Affiliation : Palm Bay International
Location : Miami, FL, USA

 

Vice President, Fine Wine Development, Palm Bay International

My hospitality career began as a teenager, working for a fast food chain – I just couldn’t take the smell of greasy french fries!” is how Laura DePasquale, with characteristic wit and understatement, attributes the drive and initiative that have propelled her on the way to becoming one the most accomplished and influential women in the U.S. wine industry today.

As Vice President, Fine Wine Development, at Palm Bay International, DePasquale heads a fast-growing team of specialized fine wine sales personnel for a company now ranked among the top five wine importers nationwide. The creation of Palm Bay’s Fine Wine Division dates back to 2004, soon after DePasquale passed a rigorous series of exams that earned her the right to add the initials MS(Master Sommelier) after her name. In the process she joined an elite group of Master Sommeliers worldwide, becoming the 13th woman to achieve the title since the examinations were first set in 1969.

DePasquale’s first serious introduction to wine dates back to the late 1980s in New York City, where she worked as bartender at Arizona 206, followed by a stint as beverage director at the Royalton Hotel. In the early 1990s, she moved to Miami, where she still returns home every week after a dizzying worldwide travel schedule.

After several years as an award-winning sommelier at the renowned Miami restaurant, Norman's, DePasquale was recruited in 2001 by Palm Bay for the newly created post of Fine Wine Specialist for the state of Florida. Shortly after, DePasquale was promoted to National Sales Director for Fine Wine, a prelude to her present position at Palm Bay, whose portfolio embraces wines and spirits from Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Spain.

Laura DePasquale is also a popular and engaging wine educator in regular demand conducting seminars and tastings at numerous high-profile events such as the Boston Wine Expo, South Beach Food and Wine Festival, New York Food & Wine, Aspen Food & Wine Classic and Sante Restaurant Symposium. An adjunct professor at Florida International University School of Hospitality in Wine Technology, her expertise extends to all aspects of the wine industry. DePasquale is a regular lecturer and examiner for the Court of Master Sommeliers at all levels.

In addition to her highly successful wine industry career, and her role as a leading wine educator, DePasquale is an accomplished artist whose work has appeared at galleries in Philadelphia and New York. She also finds time to volunteer with at-risk children through arts-related programs aimed at reforming youth gang members.