The Swirl Suite

On this mini episode of The Swirl Suite, we ask our wine family what wines they are drinking on Thanksgiving. Guests: Keith - https://www.instagram.com/vinepairkeith/ Nicole - https://www.instagram.com/sipandsharewines/ Frank - https://www.instagram.com/drinkwhatyoulike/ Marcia - https://www.instagram.com/bubbles_n_bourbon/ Jaton - https://www.instagram.com/jatongunter/ Chasity - https://www.insta...

On this episode of The Swirl Suite, we talk to Alicia and Mari of Coco Noir. Within a month of launching their Wefunder campaign in anticipation of opening Oaklands first Black-owned woman wine shop to be located downtown, Alicia Kidd and Mari Kemp are realizing the importance of building a community space for wine lovers of diverse cultures and knowledge levels. CoCo Noir WineShop & Bar is sl...

On this episode of The Swirl Suite, we chat with young winemaker & DC native, Justin Trabue. 4th generation native of Washington, DC, Justin moved to California in 2013. Named after the iconic Justin Isosceles, wine was always in her future. Justin has had the opportunity to study abroad in Adelaide, Australia and after turning 21 Justin decided to begin working with Lumen wines under the Cal...

This week on the Swirl Suite, we chat with the ladies behind the first black female owned winery, Philosophy Winery. This winery was 7 years in the making. Kimberly, the winemaker, had volunteered at a collection of wine festivals and spent a number of years working at Old Westminster. Denise, the sommelier, found her love for wine through cognac. These 2 have been been friends for 15 years and de...

This week on The Swirl Suite, we chat with friend, Marcy Gordon. Marcy Gordon is a freelance wine and travel writer. She received her degree in Journalism from the University of Florida. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including Wine Enthusiast, Forbes Travel Guide, and San Francisco Chronicle. She was a fellow at the 2017 Symposium for Professional Wine Writers She is the Found...

This week on the Swirl Suite, the whole gang is back and bubbles are on the brain. We taste through a few bottles of sparkling wine from distributor, Vineyard Brands and describe what we love. Glynis also gives us a review of her new Peloton bike. Towards the end of the show, we give our candid thoughts on the debate. Check Out Vineyard Brands: http://www.vineyardbrands.com https://www.instagram.c...

Katrina is a corporate tax lawyer who also is a Certified Specialist of Wine and has earned her Wine and Spirits Trust Level 3 Award in Wines passing with Merit. For years shed always thought of writing about wine, travel, and other things she loves but always put it off. And she admits she wasnt very technologically savvy and with the exception of a couple of social networking sites. Still, shed...

Ty-Juana is a consumer who fell in love with building community over a beverage and shes responsible for the growth, stability, vision, and direction of TFLUX. She came up with the idea of TFLUX out of frustration after a variety of unwelcoming experiences while navigating certain food and beverage spaces in her hometown. Through TFLUX she enjoys meeting and collaborating with other Black/POC wome...

This week on the Swirl Suite, we talk with the General Manager of Black Vineyards. Before joining Black Anklein 2009, Melissa's career spanned from supporting entrepreneurs in their pursuits for funding to legislative research for a U. S. senator. Melissa has had the opportunity to help Black Ankle grow from its' beginnings to what it is today, and is looking forward to being part of what it becom...

Hip Hop Juice Box is a concept thats been years in the making. Eric Turner has called Emeryville home for the last 10 years. Its a small city between San Fran & Oakland. Although he helped open Emeryville sports bar, Hometown Heroes and works at a local pest control company managing the sales department, hes always been interested in running his own business. He played with ideas like starting...

Bed-Vyne Wine opened in October 2011 the first of what would soon be two more popular businesses serving the neighborhood: the bars Bed-Vyne Brew and Bed-Vyne Cocktail. Michael Brooks knew there was going to be an untapped market of professionals that were looking for services that didnt exist at this point. Him and business partners, Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye and his fraternity brother, Peter Medf...

Burnie Williams is a 2nd generation African American, small business owner in Washington DC. Chats Liquors was a pioneer of alcoholic beverage retail immediately following the1934 repeal of Prohibition in Washington, DC,when Mr. Neil Chatlin was one of the first to be granted an alcoholic beverage license. This makes Chats the oldest business on 8th. They have operated out of the originallocation...

On this episode of the Swirl Suite, we talk to Tuanni Price of Zuri Wine Tours. Zuri Wine Tasting provides professional wine services including wine tasting classes, tours, wine list consulting, education and small-to-large scale events for enthusiasts, corporate and non-profit clients. We host travel and events in Los Angeles, California and Cape Town, South Africa. Tuanni describes quarantine in...

This week on The Swirl Suite, Sarita chats with wine elevator, Vince Moten of Elevate Your Tastes. Vince began his career as a sales representative for a distributor in DC during the summer of 2013.In this episode you will hear where he fell into wine and never turned back. Follow Vince: https://www.instagram.com/elevateyourtastes/ https://elevateyourtastes.com/ Black Business Shout Out: https://w...

Due to technical issues, Paul and I moved our live interview to podcast style. Paul is the owner of Terrior Tribeca in New York City. "As it relates specifically to wine, Terroir was viewed as a sandbox: our place to play, with our toys and our rules and our friends. The intimacy and connection we were able to have as a staff and with our guests further enlightened us to what wine could truly be:...

On this episode of the Swirl Suite, we re-introduce ourselves to new listeners and we have a in depth conversation about how black people are treated in the wine industry. Follow The Swirl Suite: SwirlSuite@gmail.com @ SwirlSuite www.swirlsuite.com Sarita @ VineMeUp Tanisha @ GirlMeetsGlass Leslie @ Vino301 Glynis @ Vino_Noire Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/SwirlSuite . See acast.com...

We felt like this would be a perfect time to highlight some black history so we invited Dr. Howard Conyers. Dr Conyers carries a number of interesting titles Ph. D. graduate, aerospace engineer, guest lecturer and historian, traditional whole hog BBQ pitmaster. On June 20, he will add another television celebrity. We watched his guest appearance on Man Fire Food followed by an enlightening discuss...

This week on the Swirl Suite, we talk marketing with wine photographer and social media strategist, Meaghan Webster. Meaghan Webster is currently Marketing Manager at First Batch Hospitality, the group behind urban winemaking and events at Brooklyn Winery in NY, District Winery in DC, and the soon-to-open RiNo Point Winery in Denver. Follow Meaghan https://www.instagram.com/meaghanwmarketing/ http...

On this episode of The Swirl Suite, we go after dark with author and photographer, Rae Mathis. We catch up, drink wine and answer a list of entertaining, random questions. Follow Rae: https://www.instagram.com/vermillionpearl/ https://www.untitled1975.com/ Follow The Swirl Suite: SwirlSuite@gmail.com @ SwirlSuite www.swirlsuite.com Sarita @ VineMeUp Tanisha @ GirlMeetsGlass Leslie @ Vino301 Glynis...

Melissa grew up in the Linganore Winecellars family business. The daughter of executive winemaker Anthony Aellen, she has bachelors degrees in viticulture and enology, and has worked in seven wineries across the country and in New Zealand, learning the art of winemaking. Melissa gives us some history of Linganore and talks about her journey to winemaking. Follow Melissa: https://www.linganorewines...

On this episode of The Swirl Suite, the gang chats with writer and photographer, Alisha Sommer. Alisha founded and edited a print literary journal (Blackberry: a magazine), published personal essays, creative nonfiction, and poetry for a variety of online and print publications, ghostwritten, collaborated with Angela Burke for Black Food & Beverage , and taught at Squam Art Workshops. She says...

Long time friend of the Swirl Suite and Virginia wine expert, Frank Morgan joins the podcast to talk wine and many other topics. A Virginia native, Frank Morgan works in the Legal and Data Privacy group of a global company by day. He is the author of the DrinkWhatYouLike.com wine blog, started seven years ago to chronicle his wine travel experiences and to share stories of the wines, wineries, and...

On this episode of The Swirl suite, corona is still a hot topic. We discuss our week 2 in quarantine and how we are utilizing this idle time. And of course, what we are drinking. Follow The Swirl Suite: @ SwirlSuite www.swirlsuite.com Sarita @ VineMeUp Tanisha @ GirlMeetsGlass Leslie @ Vino301 Glynis @ Vino_Noire Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/SwirlSuite . See acast.com/privacy for p...

This episode is all about the corona virus and how it's affecting our lives, our businesses and the entire wine industry. Follow Swirl Suite: @ SwirlSuite www.swirlsuite.com Sarita @ VineMeUp Tanisha @ GirlMeetsGlass Leslie @ Vino301 Glynis @ Vino_Noire Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/SwirlSuite . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Check out the highly anticipa...

Sarita and Tanisha close out Black History Month with Jean Wandimi of The Wine & Food Review . Jean lives in Nairobi, Kenya and has a love for food & wine. You can find her wandering in wine bars and restaurants. She loves attending wine tastings and doing restaurant reviews. As a burgeoning wine connoisseur, her goal is to teach people about wine and to inspire a wine drinking culture. Sh...