Proud LGBTQ member receives James Beard nomination puts new spin on wine drinking in new guide
CHINATOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A local entrepreneur is putting her own flare on the wine industry with a new book that puts a spin on traditional wine tasting and drinking.
Tyler Balliet has spent her entire career changing the way we think about wine, creating a wine guide for the next generation of drinkers.
"You can tell the whole history of human civilization," Balliet said. "There's so much storytelling in science, culture, politics, economics. It's all rolled into wine."
The past two years though have been particularly life changing for the wine connoisseur. Balliet released her debut book, "Rebel School of Wine," and around the same time, the Wisconsin native began a gender transition.
"I spent a lot of time pushing away these emotions and pushing away these feelings and hiding from everybody in my entire life that I even had them," Balliet said. "But in the last few months, I've really gotten that confidence. And, you know, getting something like a James Beard nomination as like a trans woman is like... it puts some pep in my step."
Balliet's colorful apartment in Chinatown shows some of that pep and is a reflection of her work in the, often exclusive, wine industry.
"I think that there's this idea that if it's fun, it can't also be serious or educational and it's just not true," Balliet said. "You can have fun and learn things and learn a lot at the same time. Wine is very much for the people. It's very much you can make what you want out of it. And like I'm proof, like I've built an entire career."
The 45-year-old wine journalist and entrepreneur co-founded the popular immersive pink-wine experience in New York City, "Rosé Mansion," with her partner Morgan First back in 2018. They also created "Wine Riot," a traveling wine festival.
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