’s Delight Wine Tasting Social Club, a monthly wine tasting and networking group for wine lovers in New York and New Jersey, she started in 2010. Then, she opened a physical space, Divino Wine Tasting Room, Eatery and Lounge in Newark NJ in 2019 (yes, right before Covid hit!).

Despite the challenges she has encountered with Covid related closures and slowdowns, she nevertheless proceeds onwards with her business and future goals, fueled by her interest and passion in wine, and her commitment to teaching the “Art of Wine Tasting” and bringing wine culture to the urban community. Sharing the same vision to “demystify traditional wine culture and make it accessible to all”, we are super fortunate to have her part of the Vero Community as a Vero Ambassador.

Our founder, Sheila Donohue, had the opportunity to sit and chat with her recently (yes, over a glass of wine!). Sheila was curious about how she got to where she is today and where she sees her business and life going. Here’s how the conversation went.

(Spoiler alert: as with other stories we recounted this month of other Women in Wine, also Burley’s story is not a straight line path into wine.)

Burley, tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from?

Burley celebrating her 10th birthday in her hometown of Atlanta with her cousins and a family friend.

“I’m from Atlanta: I’m a Georgia Peach but not a Southern Belle, that’s what I always say” (and she laughs). “I left Altanta for Nashville to get a Bachelors Degree in sociology at Vanderbilt University. From there, I moved up to New York City area to get my masters in Urban Policy Analysis and Management at the New School, which is like a business degree for non profit work. From there I had several jobs, starting with a political schmoozing job which was not for me, then with New York City trying to find ways to cut budgets, which was not fun, especially because I felt ‘removed’. Then I landed a job in the finance department of a social policy research company where I stayed for almost 20 years. “

When and how did your interest in wine start?

Here’s Burley visiting the Champagne region in France in 2010.

“While I was in my full time job, my interest in wine started and I went out to California to visit wineries in Napa and Sonoma. Coming back from the trip, I started to go to the Chelsea Wine Vault wine tastings and classes, and from there I knew that I wanted to be in the wine business. I started to get wine certifications and then in 2010 I started my meetup group, Sipper’s Delight Wine Tasting Social Club, after having just formed my business in November 2009. I knew wine was more than just a hobby since it just never went away. It wasn’t like ‘oh I’ll just take a class and I’ll be happy’. I wanted to be in the industry but at the same time I had a full time job (in finance). So I was doing what I could do to put myself in the industry.”

And then…

Here’s Burley with the Sippers Delight Wine Tasting Social Club on a Hamptons winery visit in 2010.

“One morning in November 2019, I arrived to the office and found out that my entire unit was being dismantled and everyone was asked to leave the company. Fortunately, just 5 days before, I had opened up the Divino Tasting Room. It was fate even though noone likes to be laid off. Then the pandemic hit and it was like, ‘oh my god’, 4 months after I opened my doors! I had to close my doors. Thankfully, the landlord gave us a break on the rent for a year and a half. If that did not happen I would have been out of business in 6 months. It’s been a blessing.“

What is your focus with the Divino Tasting Room?

Here’s Burley with friends, along with award winning winemaker Aamira Garba, at Divino Tasting Room last summer.

“At my tasting room, besides having artisanal food and beverages, and a place to relax and socialize, we do wine education. Our classes encourage people to try new wines and learn a ‘not too geeky’, down-to-earth approach. We also rent out the space, and do private events.”

What are your next steps?

My goal has always been to have a wine bar, like with a liquor license where I can sell wine. Newark does not have an LGBT wine bar and I want to be the first in Newark to open one. Divino Tasting Room is the foundation which also proves that I have a business model. I’m already educating people about wine and have a following, thanks to years of experience with my meetup group and Sipper’s Delight Wine Tasting Social Club.