At occasions marking the 20th anniversary of the Association of African American Vintners (AAAV) this year, Edward Lee “Mac” McDonald, the winemaker and owner of Vision Cellars in Windsor, California, searched with a sort of adult pride. What he had helped start with 2 other Black wine makers– Vance Sharp and Ernie Bates– at a house barbecue had actually grown to more than 200 members, 60 of them Black-owned wineries.
Those members also now consist of corporate behemoths like Bronco Red wine Co., Boisset, Constellation Brands, The White Wine Group, and Overall Red wine. They all support the AAAV’s objective of highlighting Black winemakers, making careers in the industry accessible to people of color through scholarships and mentoring, and cultivating red wine customers of all types, specifically Black ones.
Even with all this assistance, AAAV’s objective remains vital; the numbers might have grown because AAAV was founded in 2002, but of the more than 11,000 wineries in the U.S. today, less than one percent are owned by Black people or have a Black winemaker.
Do not miss out on the latest beverages industry news and insights. Register for our acclaimed Daily Dispatch newsletter– delivered to your inbox every week.
“In the white wine organization, to be effective, you have to have people from numerous cultures appreciating your wine,” states McDonald. “Citizenship, gender– it does not matter.”
As he celebrates his 80th birthday, McDonald assesses the community he’s promoted, the tradition he’s built, and what lies ahead for AAAV and Vision Cellars.
Establishing a Black Red Wine Community
It’s hard to overemphasize McDonald’s significance in American white wine. While McDonald lives an open-hearted creed of inclusivity, he began the AAAV due to the fact that the only Blacks he saw at winemaker functions were those 2 males, Sharp and Bates. When he and his better half, Lil, now 73, started Vision Cellars in 1995, he knew there required to be more. Wine was a growing market, a wonderful item that could bring individuals together, he stated, and there was a big untapped Black market out there. Jo Diaz, a regional red wine publicist, agreed and assisted get the AAAV off the ground. “I just kept getting individuals together” after that first barbecue, states McDonald. “I want to see individuals succeed and the method to be effective is sharing your knowledge.”
As a result, it would be difficult to throw a cork at any large event of Black individuals in any facet of the white wine world today, near and far, and not strike someone who had actually been assisted in some way by McDonald. Tuanni Cost, a qualified sommelier and the founder of Zuri White wine, which conducts tastings and tours in the U.S. and in South Africa, was an AAAV volunteer and counts McDonald as a mentor. “He must relocate to South Africa,” she said just recently, ignoring a vineyard in Stellenbosch. “We require him here.”
Theodora Lee, the founder of Theopolis Vineyards in Yorkville, California, was growing valued grapes when, after a buyer declined her fruit, she called McDonald to assist make her 2012 Petite Sirah, an experience that not only transformed her into a wine maker, but won her red wine a gold medal from Sundown Magazine.
André Hueston Mack, the wine maker and owner of Maison Noir Wines in Oregon. Photo courtesy of André Hueston Mack.
“Mac has actually not only been a coach of mine however likewise a fatherly figure, not only assisting me through the wine world however supplying sound life recommendations as a dad, partner, and a human,” states André Hueston Mack, the wine maker and owner of Maison Noir Wines in Oregon. “It wasn’t until I met him that I comprehended the value of having someone who appeared like me doing something that I believed was difficult for someone like myself. He was the blueprint and gave me hope.”
In his trademark overalls and straw hat, McDonald has taken a trip the world since soon after Vision Cellars’ very first release in 1997, doing winemaker dinners, in-store tastings, and going to red wine celebrations. He frequently pours the white wines of other Black-owned brands alongside his own to help lesser-known brands gain exposure. “I just desire individuals to enjoy wine,” says McDonald. “It does not have to be mine.”
Constructing a Tradition
McDonald is from East Texas, where his daddy made moonshine. The young McDonald found great white wine when he was 12 after among his grandfather’s searching friends provided him a taste of Burgundy, which put him on the course to becoming a wine maker. After high school, in 1962 he transferred to California, where he satisfied his spouse and worked for 30 years at Pacific Gas & & Electric.
On the weekends, he would leave his home in Oakland to go to Napa and Sonoma, asking concerns and enjoying people work different winemaking jobs. “Nobody would provide me the time of day,” recalls McDonald. However there were a couple of exceptions, like the late John Parducci of Parducci Cellars in Mendocino County, and the late Charlie Wagner of Caymus, who saw something in McDonald. Wagner took him under his household’s wings, teaching him about the growing, making, and marketing of white wine, and helping him begin Vision Cellars.
Charlie Wagner, who died in 2002 at the age of 89, had actually told McDonald that he would benefit the white wine industry, McDonald keeps in mind. Neither McDonald nor Charlie’s boy, Chuck, thought that the older Wagner was referring to McDonald’s race. “He may have suggested that, but I do not know if that was the twist,” said Chuck when inquired about it a few years back. “What we require in our market is characters. We don’t require stodgy, know-it-all, my-shit-don’t-stink, vanity wine makers. What we need are real individuals, so I would say that might have been what my father thought.”
Today, Vision Cellars is a 1,300-case winery that focuses on Pinot Noirs; a rich, structured wine merely called Red Wine, Napa County; and a California white wine. The McDonalds previously owned a 10-acre vineyard in the Russian River Valley that they had actually planted themselves to six clones of Pinot Noir, but after 12 years they offered it. “My kids make too much money at what they do and they weren’t as thinking about working as hard as I was, and I saw a water issue coming,” states McDonald, describing why they offered the vineyard. “There were three wells on that home and all three have dried up.” For years, McDonald has bought fruit from prized vineyards, and he makes his wine at a winery owned by Joe Wagner, the grandson of Charlie Wagner.
Vision Cellars has made the white wine lists of some of the country’s top restaurants, gaining brand-new fans and opening doors for other wineries owned by people of color. And while many efforts to make the wine industry more varied grown after George Floyd was eliminated in 2020, the AAAV has actually been focused on that mission for 20 years. The majority of its greatest business fans revealed their regard for that commitment by sending leading officials to this year’s anniversary events.
What’s Next?
McDonald turned 80 on November 28, and at the 20th anniversary event, people lined up to thank him for his effect on the red wine industry. The celebration consisted of the Inaugural AAAV Awards Event at DeLoach Vineyards, and McDonald, the only one of the three original founding wine makers present and still making white wine, took the microphone.
He was at turns severe, keeping in mind that assistance for AAAV and Black winemakers had actually grown following the killing of George Floyd, but he cautioned the group not to rely entirely on that type of assistance. “One of the important things that we have to keep in our mind is that we can’t rely and relax on the past.” And at other turns he was spirited: “I can just speak with 3 foolish people a day, and in some cases that’s the first 3 calls I get– and then I’m done for the day.”
Winemaking is grueling work, even without nature hurling fires, heat waves, and droughts so, naturally, as he enters his ninth decade, the question of what’s next has emerged. At the AAAV events, there was much conversation about how winemakers can pass on lively businesses to the next generation that can assist their neighborhoods.
At the AAAV events, there was much discussion about how wine makers can pass on dynamic organizations to the next generation that can help their communities. Picture by Ron Essex, thanks to AAAV.
McDonald has put the AAAV in capable hands, having groomed his follower, Phil Long, the founder of Durability Wines in Livermore Valley, California, to take over the Association. Now, McDonald handles the title of AAAV creator and chairman.
The pandemic forced McDonald to stop his constant taking a trip to represent Vision Cellars and the AAAV, and loved ones are hoping he’ll slow down and continue writing his narrative. He’s been asked about signing a rewarding national distribution offer, but has up until now decreased. “I didn’t wish to work that difficult, getting on aircrafts and trains. I like to have control of what instructions I’m going. There’s the possibility of making a lot of cash, but you need to have the space and you need to offer a lot of cases,” he states. So he and Lil have actually set up a trust to keep household ownership.
McDonald’s younger kid, Jeff, has traveled with him to distributor meetings, wine maker’s suppers, and tastings for years. The current plan is for Jeff to one day manage business while one of Jeff’s children, who is presently studying to become a wine maker, makes the white wines. “I’m going to let them decide what they wish to do, when they wish to do it,” he says. “And I’ll keep it going till they take it over because right now Lil and I are using the money to put [our grandchildren] through college.”
Jeff is concerned that he will not have the ability to draw crowds like his daddy, McDonald shares– but he has no doubts. “I informed him, you do you. You need to determine your own method.”
Dispatch
Register for our acclaimed newsletter
Do not miss out on the latest drinks market news and insights– delivered to your inbox weekly.
Dorothy J. Gaiter, senior editor of The Grape Cumulative, developed and wrote The Wall Street Journal’s wine column, “Tastings,” from 1998 to 2010 with her husband, John Brecher. They’ve written 4 red wine books and produced the “Open That Bottle Night” yearly celebration of red wine and relationship. Gaiter has actually been a press reporter, editor, columnist, and editorial author at The Miami Herald, The New York City Times, and The Journal, which two times chose her deal with race for the Pulitzer Prize and once for “Tastings.” She’s won awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New york city and National Association of Black Journalists.