The Forgotten Black WIne Professionals

It's strange to think that the wine industry can have prejudices. One would think the industry would be above that be and be more sophisticated and color blind. Yet it's not. There's a shocking amount of prejudice against people of color in every aspect , from sommelier to grower to reviewer. Hopefully, with the world rapidly changing it will be a thing of a past era.

Eric Asimov, who writes The Pour, the New York Times Food section's weekly wine review, wrote about this blatant but very rarely discussed racism. He interviewed African-Americans in from all aspects of the wine industry. All had the same experiences  which should never exist - not in the 21st Century, yet are still alive sadly enough. Mr. Asimov spoke with T.J. Douglas owner of The Urban Grape in Boston. He and his wife, Hadley, have this shop and also the business online. A white internet customer came into the store, walked by Mr. Douglas and went to a white sales rep, assuming he was the owner. Then there is Julia Coney, a Houston, wine writer and educator who regularly leads tasting and teaches wine education. yet as a consumer, wine merchants feel they have to tell her how to hold a wine glass and why she has to swirl it. They also steer her towards cheaper and sweeter wines, based on stereotypes.Growing tired of tokenism, she has created Black Wine Professionals, a database for African American wine growers and sellers. Stephen Satterfield , publisher of the quarterly food magazine, Whetstone. He was a sommelier but left due to the rampant racism.

Perhaps the most obvious is with Ntisiki Biyela, a South African wine marker. The industry has been white for the last four centuries, no surprise because the country suffered from apartheid since the early 1990's. Ms. Biyela was the first female black winemaker and in 2016 established her own company, Aslina Wines. Hers was the toughest battle (although all their battles were the toughest). She could not speak Afrikaans ,an offshoot of the Dutch accent and her fellow students asked why she was even there.  "You're not welcome here." was really its' undercurrent. Then as she moved into her career , growers didn't want to deal with her along with building an audience. Black South Africans are not versed in European wine speak. Ms. Biyela had to explain it in terms they would understand. Instead of a wine smelling like truffles  she would tell them it smells like amasi a sort of fermented milk. Others , from Carlton McCoy Junior, a master sommelier and Madeline Maldonado, a beverage distributor at Greenwich Village's Da Toscano have experienced white people's ignorance and stupidity.It is the same for wine server Andre Hueston Mack and Zwann Grays, the wine director at Olmsted. Yet it is Tammie Teclemriam, a Brooklyn freelance food and drinks writer who fired a good shot at Bon Appetit's editor-in-chief and his insensitivity towards African-Americans, and appearing in black face.He had to resign because of it.

The wine  industry, like the food industry should be free of prejudice and open to everyone. It's stupid and 19th Century to think that whites are better sommeliers and winemakers. Luckily it's the writers and publishers who will be shattering these old concepts.