(birds chirping)
I did attempt to try to fit into the industry,
but it didn't fit me,
so I decided to just make it my own, you know?
So that's, that's how we got to this point
of where I'm at right now.
(upbeat music)
Probably the largest barrier to entry
into the industry of the wine world is land ownership.
It's only been 100 years since it's been legal
for black folks to actually be, you know, in Oregon.
Did I know I was the first black winemaker when I started?
Not at first.
Probably about a year or two in, I knew,
and the industry said I didn't look the part.
I had to decide,
"I'm going to insert myself into these places."
I decided to not let those systemic barriers stop me.
"I'm going to insert myself in here," you know?
"Only thing you can do is try to move me."
I'm first generation Haitian-American.
My parents immigrated from Haiti in '69.
They want you to be better, do better,
have more than they had.
So, it was just like,
"You know what? I wanna go west."
You know how when you're on one coast,
and you're just thinking of,
"Yeah, it's time for a change.
It's time for something different."
He was on his way to California,
and got a job here in Portland first at the OHSU,
which is also where I was working at the time,
and that's where we met.
And, yeah, then he got stuck.
I like to say I kept him here.
This whole direction and path that I'm on now,
it started with the passing of my father in 2007.
After his dad passed away,
I think it was a lot more soul searching
and figuring out what he wanted to do for himself.
If I could honor my father in any way
it's to show him that I'm not going to do anything
that doesn't fulfill me wholeheartedly.
And so that was kind of my way of honoring my dad.
I quit my day job, and I said I was done.
My father-in-law had planted grapes.
He liked to farm, that was his hobby.
He made some bad wine,
but it was never a career of theirs.
I was up at the property one day,
and I was looking around
cause no one was doing anything with the grapes, and said,
"I'm gonna make wine."
You know, and everybody kinda chuckled, and
"Okay, whatever."
(laughs) You know?
But that immigrant hustle, being from New York, I was like,
"Nah, I can do this.
I got the grapes, right?
You know, it's gonna be easy after this."
It makes zero sense.
The plant fights everything you do.
You pull a leaf, you're like,
"Oh, I lost a leaf, I'mma grow another one."
See where the trunk is here?
Yeah.
It should be growing straight up.
You have this short window
from December to, you know, mid-February
where we have to make sure we get all the vines pruned,
tied down, fix all of the broken lines
and posts and fence and things,
before the season is upon us.
So, the one on the right is the wine press,
where you actually squeeze the grapes,
and then the juice comes out into the pan
that's underneath it.
And then this machine here is a de-stemmer.
You see the cluster of the grapes?
This one actually removes the stems off of that
and just gives you the berries.
The vineyard side of things is in direct control
of your finished product.
And then, also, the experience of the vineyard,
you know, so throughout my career
I've touched every plant at some point.
Everybody on my squad has actually been
out to the vineyard and done some work out there.
When you're describing it to a customer
or somebody in front of you, you can tell when it's real.
I get asked, a lot of times,
"Oh, where can I find your wine?"
And the answer is, you're never going to find
an Abbey Creek wine in anyone's shop, store, or shelf.
The traditional methods of selling wine
didn't sit well with me, you know?
So the idea of having my own brick and mortar
where I can sell my wine direct was how I need to do this.
The responsibilities of my staff and crew
is to make this look dope and amazing.
Jessica is the first that's been locked in
as a full-time employee.
She quit her career of over 20 years
and decided to take this leap of passion.
And then, Jane was our second hire.
I just needed someone who could be dope in the space,
and it happened to be Jane.
And then, we've got Tiquette,
who comes from the other side of the wine industry,
you know, the high end.
So she's going to be out on the road,
booking all of our corporate packages
and all of these other options.
I think at the end of the day,
everything we do is just about the people.
It's about connecting.
You know what, we're not selling wine,
we're selling an experience,
we're selling a moment, we're selling a feeling.
It's more than wine, you know?
It is about humanity being our brand
and making us better as people,
not just as wine folks.
(cork pops)
I figured that out a long time ago,
I wasn't gonna fit in.
So I decided to just make my own lane.
That evolved to the Crick Life.
There's no one or no barriers that are gonna keep you
from doing the thing that you finally decide,
you know, this is what I'm gonna love.
And that's truly what the Crick Life,
that's what it embodies, all about self-fulfillment.
The first thing I started doing
was actually wearing overalls everywhere I go.
I would wear overalls with a button-down shirt
and a tie to a black tie event.
And, you would get the guy, you know, in the tuxedo, going,
"Okay, well, why you in overalls?"
And I would get to talk about diversity,
inclusion, representation,
without it being a tense subject.
And that was me deciding to own
being Oregon's first black winemaker, being the pioneer.
My biggest challenge is defending who I am and what I do.
You know, so it would start with,
"Who's the winemaker?"
And I'd say, "Me."
And, "Oh, hmm.
You don't have a vineyard, do you?"
"Yeah, I do."
And it was always this astounding,
"Well, how?"
It gets tiring.
You go to buy, you know, your fertilizers, et cetera,
and still always having to let people know you belong.
I've seen tons of comments, you know,
"What does it matter the color of the person
who makes my wine?"
You know?
To me, I feel that that statement
is the definition of privilege, one hundred percent.
You know, cause it does matter,
cause somebody needs to see you, you know?
It's about representation.
I literally Googled "black winemaker."
(laughs)
And it came up with a list of 50 in the entire world.
And there's about a million wineries worldwide,
so that statistic is kind of disheartening a little,
you're like, "Oh."
Yeah, this industry is tough,
but I didn't get drafted to it either.
You know, I chose it.
I'm on the Oregon Wine Board.
I'm the first black Board of Director.
So, even if I'm not the large winery or the fancy winery,
yeah, I'm a Board of Director on the Oregon Wine Board.
It's the state agency appointed by the governor.
We have our first lesbian Board of Director
who's coming on the board as well.
We've got Latino wineries that are opening up,
and wine brands.
I feel I was that push.
I made the noise.
I would love to see Oregon become
the most diverse wine region,
because, if we're the most diverse wine region,
the only thing any other region can do
is become more diverse to beat that.
I think it's really important for our kids.
He's showing them that you can be
wherever you wanna be and do whatever you want.
I think that he's probably influenced my parents,
their friends, and everybody else.
So, I think it's gonna hopefully change the world.
I've got nothing to complain about.
I am beyond blessed.
Abbey Creek is still growing, we're still expanding.
We're still changing the world, you know?
So, nah, I'm a change maker.
Yeah!