Belinda Chang

Belinda Chang is a sommelier, an experiential storyteller, and lifestyle expert. She is the only bipoc woman to win a James Beard award in a drinks category in 2011 and was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as the “global virtual wine experience guru” in 2019. Belinda specializes in making epic moments everyday occurrences for everyone. From your first glass of Champagne and fist bump of caviar to the final mignardises with a splash of Sauternes, Belinda warmly invites you into her circle of approachable luxury at home and abroad, irl and virtually.

Over the course of her lauded decades-long career in food, wine and restaurants, Belinda has made a name for herself as a sought-after sommelier, host and on-camera personality. Prior to entering the life of a small business owner, Belinda managed the legendary 26,000-bottle cellar at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, the wine lists at Laurent Gras’ The Fifth Floor in San Francisco, and Danny Meyer’s The Modern in New York City. Belinda returned to Chicago in 2015 to serve as Managing Partner and Wine Director of the splashy steakhouse Maple and Ash before setting off to create her bootstrap, start-up experience production company: Belinda Chang.

Since founding her company in 2016, Chang has created and produced some of the wine and food world’s buzziest irl and virtual events — the who’s who annual James Beard Awards Pre-Prom, which is dedicated to empowering and pampering women in the restaurant industry, her splashy annual Pool Party during the Food and Wine Aspen Classic, and Virtual Boozy Brunch to support furloughed service people and small business owners during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2021, Chang’s virtual production company, studio 8h productions, created, hosted and produced over 300 virtual experiences for Fortune 500 clients and delivered bespoke experience boxes to their guests in 12 countries. Today, Belinda continues to innovate and work to connect, comfort, and create moments and memories on screen and in person for global audiences.

In addition to creating and hosting live experiences, Belinda is a regular fixture in global media outlets like The New York Times, Bloomberg, Food and Wine, The Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune among many others. Belinda is also a published wine writer and has written about wine in cookbooks, newspapers and magazines (Ten Speed Press, Random House, Gourmet Special Editions, The Atlantic). Chang has appeared as a drinks, cheese and lifestyle expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business, MSNBC and many other broadcast stations.