Black-owned organization, Milwaukee Wine Academy hosting tastings throughout the city
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AND TRY GO THREE AND FIVE. IT’S 1151. AND TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH. WISN 12 IS HIGHLIGHTING HISTORY MAKERS AND TRAILBLAZERS, AND MILWAUKEE’S BLACK COMMUNITY. I’M HERE WITH A DUO THAT’S WORKING TO MAKE THE WINE INDUSTRY MORE INCLUSIVE LIVE. WE LOVE WINE. WE’VE GOT TIM COLE AND JEFFREY COLEMAN.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE. THEY’RE REPRESENTING THE MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY. FOLKS MAY NOT HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY. TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT. GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US. THE MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY STARTED SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR,
AND IT WAS A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN MYSELF, TIM COLE AND DEREK HAWKINS TO MAKE WINE MORE INCLUSIVE IN THE MILWAUKEE AREA. WE HAD NOTICED THAT THERE’S A TON OF WINE SHOPS, WINE BARS, ALL OVER THE CITY, BUT NOT SO MANY PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE US IN THOSE SPACES RIGHT?
SO HOW CAN WE EDUCATE PEOPLE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WINE AND TO FEEL LESS INTIMIDATED TO GO INTO THESE SHOPS AND BARS AND HAVAVEA GOOD TIME JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE? YEAH, I ACTUALLY ATTENDED THE FIRST, UH, THE FIRST MEETING OF THE MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY THAT YOU HELD BACK IN SEPTEMBER, AND
YOU GUYS HAVE GROWN TREMENDOUSLY SINCE THEN AND JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS. TELL ME THE RECEPTION THAT YOU’VE GOTTEN FROM THE COMMUNITY. SO WE’VE GOTTEN AN EXCELLENT RECEPTION. I’VE BEEN ABLE TO CREATE AMAZING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS WITH HYPHEN RADIO, MILWAUKEE, MA AND THELMA CARROLL. PEOPLE HAVE REALLY REACHED OUT IN ORDER TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR US TO TAKE THIS EDUCATION AND THIS INCLUSIVE MESSAGE ABOUT WINE TO THE CITY ANAND WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING. OBVIOUSLY, TRYING TO MAKE THE WINE INDUSTRY A LITTLE BIT MORE INCLUSIVE. YOU’RE ALSO REALLY EDUCATING FOLKS ON BLACK PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WINE INDUSTRY. YOU’VE GOT SOME BLACK WINE
MAKERS HERE, SOME OF THEIR PRODUCTS HERE. YOU GUYS ARE ALSO GOING TO BE HIGHLIGHTING THAT AT EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY. YES, ABSOLUTELY. SO ON FEBRUARY FOURTH, THIS COMING SUNDAY, WE HAVE AN EVENT HIGHLIGHTING TWO BLACK WINEMAKERS, ONE FROM THE UNITED STATES AND ONE FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
AND ACTUALLY WE HAVE ONE OF HIS WINES HERE. THIS IS PRODUCED BY ANDRE HOUSTON MACK, WHO’S A PRETTY FAMOUS SOMMELIER WHO THEN BECAME A WINEMAKER LATER IN HIS CAREER. AND THIS IS HIS OP, UH, OTHER PEOPLE’S PINOT NOIR. OKAY, OKAY, I SEE I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE. YEAH.
AND THEN BESIDES THAT, WE HAVE THE MCBRIDE SISTERS TO THE BLACK WOMEN WHO HAVE REALLY TAKEN THE WINE INDUSTRY BY STORM AND IN THIS CASE, WE HAVE THEIR SPARKLING ROSÉ. AND THEN WE WERE ABLE TO GET ISSA RAE JUST CAME OUT WITH THE PROSECCO CALLED VIERA. YEAH.
UM, AND SO SHE’S NOT MAKING THE WINE, BUT THIS IS HER WINE THAT SHE HAS WORKED WITH WINEMAKERS IN ITALY TO PRODUCE. SHE’S A BIG FAN OF PROSECCO. THOSE OF YOU WHO WATCH INSECURE KNOW THAT SHE LOVED ISSA’S CHARACTER. ISSA WAS A BIG FAN OF PROSECCO, AND SO IS SHE.
YEAH, I’M A BIG FAN OF HER PROSECCO AS WELL. UH, SO BREAK DOWN REALLY QUICKLY IF FOLKS WANT TO BE A PART OF SOME OF THE EVENTS YOU HAVE GOING, UH, THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, OR IF THEY JUST WANT TO REACH OUT TO MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY, WHAT’S THE BEST
WAY TO LEARN MORE INFORMATION? SO VIEW OUR WEBSITE AT MK WINE ACADEMY.COM. YOU CAN ALSO FIND US ON ALL SOCIAL CHANNELS AT MK WINE ACADEMY. WE ARE EXCITED TO HAVE ANY AND EVERYONE. ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT BEING INCLUSIVE IS NOT JUST REMOVING THE BARRIERS, BUT ALSO INVITING PEOPLE IN.
YEYEAH, THAT IS AWESOME. THANK YOU TIM AND GEOFFREY FOR WHAT YOU’RE DOING. YOU’VE ALREADY TAUGHT ME SO MUCH MORE. MY WINE INTAKE IS ELEVATED FROM JUST A BOX THAT CAN BE A LITTLE FANCY. NOWADAYS, THE MILWAUKEE WINE ACADEMY HOST TASTING EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THIS MONTH THEY’RE HOSTING A
BLACK WINE MAKERS EVENT ON SUNDAY AND A BLACK WINE PRODUCERS EVENT