The wine industry is overwhelmingly white. Now, the push for inclusivity is gaining momentum.


The social unrest and debate over structural racism sweeping the country in recent weeks has swirled into the wine industry. Statewide winery associations, individual wineries and even one of the most prestigious professional associations, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, have suddenly been challenged to deal with issues of inclusivity and diversity they have ignored for far too long. […]

The Oregon Wine Board, a state-sponsored trade group that represents more than 800 wineries, released a statement titled “Our Commitment to Change.” The group pledged to educate the industry on diversity, equity and inclusion, promote minority-owned wine businesses, and focus more of its branding and advertisements on communities of color.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...74a_story.html

Wine is rooted in Europe and its white adjacencies, themselves products of colonial and imperialist histories. From Chile to California, we feel the impact of how winemaking was affected by the conscious, hegemonic spread of Christianity. Even the word sommelier is deeply embedded in the servitude of someone charged with taking inventory of wine on pack animals. The wine world does not take into account current experiences of its BIPOC and LGBTQ+ members. It is steeped in a language that is coded and arcane, tied up with legal jargon and French techniques that only the privileged, monied few are able to decipher. […]

I don’t know what will be left of restaurants after COVID-19, but I do know that there will always be wine and people who love it. The idea of pre-COVID, pre-George Floyd normal is over. Normal doesn’t exist—rather, it can’t. The status quo that white people were so comfortable with has been exposed for its racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and myriad other biases and transgressions wrapped up in the package of white supremacy. I’m looking for a better future, and I know what my role is and should be. I do not need to accommodate those who seek to protect the status quo. […]

I consider how much more I can do, as an immigrant, as a Filipino, as an American, as a cis gay man, as an ally, as an advocate, as a sommelier, as a friend and as a son. I don’t want to perpetuate the systems that dehumanized and demeaned me and my BIPOC colleagues. I want to dismantle white supremacy in wine. I want to spark change, to remove the barriers of entry, to call in and call out peers and industry leaders about the results of their actions and the consequences of their inactions. I want to get loud, get angry, do better. I will ask my colleagues to do the same. I will not stop.[…]

https://punchdrink.com/articles/time...m-restaurants/