Launching and growing a winery is no easy feat, especially if you are a woman and a minority. Like many industries, the wine business has historically been a white man’s world, with women, especially those of color, significantly less represented. In California, where only 10 percent of wineries have a female as head winemaker, an even smaller number of female winemakers (.004 percent) own the winery. (Source: Women Winemakers of California and Beyond). And when adding Black women into the mix, the numbers become miniscule.

Lack of representation is only one of a number of challenges that Black women entrepreneurs face. From securing outside investors and low-interest bank funding, to finding mentors and joining networks, starting a business as a black woman requires a lot of gumption. Yet there are Black women winery owners who are leading the way, tending the vines as well as the bottom line. These leaders provide much-needed inspiration for the next generation of Black women business owners.

Robin and Andréa McBride, owners of California’s McBride Sisters winery, are two Black sisters who are doing just that. The winery, founded in the early 2000s, is now one of the largest Black-owned wineries in the U.S. Despite not always being taken seriously and often being met with skepticism, the McBrides realized their hard-earned success. “You have to have an extreme case of optimism and thick skin to be successful [as a woman of color] in this business.” (McBrideSisters.com)

Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa’s first Black female winemaker and owner of Aslina Wines, knew she wanted to start a company when she was still a student. Biyela says that her positive attitude helped her deal with gender and race issues along the way. However, her biggest struggle was finding someone to help her balance her personal and business life. “I definitely needed someone who looks like me,” she says, “and there was no one.”

By supporting Black women-owned wineries, consumers can help bolster social and racial justice — all while enjoying a glass of delicious wine. Sounds like a win-win to me! Here are five to get you started.

Aslina Wines

Named one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink,” Ntsiki Biyela launched Aslina (named after her beloved grandmother) in 2017, after more than a decade working in the wine industry. “There have been difficulties,” she says during a Grape Collective interview, “but I look at them as stepping stones to something greater.” Find the highly-coveted wines at Grape Collective and wine-searcher.com.

Darjean Jones Wines

As a Louisiana native, winery owner Darjean Jones says that the “love of good food and drink is coded in my DNA.” Jones, who has a PhD in plant pathology from UC Davis, sources her grapes (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and more) from coveted vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. Darjean Jones’s Russian River Valley Viognier pairs beautifully with shrimp and grits (find the recipe here). To get first dibs on these hand-crafted, award-winning wines, join the wine club, or purchase them individually on the website.

McBride Sisters

Robin and Andréa McBride, half-sisters unaware of each others’ existence during childhood, both grew up around wine, Robin in California, and Andrea in New Zealand. Reunited in 1999, they quickly discovered their shared passion for wine and soon started the McBride Sisters Wine Collection. Now the largest Black-owned wine company in the U.S., the sisters produce value-driven wines — including the popular Black Girl Magic label — from grapes grown in California and New Zealand. Purchase the wines on the McBride Sisters website or find them on wine-searcher.com.

Theopolis Vineyards

Known in the wine world as Theo-patra, queen of the vineyards, Theodora Lee was a San Francisco trial lawyer whose love of wine inspired her to enroll in viticulture classes at UC Davis. Lee founded the Mendocino County winery in 2003, and her Pinot Noir, Petite Syrah, and Symphony (a rare white varietal) wines have been winning accolades ever since. Get access to these stunning wines, shipped right to your door, by joining the Theopolis wine club.

ZAFA Wines

Named one of Wine Enthusiast’s “40 Under 40 Tastemakers,” Krista Scruggs’s motto is “Farm, Forage, Ferment.” Her passion for farming began as a child, working weekends at her grandparents’ farm in California. In 2016 Scruggs moved to Vermont to work alongside Deidre Heekin, co-owner of la Garagista and a pioneer of the Vermont wine scene. Scruggs now makes a small amount of her own all-natural wines, ciders, and vinous ciders (a blend of the two). In Bon Appétit, Marissa A. Ross refers to Zafa wines as “wildly intoxicating.” Place your name on the Counterspell Club waitlist to be notified when these extremely limited wines become available.