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36 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JULY 2020 Just in case: Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time. Supporting Black-owned wineries in California These past few months people have been busy protesting again against racial injustice, and the police killings of unarmed Black (men) Americans. While some are showing their solidarity by coming together on the streets with peaceful protests, calling for change, signing petitions, and donating dollars to social initiatives and organizations, others have been showing their support by shopping and promoting Black-owned businesses. Social media is filled with people talking about and supporting Black-owned restaurants. There are over 22 Black-owned wine businesses in the United States. Several are owned by celebrities such as Danny Glover, Steph Curry's wife Ayesha Curry, and John Legend to name a few. Here are three Black-owned wineries in California that warrant our attention and support. Bertony Faustin (left) became the first Black winemaker in Portland, Oregon after planting his grapes and creating his first Abbey Creek Wine label in 2008. Named after the creek that runs through the vineyard, Abbey Creek produces a number of prestigious wines that go hand-in-hand with a number of occasions whether it is ready-to-drink Chardonnay and Rosé or cellar savers like Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. Faustin opened his tasting room in 2012. He would greet his customers who would then ask, "Who is the winemaker?" "When I'd say, 'It's me', they'd have a look of disbelief," says Faustin. Visit his website at www.abbeycreekvineyard.com. In 1980, Bassett Brown and his wife Marcella purchased an abandoned ranch in the eastern hills of the Napa Valley. They rehabilitated the crumbling homestead and planted viniferous grapes. For a decade, they farmed and sold to local winemakers. In 1995, their kids decided to start making their own wine. The family-owned winery was established in Napa Valley in 1996 by siblings Deneen, David and Coral Brown. In 2017, the company opened the doors to its first tasting room, Brown Downtown, in the heart of Napa. In 2019, the Brown Estate Vineyard signed a major deal with Delta Airlines. Passengers aboard domestic Delta flights could have a taste of two Brown Estate's wines from winter 2019 to 2020. "We are delighted to partner with Delta Air Lines," said Deneen Brown, president of Brown Estate. For more information visit www. brownestate.com. Founded in 2010, two sisters, Robin and Andréa McBride, have turned the wine industry on its head with their highly regarded Black Girl Magic collection, which serves as the sisters' ode to the inspiring Black women of the past and present. The SHE CAN Rosé is quite literally female empowerment in a can. Their collection of wines has an "old-world elegance with new-world finesse." Visit www.mcbridesisters.com. Upcoming Events: Oct. 3 -Jazz Under the Stars Dec. 12 - Christmas Gala The next AACC meeting will be held on Monday, July 6 via Zoom. For information, please call Betty Ann James at (951) 572-5538 or email: infotoaacc@gmail.com. ~ Regina Thomas African American Cultural Club Italian American Club Ciao Amici Miei (Hello, my friends) The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are still in place at the time this article was written. With the necessary social distancing to keep us all safe, groups of our size have not been approved to meet indoors. As soon as it is safe to meet, we will return to our regular day and time to get together in the Multipurpose Room at The Courts at 6 pm on the second Thursday of each month. We have seen each other from time to time passing in The Lodge or at the Bistro eating dinner. It is always nice seeing some of you, but we all miss being able to get together to enjoy one another's stories of our family backgrounds and where we come from in Italy. I especially enjoyed listening to many of you speaking in Italian because I just learned a year and half ago that I was 67 percent Italian. Yes, the guy from the Bronx, New York, who thought for all these years he was Irish is not Irish at all. According to ancestry.com, my family migrated from Naples, Italy, to New York in the mid 1750s. People have told me all my life that I looked Italian but I never expected it to be true. Now, this Italian guy from the Bronx looks forward to being with all of you in our club meeting and around the Four Seasons community. So from me to you, Addio Fina Incontriamo Al Nuovo (Goodbye until we meet again). ~ Barbara Dipoma and Jerry Monahan, (951) 212-8898 Bassett Brown, Founder of Brown Estate Winery; Photo by Randy Reyes Photography Photo taken from McBride Sisters' Facebook