- 6 days ago
Are you saying the names right? How do you get better at picking out notes in wine? Wine educators will help the audience learn how to best savor flavors, understand what makes the wines so different and distinctive, and become more confident as a burgeoning wine aficionado.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I am Victoria Umarogi. I'm the Senior Lifestyle Editor of Essence, and I love wine. Who else out here loves wine? Come on!
00:07Shake your glasses, your cups, your hands, all of it.
00:10But there's a lot of nuances with wine, right? Like, sometimes we're not saying the names right.
00:14Sometimes we don't know what to pair the meals with our drinks.
00:17We don't know what we're doing sometimes, and that can make us feel a little bit intimidated to enjoy wine fully.
00:22So we're here with these ladies who have these amazing brands to kind of just help us to feel more comfortable and enjoy what we're sipping, okay?
00:30So first and foremost, I wanted to ask you ladies, how did you both come to have an affinity for wine?
00:35When did the love of it begin for you? Let's start with you, Ms. Ingrid.
00:38Well, first of all, it's really good to be here. Can you guys hear me? You can hear me? You can hear me? Okay, good.
00:43It's good to be here. You all look beautiful. I like to say wine is in my blood. I didn't realize it was, but it is.
00:50I've had the great fortune of working for some really big organizations for years who had beautiful wine portfolios,
00:57portfolios, and so that's really where I got introduced to wine, and my love for wine began.
01:03So it's been a long love affair.
01:06Yes, tell us about you.
01:07Well, my love for wine started many years ago, but it was really fortified during my travels.
01:13How many of y'all like to travel?
01:15Yes.
01:15Right, and so really through my travels and also learning by tasting wine, I became very intrigued.
01:23Also, when I realized how much goes into wine production and the nuances of wine in general,
01:29because there's so much to know and learn and appreciate about wine, it was like a never-ending adventure.
01:34And I love adventure, so for me, wine is a never-ending adventure, and I fell in love during my travels.
01:41I love that. I love that.
01:42And so for some people, like, you know, we like cocktails.
01:45We like, you know, different things.
01:47If you're trying to get into wine, what would you say is the best wine to start with for beginners
01:51who really want to just, like, become a little connoisseur?
01:55Get into it.
01:55Yes, get into it.
01:56If you want to get into it.
01:57Connoisseur.
01:57So, I mean, there are thousands of different types of wines, right?
02:02So even if somebody says, I'm not really a wine person, you probably haven't found the right wine for you.
02:07I just suggest to try all types of wines, maybe starting with something that's more fruit-forward,
02:13maybe a Pinot Noir, or especially blends.
02:16I find that red blends are really approachable as well.
02:20Because they're, like, fruity and sweet, and sweet wines are really approachable, right?
02:23Well, you can have dry red blends.
02:25Okay.
02:26I prefer a dry red blend, actually.
02:28But when we focus on, you know, the flavor and the aroma of a wine versus looking to taste sugar,
02:34I think that's really when the magic happens.
02:36That's when really we can get into what the wine is actually trying to express to us.
02:41Nice, nice.
02:42Ingrid, what would you say is a great beginner wine?
02:44You know, listen, wine is art, and wine is like art.
02:48It's very subjective.
02:50So I think everyone has their own palate, right?
02:52Where you start really depends on what kind of food you like, where you live, right?
02:58The temperature.
02:59So there's a lot of things that go into, in my opinion, where you start in your journey of drinking wine.
03:05There's no wrong answer.
03:07Start wherever it meets you at, right?
03:10So wine will meet you where you are.
03:13And, again, it's really subjective.
03:16So I started with Chardonnay, which probably is no surprise, but I grew up in the Bay Area, right, near Napa.
03:23But, again, you know, some people start with red.
03:25So I think it's really subjective.
03:27But you made a great point about blends.
03:30I have two blends, and the reason why I did that is because they're very approachable.
03:35So blends tend to be very approachable.
03:37So I would say I'm kind of suggesting folks look for blends that you think will let you try different varietals at the same time.
03:46Okay, awesome.
03:46Krista, I know you have Per Noir.
03:48Yes.
03:49And you are a wine sommelier.
03:51Yes.
03:52Can you tell us, what is the best way to consume your wine?
03:54I saw a question on Google.
03:56Somebody said, should I slurp wine?
03:58What is the best way to, like, kind of swirl it on your palate and really to get the best flavors out of Per Noir?
04:04Well, so at Per Noir, we have two tasting rooms, one in Houston, one in Dallas.
04:09We also ship across the country.
04:11But the experience in our tasting room is really a guided, interactive wine tasting experience.
04:15And we start with the fundamentals of wine tasting, otherwise known as the five S's.
04:19Yes.
04:19Do y'all want to hear about the five S's of wine tasting?
04:22Yes, we do.
04:22I see some of my customers in this room.
04:25Shout out to all the pure peeps.
04:26But we like to start with what we see in our wine.
04:29You'd be so surprised about what you can learn about a wine just based on what you see.
04:32Then I always like to smell a wine because a wine is so expressive even on the nose.
04:38And so much of what we taste is also what we smell and that experience of tasting.
04:42We swirl it to really open up those aromatics.
04:45And then we smell it again.
04:46We sip it and we savor it.
04:48So that's just a real quick, easy five S's of wine tasting.
04:51No matter what you're drinking, hopefully it's pure noir and one of our 13 different premium and award-winning wines.
04:57But even if it's not, hopefully y'all will remember the five S's of wine tasting.
05:02Nice, nice.
05:03And Ingrid, you have iBest Wines and you're a wine negociant.
05:06So for people who don't know what that is, can you kind of break down what it means to be a wine negociant and how you came to have iBest?
05:12Yes.
05:13So let me break it down.
05:14I've been in the wine and spirits business for many years.
05:17I fell in love with wine, but I also fell in love with the business of wine.
05:21So as a wine negociant, what that simply means is that I'm in the business of wine.
05:26I'm not a somm, I'm not a winemaker, I'm someone who understands the business, had a passion for it, and launched my own brand.
05:34And so I think it's really important to make sure people know that there is a big difference between being a wine brand owner and a winemaker.
05:43Because winemakers go to school, they are really anchored in education.
05:48Sommoniers spend a lot of time in the science of wine.
05:52I am in the business of wine.
05:53I love wine, and I know how to build and market great things, and I work hand-in-hand with our winemaker.
05:59But I am what you call the wine negociant.
06:02And iBest Wines is my namesake brand, and I'm very proud of it.
06:05Awesome, awesome.
06:07And I know you mentioned like a starter wine that you would recommend is like Chardonnay.
06:11You were saying a blend is good.
06:12But for you both personally, what is your preferred taste?
06:15What is your preferred drink when it comes to wines?
06:17Do you like them dry?
06:18What is your thing?
06:19Let me tell you, as a producer of wine who's very passionate about my product,
06:23like that is the hardest question on earth.
06:25My palate is, I mean, one day it could be my beautiful rosé made of Tempranillo.
06:31Another day it could be my beautiful gold-metaled red blend called Pure Epiphany.
06:36But, I mean, right now it's hot.
06:38It's summertime.
06:39I love my rosé vibes.
06:41Rosé all day.
06:42Yes, rosé.
06:42But then also, again, a red blend like Pure Epiphany, which is the first wine that we ever started producing.
06:49It's actually named after the moment that my husband, Kenneth, and I decided to become winemakers
06:53after traveling and deciding on a beautiful, bold, fruit-forward red blend.
07:00It's named Pure Epiphany.
07:01And to me, that's my go-to because it's so versatile.
07:05It's so approachable.
07:05It's still fruit-forward.
07:07But it also has a little bit of a spicy side, which I really enjoy.
07:10So the answer is any wine in the Pure Noir portfolio.
07:13Yes.
07:14You better big up yourself.
07:16Ingrid, how about you?
07:16What is your, like, go-to taste?
07:19Yeah, so, you know, I, for a long time, was a red wine drinker.
07:22I love red wine, but I ain't going to lie, I love our white blend.
07:27I also think, obviously, it's summertime.
07:30It's a Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, so it's the best of, in my opinion, the
07:35white varietals.
07:37And it's been my go-to right now.
07:39I usually start the day with the white blend, and I end the day with the red blend.
07:43But, you know, again, I think it's subjective.
07:46I think it depends on your mood, how you feel, what you have on, where you're going, who you're
07:50hanging with, what you're doing for the day.
07:52But right now, I'm a white blend girl.
07:55Yeah.
07:55Nice, nice.
07:57And wine names, some of the varieties are tricky to say.
08:00What are the ones that you find that people struggle with?
08:05I would say, for me, Chenin Blanc, interestingly enough, is one of the varietals that people
08:10are like, Chenin, Chenin, like, they're not really sure.
08:14But I also want to make sure that you guys hear from people like us, there's no wrong
08:20answers in wine.
08:21Yes, you want to nail it.
08:22You want to be able to say the varietals right.
08:24But you just got to practice it.
08:25Right.
08:26And if you don't think you're pronouncing it correctly, just ask someone who could potentially
08:30teach you how to pronounce it correctly.
08:32But I would say Chenin Blanc is the one for me that I'm oftentimes having to say it's
08:36Chenin Blanc.
08:37Right.
08:38Because people are like, Chen, Dawn.
08:41Exactly.
08:41We're trying, we're trying out here.
08:42How about you?
08:43What are the ones that you find that people kind of struggle with when it comes to the names?
08:47Well, so much of wine and wine language is actually other languages.
08:51Other languages, yeah.
08:52So I find some of the Italian wines, like, I find that, oh, wow, y'all, I'm naturally loud,
08:59by the way.
08:59Yes.
09:00So that's great.
09:01So some of the wines, like Montepulcianos or Sauvignon Blancs, you know, wines that are
09:08actually in another language, it might be harder to say.
09:11Sure.
09:12But, yeah, we love to educate on that as well.
09:16We'll share it.
09:18And what would you recommend people pair certain red wines and white wines with when it comes
09:22to making the most of the flavors for the dishes that they like?
09:25Ooh.
09:26Ooh, I love food and wine pairings.
09:27We all love to eat, but I also am very passionate about wine.
09:32With food and wine pairings, it's really simple.
09:35Like, try not to overthink it.
09:36There's room for trial and error.
09:38So a general rule of thumb, speaking in broad strokes, if you will, the flavor intensity
09:44of the food that you're having should match the flavor intensity of the wine that you're
09:48drinking.
09:49The idea is that you never want one to overpower the other.
09:52In a perfect world, they're friends, they get along, they do a little dance, and that's
09:57that's when you really create a whole new experience separate from the food by itself
10:00and the wine by itself.
10:02Yeah, agreed.
10:03And what would you say are some great pairings for red wines and white wines?
10:07Yeah, so you know what?
10:09Again, subjective, but I love Italian food.
10:13And what I love about Italian food is that you can enjoy white wine and red wine with Italian
10:19food.
10:19That's what I love about Italian food.
10:21So depending on my mood, what pasta I'm eating, either varietals coming from white or red are
10:29great for pairing with Italian food, in my opinion.
10:33So I think for me, the biggest thing is, to your point, don't let the food overpower the
10:39wine and vice versa.
10:40They have to complement one another.
10:43It's a complement.
10:43It's a dance.
10:44It is a dance.
10:46Yes.
10:46Nice.
10:47And I wanted to ask you, you know, there are a lot of, you know, wines out there in
10:51the market.
10:51A lot of black people are starting to become entrepreneurs in the wine industry, which is
10:54amazing.
10:56What makes I Best stand out?
10:58What would you say people should know about your wine, that they're here?
11:01Do you have a whole new possible customer base right here?
11:04Could you tell us a little bit more about what sets I Best Wines apart from what's out
11:08there?
11:08A few things.
11:09I mentioned I'm an ex-wine and spirits veteran.
11:13I worked for some big companies in my life, and I decided to bet on myself.
11:18And for anyone here who's an inspiring entrepreneur, you know, I Best Wines really represents the
11:25ability to bet on yourself and go after what you love.
11:28So I would say that's the first thing.
11:30I Best Wines has two blends from South Africa.
11:33So these wines are from South Africa, and most people don't know that there's wine being made
11:39and produced in South Africa, incredible wine.
11:42They've been producing wine for over 300 years.
11:45And so for me, it's really important that I'm really, you know, singing the gospel of
11:51the South African wine region.
11:53And then I would say the third thing that makes I Best Wines special is that it's my
11:57namesake.
11:58And so I'm leaving a legacy in an industry that I've pretty much given my life to.
12:03And so I would say those are three things, and it's award-winning wine.
12:07Nice.
12:08I love that.
12:08And Krista, can you tell us what makes Pernoir stand out?
12:11Obviously, you know so much about wine.
12:13You've educated yourself as a sommelier.
12:15What did you use to make this one of the standout wines out there?
12:18And also, tell us about the experience people can get at your tasting room, too.
12:24So Pernoir wines really began as a labor of love.
12:29I already mentioned that I fell in love with wine during my travels.
12:32My husband, Kenneth, and I, shout out to my husband, we had the epiphany to become wine
12:37producers when we discovered that less than 1% of global producers of wine are African-American.
12:430.07%, y'all.
12:46And this is after being a consumer of wine for years, after being a wine enthusiast, and
12:51spending my hard-earned coin on wine.
12:54And so the epiphany was, why don't we have more ownership and representation in this space?
12:59So we set out to be the representation we wanted to see.
13:03The representation that we wanted to see is what we set out to do.
13:06And since then, we started with one wine, Pure Epiphany.
13:09We now produce 13 different premium and award-winning wines with medals ranging from gold medals,
13:16double golds, platinum awards, 93-plus-point rated wines.
13:19But also we're the city of Houston's first black-owned winery.
13:26And so I'm a born and raised Houstonian.
13:29And making, shout out to everybody from the H.
13:34But making history in the city that made me, in the city that raised me, that hits so hard.
13:39That to this day, even saying it out loud to you all, it's like, man.
13:43And so, but it's also a testament to the work that's still yet to be done.
13:47Because in 2021, the city of Houston's first black-owned winery.
13:50And then we have since opened our second tasting room in the city of Dallas.
13:55Beautiful space.
13:56And the experience in our tasting room is, one, it's approachable, right?
14:01Friendly and knowledgeable wine associates will guide you.
14:05It's interactive, right?
14:06It's an adventure.
14:06It's fun.
14:07Guide you and meet you on your journey, no matter where you are on your journey.
14:12If it's your very first wine tasting, if you consider yourself completely novice,
14:16or if you yourself, it's not your first rodeo, right?
14:19Like, you've tasted wines, you know wines.
14:22And so we're your people.
14:23We're your people.
14:23The wines are also available online as well and shipped throughout the country.
14:29Awesome.
14:29And as you mentioned, less than 1%, you know, black people are being the ones responsible
14:34for making wine within this industry.
14:35Can you talk about maybe hurdles that you faced in the journey of making these beautiful bottles of wine
14:41and it tastes amazing?
14:42What were some of the things you might have come up against that, you know,
14:45you deal with when it's not a very diverse space?
14:48Yeah.
14:49So, again, spending 20 years in the wine and spirits industry, oftentimes in the organizations
14:56that I work for, I was the only person that looked like me.
14:59So, this is a very personal journey for us, right?
15:02Because we're unlocking some things and we're taking up space in an industry that hasn't
15:07always welcomed us.
15:09I would say the biggest hurdle is capital, right?
15:13I've invested all of my capital to build this brand.
15:17And, you know, oftentimes people don't have the capital to even get started.
15:21So, I would say one of the biggest hurdles, especially for black and brown women, is access
15:27to capital.
15:28Even though we are the fastest growing entrepreneurs, we are building billion-dollar companies.
15:34Shout out to Fawn Weaver.
15:35It is hard for us to access capital.
15:38So, I would say that's probably the biggest.
15:41But it's opportunity.
15:42So, I always, I want to end on a high.
15:44Although there are challenges and hurdles, nothing's impossible.
15:48Everything is possible and we're examples of that.
15:52So, yeah.
15:54Ooh, the challenges.
15:56Ingrid and I were backstage talking about the challenges.
15:58We're both moms.
16:00Yes.
16:01Managing a growing wine company along with your personal life, your family.
16:06Like, my daughter's five and a half and she's my world.
16:09And Pure Noir, we've invested everything into it.
16:12We employ quite a number of people.
16:15And the challenges in entrepreneurship in general.
16:20Like, if you are an entrepreneur, you have to learn the art of the pivot and you have to
16:24be able to overcome adversity.
16:27I mean, honestly, I feel like Pure Noir was born in the darkness because of our timing.
16:32We had started producing our wines in 2018.
16:35We were passionately crafting these beautiful French barrel-aged wines.
16:40And one of our best-selling wines, we were tasting her out of the barrel.
16:45I refer to my wine as her.
16:47But we were tasting her out of the barrel and she was beautiful.
16:50It was a petite Syrah red blend, aged for 18 months.
16:54Yes.
16:54And then we decided that she was ready for bottling.
16:58And we set our launch date.
17:01No one had tasted our wines before, but we set that date, y'all, for March of 2020.
17:05We all remember what we were doing in March of 2020.
17:11I was trying to get a new wine brand off the ground and we had this huge wine release soiree
17:17planned.
17:18It was a sold-out event, 150 tickets.
17:20The state of Texas shut down the week before the soiree.
17:23We had to refund all those tickets.
17:25I didn't know what would come of the brand.
17:26But fortunately, people were drinking a lot of wine.
17:29And we actually sold out of our first three wines in a matter of months.
17:35And so from there, I knew that if we could overcome that obstacle, that hurdle, that we
17:39could get through anything.
17:42I love that.
17:43And we were talking backstage about wine and tasting and everything, what comes on your
17:49palate being a subjective thing.
17:51So for people out there who are trying to get into wine, you're like, I don't know if this
17:55is really for me.
17:56I don't know if I'm tasting what other people are tasting or if I'm doing it right, drinking
18:00it right.
18:01What do you want those people to know so that they can enjoy the wine tasting experience?
18:06Yeah.
18:07So I think what we have to do is dispel the myth, right?
18:10Dispel the myth that we don't know what there is to know about wine.
18:14With everything, there's a start.
18:17You have to start someplace, quiet the noise, you know, drink what you like.
18:23That's the other thing.
18:24It's back to me saying, you know, wine is like art.
18:27It's subjective.
18:28You like the art that you like.
18:30You like the wine that you like.
18:31So there's no rules.
18:34And I think people need to feel the freedom and take the freedom of entering into, you
18:39know, becoming wine drinkers where they are.
18:43I just think we have to dispel that there's like rules on how to do it.
18:47Now, there are beautiful people who are sommeliers who can take you through that process and
18:52really educate you and take you on the journey that you want to go on.
18:56But one thing about wine is that there's always something to learn.
19:00Yes.
19:01There's always something to learn.
19:03So my advice is start where you are, drink what you like, and quiet the noise around the
19:09myths.
19:09There's this myth that we only like sweet wine.
19:13Well, that's not the case for everybody.
19:15Find things that are approachable.
19:17So, yeah.
19:18Yes, I agree.
19:20I think definitely ask questions.
19:23Ask lots and lots of questions and taste lots and lots of different wines.
19:28And again, it is very subjective to Ingrid's point.
19:31You like what you like, right?
19:33And there is no right or wrong.
19:34So even if you come to Pure Noir and we're guiding you through a beautiful wine tasting
19:39experience, we also want to hear from you.
19:41What do you taste?
19:42We'll tell you what the flavors and the notes and the aromas are.
19:45But it's so personal, y'all.
19:47It might actually come down to your personal life experiences, things that you've tasted
19:51are also things that you'll be able to detect in the wine.
19:54But drink more wine.
19:55Just start somewhere.
19:56There's no right or wrong.
19:57Just enjoy yourself.
19:59Drink, y'all.
20:00Drink.
20:00Just drink it up.
20:03Responsibly.
20:03Right, right.
20:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
20:04Yeah, that too.
20:06But speaking of drink, the last question I wanted to ask you, which is a fun one.
20:10Everybody knows you love wine.
20:11We see these beautiful wines here.
20:12But cocktails, what is your go-to cocktail for a Friday night, Saturday night, fun night?
20:20Talk to me.
20:22You go first.
20:24Oh, man.
20:24Okay.
20:25I am a beverage enthusiast as well.
20:27Yeah.
20:28You go first.
20:28So when it's not wine or Pure Noir wines, I enjoy a spicy margarita.
20:33I think it gives me layers of enjoyment.
20:37And also a dirty martini.
20:39So it's just my mood.
20:40My mood.
20:41Yeah, you know, admittedly, I'm not a big cocktail girl.
20:46But I see this espresso martini craze going on.
20:50And for years and years, I worked on vodka brands and tried to sell espresso martinis.
20:54So it's nice to see that finally people are drinking espresso martinis.
20:58So, you know, I would say an espresso martini.
21:01It's fun.
21:02There's a little bit of a dessert element to it.
21:05But really, I drink wine.
21:07Wine.
21:08Yeah.
21:08So you got some recommendations for what to drink with wine and cocktails.
21:15And you have these amazing wines here, Pure Noir, iBest Wines.
21:18Make sure you check them out.
21:19Can we give a round of applause for these fabulous entrepreneurs taking over the wine industry?
21:24Show them some love.
21:26Thank you so much, ladies, for your time today.
21:28You guys have a beautiful weekend.
21:30Be safe.
21:31Have a good time and drink some wine.
21:33Thanks, y'all.
21:34Enjoy.
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