Black History. Black Winemakers. Black HERstory.

There is something powerful about pouring a glass of wine and realizing… you were never “supposed” to be here.

Less than 1% of winemakers in the United States are Black. Let that settle for a moment.

For centuries, wine has symbolized luxury, legacy, land ownership, generational wealth. And yet, the hands that harvested, cultivated, and labored in agriculture rarely owned the label. Rarely owned the vineyard. Rarely owned the narrative.

So when I hold a bottle of HER Wine, I don’t just see a product.I see progress.I see permission.I see possibility.

Black History Month is not just about honoring the past. It’s about recognizing the courage it takes to step into rooms you were never historically invited into — and building tables of your own.

When I launched HER Wine, I wasn’t trying to become a statistic. I was trying to create space. Space for women. Space for joy. Space for ownership. Space for us.

And as a Black woman in an industry where representation is rare, every bottling run feels like quiet rebellion wrapped in elegance. Every label feels like a love letter to the next woman who may not yet see herself in this industry — but could.

The journey hasn’t been easy. There were moments of doubt. Questions about credibility. Questions about access. Questions about whether there was room.

But history has always been rewritten by those bold enough to show up anyway.

So this month, when you sip HER Wine, understand this: you are tasting resilience. You are tasting evolution. You are tasting what happens when someone decides that “rare” does not mean “impossible.”

We are not just participating in the wine industry. We are reshaping it.

And that, my love, is Black History in real time.

Cheerfully,

Nicole Anderson 🍷✨