I usually blog on topics of my positive experiences of wineries and wine. I am hesitant, but want to express my experiences of bias and prejudice in the tasting room. Now, before you scroll on past to the next blog post just pause for a moment.
Wine tasting itself is a subjective experience. You have your palate, preferences, and your appreciation will vary based on those. It is a completely personal experience for the individual. Nobody can dispute the right or wrong of what you smell or taste, although they may for sake of conversation. What I'm going to talk about is the objective part of wine tasting - as a patron in a tasting room. You walk in and you are a potential customer and sized up accordingly. Sometimes that sizing ends up categorizing you based on the staff's personal biases or the culture of the winery itself.
It is no mystery, I'm African-American and make one of the 1.9% in Sonoma County according to the 2012 Census. (even Napa County only has 2.3% African-Americans, although California is 6.6% overall.) Not a whole lot of representation as far as demographics go. I do stand out very quickly for that when traveling to various wineries.
That being said, I do see an increase... a small increase, of other cultures in the tasting rooms.
I often wonder, Is it a class issue? Do we look like we are not going to buy wine? (what does that even look like?)
I have seen how some of the tasting room staff become stand offish when I or others walk in. I've felt the uncomfortable decrescendo that occurs sometimes. Movies play it up, when a hush comes over a room. I have experienced it in one of my favorite places, a winery tasting room.
I will not list any names of the wineries in this case, as I am not looking for redemption nor revenge, though a few are reviewed in my blog. I do not share that aspect of my experience in my review.
Besides just being a fan of wine, and a blogger, I have also worked in a tasting room. I have poured at and worked many wine events, both as paid staff and volunteer. I have visited over 100 wineries in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino Counties and Paso Robles. I'm also a Certified Tourism Ambassador and I focus on giving people recommendations on positive wine experiences. And, recently, I started making wine. So, while I am no expert, I am also not a novice on this subject. And, I have been black my entire life. :)
I will, however, share what I want to say to those winery owners and staff:
1. I know your first inclination is to deny that bias and prejudice exist in your tasting room. Sometimes it really does. Do realize that it is out there and is a real experience. Please don't dismiss this as a "aww, poor me, I'm black and my life is harder than the rest of the races in the world" type of thing. Sit back and recognize that wine tasting is one of those activities that has been predominately focused on a particular economic demographic, upper middle class white couples. Like it or not, you and or your staff may focus purely on that demographic and dismiss the others. At best it is unconscious, at worst, it is malicious.
2. On the (hopefully) rare occasion that someone does note/complain/review that they have had a negative experience, you should take it seriously. Be proactive. You can minimize the damage to your reputation, your brand, and your client experience if you own it and do the work to fix it. Sometimes that means a staff change, sometimes staff training, sometimes a public answer to a review. But it always, and I mean always, should include speaking with the person who had the experience. Hear them out and give them an opportunity to tell you how it made them feel. Yes, it will be uncomfortable for you, but your winery has already made them feel uncomfortable. For what? Trying to taste wine and hopefully come away as a fan with a few bottles...
3. I recognize that you are in the business of making and selling wine. You have a limited amount of staff and sometimes a deluge of potential customers. In sales, it is normal practice to focus on the "low hanging fruit" and go for the target demographic and most likely sale. I get that. But what does that equate to in your tasting room? Does your staff focus on the more vocal or direct clients only and ignore the more quiet ones? That could be a missed opportunity to draw someone out, educate them on wine or your brand. I will tell you...I buy wine. What I don't do is fight for space and attention at a tasting counter when winery staff is working their schtick and focused on the group they think is most likely to buy. I see it all the time. Staff does the test close sometimes when they first greet you "are you here to taste and maybe bring something home today?" That may as well be asking "are you going to buy today or just waste my time and energy?" I have gotten it many times myself. Something restaurants do that I don't think wineries do is stress test their staff. Load up your tasting room with a bus of secret shoppers in on the test and see how your staff handles it, really. Come up with ways to make the experience of your winery the most positive, and accessible to all, it can be. See how that translates into sales and wine club memberships. And be sure to represent a wide racial and socio-economic demographic when you do.
4. Whether you think it is bad or good, treat all of your patrons the same. Period.
Now, I know that while you have been reading this you may have been coming up with reasons to dismiss or minimize this. Let me address those possible objections.
1. "Well, nobody has complained." That may very well be the case. Tell me, would you? Especially if you have been minimalized or marginalized by an experience. Would you put yourself back out there? Probably not. That is why you need to test your staff to see if you have a problem. That is also why when you are alerted to a problem by someone, anyone, take it seriously. I know how hard it is to stand up and say something. You can recognize that would be hard to do.
2. "Wow, another instance of someone 'playing the race card." Really? Am I asking for any special treatment? Nope. How is that using the race card? I just want a good, positive tasting experience for myself and others. And I am guessing you want that for all your patrons.
3. "Some people who complain do so just to get freebies." Well, that may be true. I will tell you that if a person is telling you about a problem without their hand out you can rest assured that they want you to know you have a problem. If you choose to offer something that is on you. If not, that's ok. The best and first thing you should always do is hear the person out. Listen with sincerity.
I'm going to give you an recent example of the kind of treatment I speak of. It happened in November 2014 in a Carneros winery. I walked into the tasting room. There was a fairly decent size group in there that was wrapping up. My friend and I walked in and all the sudden the sounds went from laughs and lively to muted tension. People completed their purchases, paid and left. During this duration, there were multiple staff present, but none of the staff bothered to acknowledge we were even there. One staff remained in the room after the group and other staff left. She busied herself with the cash register, other things, staying on the other side of the room. We were actually trying to get her attention. We decided to just sit and watch her and see how long it would take her to warm up and decide to serve us. We were in there, alone with her, for nearly 10 minutes before she finally looked up and decided to acknowledge us and ask us if we wanted to taste. She addressed my friend directly, who is a white female. My friend looked at me to answer the question of the staff, pretty much in disbelief that this was actually happening this way. I told her that I was here to taste a specific wine, the Viognier, as I am a home winemaker also and had sourced from the same vineyard they used. She was fairly dismissive but efficiently retrieved the tasting and left back to the other counter. We took our glasses and went to sit on the outside patio, as that presented a friendlier environment than inside the tasting room.
Yeah, possibly she was having a bad day and it had nothing at all to do with us. Even though we got to witness her being happy, personable, and very hospitable with the group of people before us. Tell me what conclusion you would draw from that? I'm not sure I'd ever go back, even though I know the vintner. If I do, I will probably go alone, as I don't like to share potentially negative experiences with friends and family. I take people to wineries because there is something truly unique and positive to enjoy there.
*Tasting While Black
Once I got my haul home I went to work with the help of my wife and a friend. Crush went fairly fast and we set for maceration for a little over an hour. We then pressed off the juice and made a nice big cake of spent grape skins. Before adding yeast I let the debris settle overnight and then racked to get nearly clear juice. I then pitched QA23 yeast. I knew that with white wine the process was different if you could cool ferment at or below 50 degrees. I decided to cool ferment and had to use the basic equipment of a chilled water bath. So I put my tub inside a larger container and cycled frozen water bottles into the water bath about every 6 hours for the next two weeks. Not as long as some cool fermentations, but it got the job done.
Yes, I do stand out. I am a Black man who drinks wine, now makes it, and apparently is fairly good at making it. I've spent a lot of time in and around wineries the last 3 years and I know I am unique in this environment. Let that be an encouragement to other people of color. It may make people look at you funny initially, but wine is fun, wine-making is hard work and fun, and you are every bit as entitled to enjoy any facet of wine your heart desires. You just may be the next big thing.
