Celebrating BIPOC Winemakers & Winery Owners with #WinePW

LVE by John Legend Sparkling Rose with Lao food from Champa Garden.

2020 was something. It certainly dealt quite a few blows. I think it also forced us to confront some harsh realities that were overdue. In the midst of the discussions on diversity and racism that have come out of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and discussions on sexism that have come out of the #MeToo movement in the last few years, the wine industry (and the hospitality industry in general) has had to confront the fact that it’s severely deficient in supporting minority populations and women.

Charles Woodson's Intercept Red Blend with A+ Burger.

• Truffle Chip-Crusted Goat Cheese Truffles + McBride Sisters Brut Rosé from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• The Many Talents of John Legend on A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Family and Wine Go Together for These Black-owned Businesses from My Full Wine Glass
• Black-Eyed Peas with Collard Greens and Maison Noir OPP by Cooking Chat
• Where’s Linus Sauvignon Blanc with a Shaved Vegetable Salad, Crostini, and Scallops on Cauliflower Rice Risotto on Crushed Grape Chronicles 
• A Taste of Theopolis Vineyards from ENOFYLZ
• Pairing Crab Legs with Carmen Stevens’ Sauvignon Blanc by Our Good Life
• Meet Cheramie Law: Black, Female, and Founder of Texas’ Cheramie Wine from The Corkscrew Concierge
• Sipping Wines from the McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Line by Avvinare
• Camins 2 Dreams: When a Chumash Winemaker Meets a Spanish One And Sparks Fly from Gwendolyn Alley, Wine Predator
  
• And here on Somm’s Table,  I’ll be sharing An Inauguration Day Toast with Bodkin The Fearless Blanc de Blanc and Cauliflower Curry
  

I genuinely can’t wait to read these posts!  In the meantime, I’ll also point you in the direction of Three Takes On Theopolis Symphony, which I shared last summer. Throughout this post, I've also been sharing some of the wines I’ve tried this past year from black winemakers/winery owners.

Theopolis Vineyards Symphony 2017

If you’re interested to discover more of these wines yourself, but you’re not sure how to find them, here are a few articles that have compiled helpful lists on the subject:

• We’re Drinking a Lot More Wine at Home These Days—Here’s 11 BIPOC-Owned Wine Brands To Support While You’re at It from Well & Good
  
• A Global Guide to Black-Owned Wine Labels from Wine Enthusiast
  
• 23 Black-Owned Wineries Worth Supporting Right Now on Newsweek
• Shop Your Next Bottle From These Black-Owned Wine Companies on Refinery 29
• Black-Owned Wine Brands To Try Out, According To Wine Experts on Huffpost 
  

There are also more wine stores stepping up to feature these wines, you can also find quite a few on Wine.com – I purchased several here from the site. It's also good to ask, as this shows wine buyers that these wines are in demand and that there's interest.

Bodkin Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc with Ceviche. I'll be featuring another of their wines in my next post.

If you're interested to read more perspectives on this topic and why it's important, here are a few more articles for background:

• Diversity and Inclusion Efforts Are Key to The American Wine Industry’s Future on VinePair
  
• A Voice for Black Winemakers on Wine Spectator
• A Reckoning on Race at the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas on VinePair 

SevenFifty Daily has been sharing a lot of coverage on the topic. Here are a few articles:

• How Can We Create More Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces? 
• Cultivating Diversity and Innovation in the Beverage Workplace 
• Changing the Game to Make Wine More Diverse 
• Being Black in the White World of Wine 
• Building a Culture of Inclusion Is Easier Than You Might Think