Credit: Courtesy of Bacchus Wine Made Smple
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN WINE SHOPS (also perfect for ordering your wine online!)
Bacchus Wine Made Simple
High-tech wine-tasting machines allow for 41 bottles of wine to be open, and fresh, for sampling. And here’s a shout-out to Bacchus for contributing some of their mighty fine wine for our April wine-tasting-party story!
2056 Broadway
New York, New York 10023
212-875-1200
www.bacchusnyc.com
Chocolate Secrets and Wine Gardens
Offers complimentary French classes and live jazz, plus chocolates and a gift shop. And in case you didn’t know… pairing chocolate with wine is hot!
3926 Oak Lawn Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219
214-252-9801
Cova
Offers wine classes, ultra-premium wine-pairing dinners and a quarterly Cova Boot Camp!
5555 Washington Avenue
Houston, Texas 77005
713-868-3366
www.covawines.com
Harlem Vintage
Maintains a Winemakers of Color collection, one of the largest selections from Black vintners and Black-owned wineries around the world!
2235 Frederick Douglass Boulevard
Harlem, New York 10027
212-866-9463
www.harlemvintage.com
Hinton’s Wine Store
With an offering of Riedel stemware glasses and decanters at lower prices, they also pride themselves on having a knowledgeable staff and great customer service.
8455 Holcomb Bridge Road
Alpharetta, Georgia 30022
770-641-1900
www.hintonswinestore.com
Madison Ave Wines
This store has a large selection of wines at affordable prices. Did you know there are at least 30 different types of Chardonnays? Madison Ave Wines has them!
1793 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10035
212-987-0099
madisonavewines@aolcom
The Wine Cellars
Provides wine DVD’s, books and accessories, including corkscrews handmade in France!
1295 West Spring Street, Suite 100
Smyrna, Georgia 30080
888-239-5705 or 770-437-1753
www.winecellarsonline.com
WineStyles—Atlanta/Cascade
This is a national franchise that aims to demystify the wine-shopping experience by catering to the overwhelmed wine consumer by making it easy to find that perfect bottle. Located in an old-world-wine-cellar-styled store, wines are organized by color and type, instead of varietals and regions.
3752 Cascade Road S.W., Suite 140
Atlanta, Georgia 30331
404-472-9463
www.winestyles.net/casade
WineStyles—Thousand Oaks
Join their WineStyles Wine Club, where two bottles of wine are selected each month and accompanied by tasting notes and suggested food pairings. Or, benefit by their Styles Rewards program. Sounds like a money-saving plan to me!
193 N. Moorpark Road, Suite C, Janss Marketplace
Thousand Oaks, California 91360
805-371-8466
www.winestyles.net/janssmarketplace
Credit: Courtesy of Bacchus Wine Made Smple
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MORE WINE RESOURCES
Imperial Beverage Group
Serving Texas, founder and president T. Schnell Blanton is the only African-American female-owned wine distributor in the United States.
214-688-9463
schnell@ibevgroup.com
www.ibevgroup.com
Kedar Beverages
K’orus Wine
This company has music at its core. It was founded by former Motown Records CEO Kedar Massenburg and offers three varietals—Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet—for those just beginning to explore wine drinking and for those with a more experienced taste for fine wine. Many thanks to Kedar Beverages, also, for their generous contribution of wine for our April 2008 ESSENCE wine-tasting party!
21 West 39th Street, 6th Floor
New York, New York 10018
212-391-1111
www.koruswine.com
WINE IMPORTER
Heritage Link Brands
This unique company imports and distributes wine made by indigenous people on the African continent.
www.heritagelinkbrands.com
WINE TOURS
Roots and Vines Wine Tours
Oakland, California
www.rootsandvines.com
A Color of Grape Wine Tours
Customized tour packages
Windsor, California
707-888-1574
www.acolorofgrape.com
OTHER WEBSITES AND EVENTS
Women for WineSense
The premiere wine education and networking organization, with chapters throughout the country, was designed for female wine-industry professionals and wine enthusiasts.
www.womenforwinesense.org
Divas Uncorked
These Boston-based dynamos not only created their own wine—Divas Uncorked Chardonnay—but an annual summer festival, too. So make your way over to their Martha’s Vineyard Wine and Food Festival, August 7-10, 2008. During the rest of the year, they offer public wine dinners at restaurants throughout the country. And they give corporate wine tastings/seminars, where they speak on topics like “How to Buy Wine at a Wine Store.”
www.divasuncorked.com
Seventh Annual African American Wine Tasting Festival
The vintners’ walk-around-wine-tasting will celebrate our sommeliers, African-American women in wine, winemakers and winery owners. California industry leaders will share their experiences in the fascinating world of wine on Saturday, June 14, 2008 in Napa Valley, California, at Copia: the American Center for Wine Food and The Arts.
www.aaavintners.org
African American Wine Tasting Society
This is for people who want to learn about wine and the wine industry. Chapters include Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Indiana.
888-239-5705
www.aawts.org
Swirl Events
These are customized wine-event-planning services for corporate and in-home wine tastings throughout the Greater New York Metro area.
145 East 15th Street, Suite 4C
New York, New York 10003
917-463-3994
www.swirlevents.com
Credit: Courtesy of Bacchus Wine Made Smple
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN WINEMAKERS (VINTNERS)
Brown Estate Winery
Napa, California
www.brownestate.com
Rideau Vineyard
1562 Alamo Pintado Road
Solvang, California 93463
805-688-0717
www.rideauvineyard.com
Sugarleaf Vineyards
3613 Walnut Branch Lane
North Garden, Virginia 22959
434-984-4272
www.sugarleafvineyards.com
Association of African-American Vintners
Educating us about wines is a goal of the Association of African-American Vintners, founded in 2000 in California. They help wine-tasting-party hosts set up their events throughout the country, and they give scholarships to students enrolled in college programs that teach about wine cultivation.
Association of African-American Vintners (and members):
1083 Vine Street #237
Healdsburg, California 95448
www.aaavintners.org
Black Coyote Chateau
2400 Third Avenue
Napa, California 94558
707-252-2292
www.blackcoyotewines.com
Esterlina Winery and Vineyards
1200 Holmes Ranch Road
Philo, California 95466
707-895-2920
www.esterlinavineyards.com
Il Palazzone
Domaine Select Wine Estates
555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2302
New York, NY 1001
212-279-0799 ext. 24
www.ilpalazzone.com
Running Tigers Wine
1805 Tribute Lane, Suite B
Sacramento, California 95815
707-292-3765
www.runningtigerswine.com
Sharp Cellars
17560 Norrbom Road
Sonoma, California 95476
707-933-0556
www.sharpcellars.com
Stover Oaks Vineyard & Winery
5241 Nashville Trail
Placerville, California 95667
530-626-9463
www.stoveroaks.com
Vision Cellars
P.O. Box 1756
Windsor, California 95492
707-887-1619
www.visioncellars.com
Compiled by Marsha Kelly with help from Kibkabe Araya
Have you hosted a wine party? Visited any of the above places? Share your experience below.
RELATED LINKS:
PHOTOS: The Essence wine-tasting party »
Our complete wine-tasting party guide »
The wine-tasting party essentials and winespeak cheat sheet »
Easy and delicious wine-tasting party recipes » |
