The Real McCoy
Cha McCoy, MBA, CS, LEED AP, is a NAACP Nominated Author, Certified Sommelier, Educator, and Entrepreneur. In addition, she leads Cha Squared, LLC, a beverage experience company focused on curated events, tourism, and education.
Her work has been celebrated for making wine more accessible, dismantling what she calls palate discrimination in food & beverage, through her initiatives, including but not limited to her signature wine dinner series ‘The Communion’, established in 2017, which she has held internationally and nationally. This experience inspired her to open her first retail space, The Communion Wine & Spirits. Her work continues through her highly anticipated book, Wine Pairing for the People: The Communion of Wine, Food, and Culture from Africa and Beyond, which debuted in November 2025 with publisher HarperCollins.
Cha is the tastemaker of today’s generation; she has held coveted positions, including the Beverage Director of the Charleston Wine + Food Festival and the first Beverage Director and Editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine. These roles exemplify her championing of change within the beverage community.
Cha is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and holds WSET Level 2 certification, as well as an Executive Certificate in Wine Management from Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal. Her studies also include an M.B.A. from St. John’s University in Rome, Italy, and a B.S. in Engineering from Syracuse University.
Cha has been recognized by the Wine Enthusiast as a Top 40 Under 40 Tastemaker and by Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Rising Black Voices in Wine. Her clients include the prestigious James Beard Foundation, and she has also made guest appearances on NBC’s Today Show, Comedy Central, and Netflix's High on the Hog: America’s Historic Foodways, Season 2.
Now with roots planted in Portugal and Italy, this native New Yorker is currently collaborating with chefs, winemakers, and distillers on ways to disrupt the hospitality industry on both continents by making the food and beverage more accessible, accountable, and inclusive.
