Books

From Grapes to the Glass

Only 25% of Blacks drink wine, as opposed to 34 percent of their white counterparts, according to Batya Ungar-Sargon, managing editor of VinePair. This may be the result of the way wine is marketed (or not) in the Black community. Although Blacks are “12% more likely to shop for wine online than their white counterparts, wine sellers and their marketers continue to refuse to reach out to the African American consumer,” Ungar-Sargon writes.

Published

2 years ago

October 15, 2022

Oakland Post

The Woburn Plantation Manor House Remains & Burwell Cemetery

By Tamara Shiloh

Winemaking is a centuries-old profession originating in Old World France. Socioeconomics, however, has played a role in the lack of Black connoisseurs and producers of wine in America. Fine wines have always been a staple in exclusive clubs and upscale restaurants; establishments traditionally filled with white patrons. Even today, little is revealed about the rapidly increasing growth of diversity in the industry. Despite their absence from the narrative, so-called anomalies within the Black community were growing plump grapes and distilling them into bottles — one being John June Lewis Sr. (1894–1974), owner and operator of Woburn Winery.

Lewis’ passion for winemaking developed while stationed in the European Rhine Valley during World War I. He came to love the land, the soil, and especially the grapes. After his tour, he returned home to his father’s Clarksville, Va., plantation where he worked in the lumber business until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. After his father’s death, Lewis would inherit land. Still holding on to his passion, he planted 10 acres of labrusca grapes in the Ivy Hill area of Mecklenburg County. The cellar held 5,000 gallons, sold mostly to neighbors and friends. Later, in 1940, it would grow into Woburn Winery.

The Woburn Plantation Manor House Remains & Burwell Cemetery

Woburn is thought to have been the only Virginia winery by the early 1970s to manufacture wine solely from its own grapes, and the only Black-owned winery in the US. Dubbed, “the Virginia Carolina Brand,” Raisin Wine and Virginia Red Grape were the only two varieties Woburn produced.

“I’ve never seen any (wine) advertising or marketing directed at African Americans,” Tony Harris, vice president of an African American wine tasting group in the East Bay told SF Gate. “This is clearly a missed opportunity.”

Still, Black winemakers are navigating the maze of a tough and unwelcoming industry through vineyard ownership. Of the more than 11,000 wineries based in the US, less than 1% of those are Black-owned or have a Black winemaker.

Lewis made wine from labrusca and hybrid grapes for more than three decades until his death in 1974. The winery closed soon after. Today, Virginia is home to more than 300 wineries and wine brands but fewer than five are owned by African Americans.

Get advice on navigating wine lists, purchasing wine, and drinking more diverse and interesting selections at home from Brooklyn sommelier and winemaker André Mack in “99 Bottles: A Black Sheep’s Guide to Life-Changing Wines.”

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Book Reviews

Book Review: Books for Poetry Month by Various Authors

Picture books for the littles are a great way to introduce your 3-to7-year-old to poetry because simple stories lend themselves to gentle rhymes and lessons. “See You on the Other Side” by Rachel Montez Minor, illustrated by Mariyah Rahman (Crown, $18.99) is a rhyming book about love and loss, but it’s not as sad as you might think.

Published

3 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

c.2023, 2024, Various Publishers

$18.99 – $20.00

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

On your hands, you have lots of time.

You can make a song, or you can make a rhyme. Make a long story, make a short one, write what you like, make it simple and fun. Writing poetry uses your imagination: you play with words, paint a picture. There’s no intimidation. Creating poetry can be a breeze, or just reach for and read books exactly like these…

Picture books for the littles are a great way to introduce your 3-to7-year-old to poetry because simple stories lend themselves to gentle rhymes and lessons. “See You on the Other Side” by Rachel Montez Minor, illustrated by Mariyah Rahman (Crown, $18.99) is a rhyming book about love and loss, but it’s not as sad as you might think.

In this book, several young children learn that losing someone beloved is not a forever thing, that it is very sad but it’s not scary because their loved one is always just a thought away. Young readers who’ve recently experienced the death of a parent, grandparent, sibling, or friend will be comforted by the rhyme here, but don’t dismiss the words. Adults who’ve recently lost a loved one will find helpful, comforting words here, too.

Flitting from here to there and back again, author Alice Notley moves through phases of her life, locations, and her diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in her latest poetry collection, “Being Reflected Upon” (Penguin, $20.00). From 2000 to 2017, Notley lived in Paris where she wrestled with breast cancer. That, and her life abroad, are reflected in the poetry here; she also takes readers on a poetic journey on other adventures and to other places she lived and visited. This book has a random feel that entices readers to skip around and dive in anywhere. Fans of Notley will appreciate her new-age approach to her works; new fans will enjoy digging into her thoughts and visions through poems. Bonus: at least one of the poems may make you laugh.

If you’re a reader who’s willing to look into the future, “Colorfast” by Rose McLarney (Penguin, $20.00) will be a book you’ll return to time and again. This, the author’s fourth collection, is filled with vivid poems of graying and fading, but also of bright shades, small things, women’s lives yesterday and today, McLarney’s Southern childhood, and the things she recalls about her childhood. The poems inside this book are like sitting on a front porch in a wooden rocking chair: they’re comfortable, inviting, and they tell a story that readers will love discovering.

If these books aren’t enough, or if you’re looking for something different, silly, or classic, then head to your favorite bookstore or library. The ladies and gentlemen there will help you figure out exactly what you need, and they can introduce you to the kind of poetry that makes you laugh, makes you cry, entices a child, inspires you, gives you comfort, or makes you want to write your own poems. Isn’t it time to enjoy a rhyme?