20 APRIL 2019
OBSESSIONS
JT: What makes you most excited
about wine?
CM: I think it’s wine’s power to
transport. I’ve always been a trav-
eler. Back in the day I’d buy my
Rick Steves book to get ready for
a trip. Now when I prep for a trip,
wine is my travel guide. Tasting the
wines of a particular destination
before I get there gets me ready for
my excursions and helps me have
that meaningful connection with
farmers and winemakers, and then
when I come home, I can share
those connections and experiences
with my guests. Wine is my virtual
passport. It’s my vessel to connect
people to each other and to places.
It’s my way of bridging gaps.
JT: If someone is coming to one of
your Communion events for the
first time, what do you want them
to feel when they walk in the door?
CM: A sense of community, imme-
diately. It started out in my living
room, and it still feels that way.
People find their way and connec-
tions with each other. I’m trying to
drive home bonding.
JT: And what do you want people to
take with them when they leave?
CM: I want people to connect to a
place through their glass and have
that travel moment without having
to fly. I know that not everyone can
afford to travel, and I think wine
allows you to transport yourself.
I want to take the snobbery out of
wine and make people feel open to
sharing. It’s about educating people
with no pretense, no judgment.
JT: What does it mean to you to be
a black woman running the show
in an industry that has always
skewed very white and very male?
CM: I run the show in my engineer-
ing life, and it’s a transferable skill.
I know how to be the unicorn in
the room. I can sit in the room
looking the way I look, and I don’t
care if no one else looks like me.
JT: You’ve spoken about injustices
within the hospitality industry.
What does a more equitable indus-
try look like to you?
CM: We’re doing all of it. And
when I say “we,” I mean all of the
people. So it’s no longer, “Whoa,
the first black person was awarded
whatever.” Yes, we’re excited, but
we don’t want to be that anymore.
People tell me I’m going to be the
first black female Master Som-
melier. I look forward to when all
the firsts are done and we’re in the
place of strength where we can lift
each other up.
JT: And how do you see it
happening?
CM: We need to fight our way in
there and then look at who else we
can bring along. We have to Harriet
Tubman the whole situation. We
have to keep making the same trips
to keep bringing more people up.
CHA MCCOY INHERITED her love of food and wine, and all the places they can take you, from
her father: “I would be dragged out of school when he had a taste for something, and we’d
drive three hours away. Food dictated everything we did in life.” A trained civil engineer who
worked in corporate real estate managing multi-million dollar projects, McCoy now runs Cha
Squared Hospitality, a lifestyle company with a focus on tourism and gastronomy. She’s also a
certified sommelier and hosts a pop-up wine tasting event series called The Communion. Her
work centers as much on community and creating a sense of belonging as it does on wine,
travel, and getting away. —INTERVIEW BY JULIA TURSHEN, FOUNDER OF EQUITY AT THE TABLE
(EATT) AND AUTHOR OF NOW & AGAIN
Creating Community Cha McCoy on
wine as the ultimate connector
THE INTERVIEW
PHOTOGRAPHY: AARON L. ORTIZ
