Turning the Tables on Cathy Huyghe

Cathy Huyghe Cathy Huyghe is a writer, entrepreneur and mindfulness proponent.

She writes about the business and politics of the wine industry in her column for Forbes online. It was during that work, six years ago, that she recognized the need for more business intelligence applied to the increasing abundance of data in the wine and spirits industry. That’s when, in partnership with her husband and business partner, Chris Huyghe, Enolytics was formed. (She’s the “Eno-,” he’s the “-lytics.”)

She also co-creates content for wine-and-wellness site A Balanced Glass in collaboration with founder Rebecca Hopkins.

All three ventures have been recognized for their innovative contributions and, in 2021, Huyghe was named one of the industry’s Most Inspiring People by Wine Industry Network.

How did you come to wine, and to wine writing?

I’ve always known I was a writer. Writing about wine, though, meant turning on every sense, one by one, as I wrote. That changes not only the composition but also the chemistry of writing. It’s more visceral.

I came to wine through a sommelier named Jeff Eichelberger at Bouchon in Las Vegas, where we were both working about 15 years ago. He took the time to line up some bottles and walk me through tasting them, one by one.

After my kids were born, we moved back to Boston and I started writing about wine every day in a blog called 365 Days of Wine. I also started a small business called Red White Boston, where I wrote about local wine events and we created a community called the Red White Tasting Crew.

From there, I started getting assignments from local media, then regional and national publications. Eventually I became a columnist at Forbes.com because, as the editor who hired me said, my writing “is about interesting people, not boring tasting notes.”

What are your primary story interests for Forbes?

For Forbes, my focus is the business and politics of the wine industry. I’m particularly interested in macro trends, whether that’s public health or labor or gender inequality, and how they play out in the world of wine.

Is it possible to make a living as a wine writer today? What are the primary challenges and hurdles you face?

Make a living as a wine writer today? Personally, I’ve never been able to make the math work on that. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, and I respect those who do it successfully. It’s challenging, but it’s possible.I’m also continually curious and inspired by the creative expansions of “wine writer” beyond the traditional outlet/columnist model. It depends on what the writer wants to spend the lion’s share of their time doing. For me, it would mean a lot of pitching story ideas, which I don’t particularly enjoy. What would people be surprised to know about you? I think people would be surprised by how “into” the physical body I am. It probably seems like I spend every hour of the day in my head, between writing and data and meditation. I do dedicate […]

Full article on original website: wineindustryadvisor.com