Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Sublett.
Hi Taylor, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Aiken, SC until I was 18. I really credit a lot of who I am to where I grew up. I have small town values and really close with my family. I then moved to Charleston to attend the College of Charleston. This is where I really fell in love with food and wine. Very easy to do there. Later in my college years my friends and I shifted to wine bars from college bars. We started cooking a lot and enjoying the nuances of them together. I then moved to Dallas, TX where wine became an absolute obsession. It’s really all I thought about. I would literally spend every lunch break scouring wine shops for hidden gems. At this time I started my sommelier journey while still in corporate America with no intention of being directly in the industry. Just pure passion. I then got exposed to the private wine club scene and this really opened my eyes to a new world that really excited me. I decided to join a new one that was opening when I really couldn’t afford to but I felt it was something I had to do. A few years go by and my best friend visits the club who fell in love with the concept. He owned the perfect building in Atlanta to bring the concept here. Without hesitation, I agreed to do it and sold my house. I promptly made my way to Atlanta but got lost in Argentina for a few months on the way. I then spent the next 3 years building my dream of a wine-driven social club. We opened in December of 2024 and can’t wait to start our second year of business.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s certainly smooth and rough patches. I think owning a business can really change how you approach/ handle obstacles in life. Something is going wrong constantly. You just grow more resilient and better at problem solving. Realistically, my biggest struggle’s were all internal and self doubt. I had never owned a business or even worked in wine. This was something that took years to overcome.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a wine-driven social club that membership based out of SW Atlanta. The club is a special place. It’s a brick/ mortar clubhouse for an incredible wine community located in a 120 plus year old tractor factory. We keep things very simple here. It’s all about wine and people. That’s our identity and North Star. Nothing complicated. I think places tend to overcomplicate and gate keep wine. That’s not what we do. Everything is very intentional with us. We want our members and their guests to come in and forget about the outside world. Share glasses of wine with fellow members who’ve become good friends through community.
Brief overview- We offer members access to the club Tuesday- Saturday from 1-10. Members can work from here, take meetings or enjoy wine. We bring in 3-4 winemakers a month for tastings for members and offer food every night we’re open. Our amazing culinary staff is the team behind BoVino After Dark. Their new concept in the club is called 7th House. We’ve also hosted an incredible residency called Maria with Trevor Shankman over the past year on Sundays/ Mondays. We’ve also had the pleasure of collaborating with our neighbors Ryokou on some dinners. Adair Park is really becoming a hot bed for the food/ wine scene.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I would say I took the biggest risk of my life opening this business. Oddly enough, was one of the easiest decisions of my life. I was in a really tough place in life at the time and desperately needed a change so I took the leap. I think I’ve grown more risk adverse now and take calculated risk. Whereas before I had nothing to lose, quite the opposite now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thevineclub.wine
- Instagram: thevineclubatl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-sublett-41997b79
Image Credits
Ben Pham is to be credited with all pictures but the one of me.
