Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing my research and figuring out how I can support more black owned wineries and businesses in my day-to-day life.
As most of you know, I’m a big fan of wine — in fact, I’m currently enrolled in a course for a WSET Level 1 Award in Wines, and my exam is coming up in July. I’m hoping to pass the Level 1 and 2 exams so that I can become a stronger wine writer, and craft elevated wine and food pairings for you guys in the future!
In all honesty, the wine world has been dominated by white men for decades. In recent years, we’ve seen far more female winemakers enter the industry and a bit more black representation, but we still have a long way to go.
Admittedly, I only visited my first black-owned winery last year. It was Longevity Wines in Livermore Valley, California. I was able to meet with the owner, Phil, and we chatted for a solid two hours. It was fascinating learning about his experience as a black winemaker in this country, and seeing all of the love, care, and attention to detail he put into his wines. Also, his wines were phenomenal — I’d highly recommend ordering his Philosophy wine, which is a Bordeaux-style blend.
After a bit of digging, I was able to put together this list of black-owned wineries across the world. Some other lists have been circulating on Instagram. Still, I found that quite a few of these lists had wineries that have permanently closed, a few typos, wineries that didn’t offer direct-to-consumer purchase options, and some wineries that had black winemakers, but weren’t necessarily black-owned. I’ve also omitted celebrity wine labels from this list.
I hope that I can add to this list in the future with a bit more research, but here’s what I’ve got so far!
Black Owned Wineries in the U.S. and Abroad
U.S. – California
U.S. – West Coast
- Abbey Creek Vineyards (Oregon)
- Frichette Winery (Washington)
- Maison Noir Wines (Oregon)
U.S. – The North
- Stuyvesant Champagne (New York)
- Zafa Wines (Vermont)
U.S. – The South
- Delaplane Cellars (Virginia)
- Ole Orleans Wines (Louisiana)
- Preston Ridge Winery (Virginia)
- Taste Collection Cellars (Texas)
U.S. – Midwest
- Jenny Dawn Cellars (Kansas)
- Love Cork Screw (Illinois)
- Markell-Bani (Ohio)
- Sip and Share Wines (Indiana)
International
- Aslina Wines (South Africa)
- Edelheiss Wines (Germany)*
- House of Mandela (South Africa)
- Kumusha Wines (South Africa)
- La Fête Rosé (St. Tropez)*
- Lyons Wine (Italy)*
- M’Hudi Wines (South Africa)
- Nyarai Cellars (Ontario, Canada)
- Silkbush Mountain Vineyards (South Africa)
* – Wine is sold/distributed in the United States, but they do not have a tasting room open to the public.
Know of any other black-owned wineries? Drop them in the comments below!
Thank you for compiling this list! I’ve recently ordered from the McBride Sisters and Love Cork Screw. I can’t wait to try them out!
Love this! Just bookmarked it for me to refer to when making a wine purchase!
Dana | It’s Casual Blog
NICE POST!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING…
https://www.a-rrajani.com
Thank you for compiling this list, however, here’s an addition you can add to the Ohio area.
I am currently trying to see haw many are located in Virginia.
Please re-read the post! Under the US – South region, I’ve indicated the Virginia wineries.
Seven Springs Winery in Norlina, NC
Hello,
I’m interested in supporting
Wineries owned by black women. I heard about
one in Washington, but I can’t seem to find it online. I’m also interested in organic wines. I heard some winers use all kind of harmful ingredients in their process. Can you please advise on both.
Thanks,
Diana Means
Hey Diana! I’m not familiar with the winery that you mentioned in Washington, but I’ll update this post if I get more info!
Organic wine is simply defined in the U.S. as “a wine made from organically grown grapes without added sulfites.” Sulfites increase the shelf life of a wine and aren’t harmful — so if you’re interested in organic wine, you’ll want to make sure to consume it quickly.
Non-organic wines *can* contain herbicides and fungicides (these are to prevent bugs and animals from ruining the grape crops), but it doesn’t necessarily mean that all non-organic wine does. You can learn more about how organic wines are certified “clean” at sipcertified.org.
I love the McBride Sisters wines. Thanks for this new information.