Sybil Strum

Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer Wine Enthusiast

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

Sybil Strum co-founded Wine Enthusiast Companies with her husband, Adam Strum, in 1979. What began as a mail-order catalog of wine accessories grew into a business with two halves: a retailer of wine storage, glassware and accessories, and the publisher of Wine Enthusiast magazine. The company is still family-owned. The couple were described as its owners in 2008, when a local magazine also called Sybil the company’s CEO and reported $100 million in annual sales. By June 2021 Adam was Chairman and CEO and Sybil was Chief Brand Officer. That month the two of them announced the promotion of their daughters Erika and Jacqueline to lead the commerce and media divisions.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded Wine Enthusiast Companies with Adam Strum in 1979, launching it as a direct-mail catalog of wine accessories.
• Described in 2008 as the company’s CEO, and with Adam as its owner, when it reported $100 million in annual sales and opened a new headquarters in Mount Kisco, New York.
• Chief Brand Officer and co-founder in June 2021, when she and Adam handed divisional leadership to the next generation of the family.
• Co-founder of a family-owned company that opened its first physical store, in SoHo, in December 2025, 46 years after its founding.

Professional Journey

The Strums started Wine Enthusiast in 1979 around a simple gap in the market: wine accessories were hard to find. They sold them by direct mail. According to a 2009 account, the early catalog went to 20,000 people and within four years the mailing list had passed a million names. In 1988 the company added Wine Enthusiast magazine, which publishes wine reviews and buying guides alongside coverage of food, travel and entertainment.

Sybil and Adam ran the business together. A 2009 profile described them as a husband-and-wife team that “co-founded and jointly run” the company, and quoted the couple’s own biography on the split: Adam the visionary, Sybil “detail-oriented and very organized”. In 2008 Westchester Magazine referred to her as the company’s CEO. It named the couple as owners of a business with $100 million in annual sales, then opening a 100,000-square-foot headquarters in Mount Kisco.

By 2021 the titles had changed. Adam was Chairman and CEO and Sybil was Chief Brand Officer. In June 2021 the pair announced that their daughter Jacqueline would become President and Publisher of Wine Enthusiast Media and their daughter Erika President of Wine Enthusiast Commerce, with both reporting to Adam. The release said Sybil remained Chief Brand Officer.

The next generation has since extended the business the Strums built. In December 2025 the company opened its first brick-and-mortar shop, on Greene Street in SoHo. Its announcement described Wine Enthusiast Companies as a family-owned Certified B Corporation founded by Adam and Sybil Strum, made up of Wine Enthusiast Commerce and Wine Enthusiast Media.

Education

No education record was found in any company release or editorial source.