Hello and happy weekend my people. Crazy busy week here and just as an FYI there will be no posts next week, as I will be taking my last WSET Diploma exam (fortification), so you can understand where my focus will be, I hope. This week I want to call attention to an article I wrote for Wine Enthusiast, “The Wine Industry Pledged to Improve Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity. Has Anything Changed?” This piece was a labor of love. I spoke to a lot of people in preparation for this article, some of whom aren’t even mentioned but whose insight and advice were much appreciated whilst researching and writing. I have to say one of the reasons that this piece means so much to me is that I, myself, had to confront this issue—believe it or not—while writing this article. I won’t go into detail about the who, what, where, when, why, but I will say that experiencing first-hand the ignorance within our industry, again, while writing an article on equity in the wine industry, was very telling to me just how much more work has to be done.
With that spirit in mind, I want to call out that Julia Coney—writer, educator, speaker and founder of Black Wine Professionals (who also allowed me to speak with her for the above mentioned article)—has been named one of Wine Industry’s Most Inspiring People by Wine Industry Advisor. Well deserved, indeed. She’s not only an excellent business woman, an extremely intelligent wine educator, and just a down-right nice person—she’s also on the frontlines of confronting the industry’s need for more diversity, equity, and inclusivity. But, as Julia says in this article, she cannot do it alone. We cannot rely on certain individuals to make the noise, raise the alarms, call the industry to action. This as to be a group effort.
As always, there’s plenty more to read. So I hope you have a good glass of wine on hand as you scroll through. Wishing all the best in the week ahead. ✌️🍷💚
