MY PEN IS MIGHTY
Art Imitates Life With ‘Kings of Napa’ and ‘Grand Crew’ Featuring Black Women in Wine
With two new TV shows, Oprah and NBC are further normalizing the presence of Black women in wine
We’ve come a long way since Blair Underwood’s “Buppie from the bank” character did a double take in Set It Off when Jada Pinkett Smith’s tough girl “Stony” knew the difference between a merlot and a cabernet.
That was in 1996 when a band of ill-fated female bank robbers became instant film icons and inspired a generation of Black women to imbibe and enjoy vino. But let’s get real. That entire scene was jarring because no one expected a Black woman — particularly one who grew up in the “‘hood” — to have even the most basic wine knowledge.
That misperception has mostly disappeared. Within the last few years alone, Black women’s visibility in the biz is off the chain. Industry wide, Black women have served as experts in every capacity in the wine world. That includes négociants like Chrishon Lampley of Love Cork Screw, educators such as Shall We Wine’s Regine Rousseau, and winemakers like Diana Hawkins of the famed McBride Sisters.
Many of them have been on covers of prominent wine magazines, and this year, the…
