The dinner, hosted Friday during the annual Food & Wine Classic, came together after last year’s inaugural event spawned a push to bring more Black voices together to celebrate successes and discuss how to diversify a wine industry dominated by White males. Guests included former and current NBA players Channing Frye, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Damian Jones; rapper E-40; chef Marcus Samuelsson; and several Black winery owners.
“It’s never been corrected that the land provides and the land feeds, despite the negative connotation that goes with it,” Dubose-Woodson, who attended the dinner, said in an interview. “[Land] was a big part of Black wealth 200 years ago — so it’s [about] making a good connection back to it.” Another attendee, wine brand La Fête’s founder and CEO Donae Burston, agrees minorities need to know they can have successful careers in the wine industry.