We recently connected with Blaine Ashley and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Blaine, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Yes! I market champagne in a fun, creative way that promotes the champagne lifestyle versus an effervescent wine only to be saved for celebrations or an expensive bubbly reserved for the rich.

Every day is an ideal occasion to pop open a bottle of champagne. If there’s one thing we’ve learned through Covid, isn’t life worth celebrating?
Let’s toast to living! I have a ton of fun with our event concepts such as “Bubble Boot Camp”, “Fromage & Fizz” and “Oyster Shucking & Champagne”.

In summer of 2021 we took to the Hudson River to offer “Champagne Sails” that provide magnums of champagne just as the sun sets at Lady Liberty. Champagne not only pairs perfectly with just about every food out there, it’s also a fun, fizzy enhancement to your every day lifestyle.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Blaine Ashley. Friends and customers aptly call me ‘Champagne Blaine’.

I’m the founder of New York Champagne Week which was established in 2013 and initially served as a platform to connect the food and beverage industry to undiscovered and/or new to the U.S. champagnes.

As the effervescent operation has grown through the years, we’re now a largely consumer (champagne enthusiast rather) facing concept with bubbly event offerings taking place year-round. Of course, the pièce de résistance continues to takes place each November at the official New York Champagne Week which celebrates year 9 this November 7th – 13th, 2022.

I’m also the founder of The FIZZ is Female, a forum that shines a spotlight on leading ladies in bubbly wine from around the world. Through The FIZZ is Female, we aim to empower women one sparkling sip at a time.

I got into the business as growing up I was an avid Francophile and truly stayed the course on this path. In college, I first worked at a fine dining French restaurant establishment. Following this after University, I enjoyed a stint in NYC with a notable French fashion designer doing marketing and events. This led to my working at a hot boutique hotel doing more events from fashion shows to curating food and wine experiences. Then, in 2008, I landed a dream position as a digital editor for a luxury lifestyle publication.

It was the editor position that brought me back to New York in 2010 and opened up a world of travel opportunity. In 2013, I spent a month in France and during that time after meeting many (at the time) unknown champagne producers, I had my “AHA” moment and was inspired to launch New York Champagne Week.

What sets me apart as an entrepreneur is my persistent driven, never give up attitude. In the champagne category, I’ve become known for my fun, approachable marketing style.

I’m most proud of being named a Wine Enthusiast 40-under40 Tastemaker back in 2016. And, having Forbes write about my tenacity through the pandemic in 2021.

Additionally, I’m thrilled that I was able to be so resourceful through the pandemic becoming a barely making it little business to one that I can pleasantly say is thriving .. today at least ;)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Like many, I had to segue during the pandemic. The business of wine events couldn’t be more interactive after all.

At the start of the pandemic, I was positioned to go across the country to various bubbly loving cities and food & wine festivals to host New York Champagne Week Pop Up events.

I’d already lined up the participating brands and respective speakers. Additionally, I’d rented out my NYC apartment. I was at my family’s home down in Hilton Head Island, SC when the world shut down in mid-March. By mid-April had already jumped on the Zoom/virtual event game.

I essentially took everything I planned to do on the road and do it virtually. Around the same time is when I’m aggressively planning November’s New York Champagne Week.

What would I do? What could I do? I had another “AHA” moment. With the elimination of paying steep fees for venues to host physical events and the rise in E-commerce wine sales, I would produce my dream week of events virtually, simply making them interactive. And, I would ship champagne packs and some food items depending on the events through E-commerce retail partners, many of which can ship to up to 40+ states.

This ultimately allowed me to expand, bringing the New York Champagne Week experience straight to people’s doorsteps all across the country.

We had tons of fun with highly engaging and delicious concepts such as “The Champagne & Fried Chicken Fête” and The Champagne MASK-erade Ball”. We even teamed up with a top NYC sommelier who’s also a trained opera professional to lead a champagne tasting followed by an opera performance!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My resilience has been thoroughly tested through enduring competition. Friendly competition can be a great thing when it comes to testing resilience and breeding creative thinking. I often say that I feel like I thrive on adversity. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced competitors that haven’t been so friendly.

Two similar concepts were introduced to the same marketplace two years after I launched that book-ended my event. Talk about confusing! One platform tried to use my trademark. And, another hosted their event during the same exact dates as mine. Though we all share a common goal it seemed counter-productive to not be more courteous in each others efforts.

The hardest part about all of the above is that they were way bigger beasts than I when it came to power, money and resources.
I could’ve easily been taken out if it weren’t for my resilience.

Of course, in these cases, I was naturally upset. Though in challenging times, I lean on my loyal family and friend support system to power through.

Ultimately, as the saying goes “they can imitate your style but they can’t imitate my creativity”. And, “imitation is the greatest form of flattery”!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.newyorkchampagneweek.com www.thefizzisfemale.com
• Instagram: @nychampagneweek @thefizzisfemale