It’s critical to support the Black winemakers and wineries who have broken through in the industry
You give bottles of wine as housewarming gifts. You catch up with a friend over a nice vintage. You saw your neighbors (and maybe yourself) ordering the sweet nectar by the case-loads during the pandemic. There’s no denying that wine goes with nearly every occasion which is why the wine business is so lucrative. In fact, Grand View Research predicts that the wine industry will be worth $685.99 billion by 2028. But, Black-owned wineries make up less than one percent of the industry according to Wine Industry Advisor (WIA).
Wine might come in all colors but its makers are overwhelmingly white, and that’s something that needs to change. Difficulty accessing financial capital is a top reason Black winemakers and wineries struggle to get businesses up and running, says the WIA. Racism and bias is another big one. That’s why it’s critical to support the Black winemakers who have broken through in the industry. Here are Black winemakers and wineries to get your vino from.
Jenny Dawn Cellars
Jennifer McDonald of Jenny Dawn Cellars didn’t just break into a white-dominated industry – she even did so in an unexpected location. Jenny Dawn Cellars is an urban winery in Wichita Kansas located in historic Union Station. As of 2022, the winery offers 22 handcrafted wines (shop here). They have a variety of sweet summery wines like their 2019 Rose Wine (a watermelon wine) and their Wichita Passion (a Blackberry wine). The winery itself offers a monthly educational class on vino called Winuecation.
Read the full Madame Noire article here.