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In 2008, TJ and Hadley Douglas were sitting in the late afternoon sun in the Italian countryside near Colle di Val d’Elsa when Hadley handed TJ a glass of wine, tucked herself into a porch chair, and asked, “So what’s your five-year plan?” She never imagined that TJ’s answer - to build a new kind of wine store focused on hospitality and access, a well-trained, restaurant-style staff, and a giant tasting table in the middle where people could gather - would change both of their lives.
Two years later, that dream was a reality. The Urban Grape opened its doors in Boston and became the first store in the country to utilize TJ and Hadley’s proprietary Progressive Scale, a revolutionary way of categorizing wine by its body instead of by varietal or region.
Although their original store concept has expanded to additional businesses over the last decade, their commitment to creating more progressive access to the wine industry has never wavered.
In addition to their business ventures, TJ and Hadley are the founders of The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award for Students of Color and the authors of Drink Progressively: A Bold New Way to Pair Wine and Food. They live in Boston with their two sons.
The Urban Grape has become one of the most successful independently-owned wine stores in the country.
United States Small Business of the Year in 2021.
4-time Top 100 Wine Retail Store in America winner.
2-time Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Nominee.
5-time ICIC Inner City 100 winner.
6-time Best of Boston winner.
Nationally profiled in Food & Wine, The New York Times, NPR, Wine Spectator, and Wine Enthusiast, among others.
TJ and Hadley were named EY Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2021 and in 2023, TJ was a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 winner.