ABOUT

Leah Darr is the head muse at Cork Driven
(The artist formally known as Leah Deane.)

Current News

Leah Darr is the owner & head muse of Cork Driven Productions, a boutique event management company specializing in curated festivals, creative partnerships, community events, and elevated experiences.

Leah was thrilled to join the Mancos Creative District in 2026 as the Mancos BurroFest Event Manager. She is excited to bring her background in creative event production, hospitality, and detailed event logistics to support this beloved community festival.
burrofest.com

She also owns Photo Bougie Luxury Photo Booth, a retro‑modern, high‑end photo booth experience designed for those who appreciate the finer things in life. 
photobougie.com

Leah fully retired from the wine world in 2025 to launch her two current companies and focus on creating experiences that bring joy.

Leah is member of the Professional Women’s Network & Durango Botanical Society. Her greenhouse, orangery, gardens & “urban farm” will be a featured stop on the Durango “Gardens on Tour” event this summer! This popular event tours of some of the region’s most innovative gardens that feature dramatic landscaping and ideas.
durangobotanicgardens.org

Leah lives in Durango with her husband, Joe, their daughter
(a Great Pyrenees, named Lily), and the exact legal flock size of backyard chickens.

The First Chapter

One Gals Adventure in the Wine Industry
It all started when Leah was 17. She moved to Durango, Colorado in 1996 (from Wisconsin) to attend Fort Lewis College.
She dabbled in the Art department, played the French Horn, sang in the choir, and was the Captain of the Color Guard.
She graduated from FLC with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business, with a minor in French.

Leah decided on pursuing a future in the wine business during her last year of college. She was studying abroad at the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers, in the Loire Valley of France.
Upon returning to Durango from her studies in France, she did just that.

The Wine Journey
Although Leah worked in restaurants and a wine shop all through college, she officially began her wine career as a sales rep for the wholesale distributor, Grand Vin.
Bob Cohen took a chance on the motivated youngster only a few weeks out of college. Leah started selling wine in Durango and Pagosa Springs, back when you had to call your orders in.
Excited to sell “the expensive wine”, Bob added Telluride to her territory within six months. She successfully completed the Court of Master Sommeliers Introductory Sommelier Course shortly thereafter.

Leah earned “Rookie of the Year” and “Mountain MVP” in her first year as a distributor rep for Grand Vin. She earned multiple supplier incentives that took her around the world to France, Australia, Portugal, Napa and Sonoma.

Wine Supplier Days
Not long after winning an incentive trip to the Douro Valley in Portugal, she was offered a wine supplier role.
Leah became the Rocky Mountain Regional Sales Manager for Premium Port Wines, the United States based importer for the Symington Family.
Her territory covered thirteen states, 26 distributors and a bunch of residual sugar.

Fine Wine Specialist
A strong desire to return to Durango connected her with National Distributing Company, to work as their Wine Specialist for Southwest Colorado, in 2007.
This was a lovely few years of promoting beautiful portfolios of wine, travelling to wineries, helping to build wine programs, and speaking at wine dinners/ seminars/ classes and festivals.
She earned multiple supplier incentives that took her around the world to France, Italy, Argentina, Washington State, Oregon, and extensively to almost all of the AVAs in California.
Leah continuously strives to further her education and enjoys teaching others. She achieved the “Graduate Level” education designation diploma from RNDC early on.
Leah passed the Wine & Spirits Education Trust Advanced Level 3 Wine Exam, with merit.
She also successfully completed the Kobrand International Wine Seminar, The Wine Academy of Spain’s Spanish Wine Educator Program and got to work harvest for a day at Opus One.
Leah spent over two decades in the wine industry locally as a wine specialist, sales manager, educator, non-profit liaison and festival coordinator.

Distributor District Wine Sales Manager
The company eventually became RNDC and a few re-orgs later, Leah became the District Wine Sales Manager for Southwest Colorado in 2010. She started with three sales reps and grew her team to five. These years were spent managing on and off premise wine sales representatives, covering a large territory and multiple selling divisions. A constant voice for continuous improvement lead to splitting territories, adding trucks and increasing resources for the far from the mothership corner of the state.

Wine Festival Coordinator & Executive Director
Always involved in either coordinating or speaking in seminars at numerous wine and food festivals, Leah joined the Durango Wine Experience as their Event Coordinator in 2009.
She handled all vendor management, ticketing platforms, seminar creation, marketing, website design & maintenance, program design, public appearances and social media presence.
Leah curated the concept of the “Restaurant Showcase” at the Grand Tasting. In lieu of the event continuing to be catered, the tradition of featuring all of the wonderful restaurants and talented Chefs that Durango has to offer, is still in place today.
Leah was essential in the growth of the event for nearly a decade, when she retired in 2018.
Leah was also wine judge for two years for the Colorado Wine Festival “Best of Fest” wine competition in Palisade, Colorado. Not that she is judgmental.