Photo: Brown Estate Winery
Thanks to Carlyne Scott, a leading member of Delta Air Line’s Black community business resource group, the first and only Black-owned estate winery in California’s Napa Valley has landed a partnership with the Atlanta based airline.
While Scott initially suggested that Brown Estate wines be added to Delta’s domestic flights during Black History Month, the partnership expanded to winter of 2019-2020. The airline reported, “Domestic Delta One customers will see two Brown Estate wines on the winter 2019-2020 menu: 2017 Betelgeuse Sauvignon Blanc and 2017 Chaos Theory.”
“Partnering with innovative, diverse suppliers from certified small-, minority- and women-owned businesses like Brown Estate is fundamental to Delta’s strategy to keep climbing year-round,” said Heather Ostis, Vice President — Supply Chain Management. “Seeking employee perspectives and leveraging unique ideas brings us closer to meeting that goal, while creating the highest quality experience for our customers.”
After buying an abandoned ranch in the eastern hills of the Napa Valley in 1980, Bassett and Marcela Brown started planted and selling viniferous grapes to local winemakers. By 1995, their children Deneen, David and Coral decided to make their own wine. Since establishing the Brown Estate label in 1996, the company has bottled its 20th vintage. “As a toast to Black History Month,” Brown Estate made its first onboard appearance during an in-flight tasting for customers traveling from San Francisco to New York on Tuesday.
Photo: Brown Estate Winery
“We are delighted to partner with Delta Air Lines,” said Deneen Brown, president of Brown Estate. “Delta’s all-in commitments to the spirit of inclusion and to their wine program are perfectly aligned with our core values at Brown Estate.”