This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features resident sommelier Anani Lawson. Rosé is a highly popular wine and there is a world of information on its origins and the different ways you can enjoy it.

Anani breaks down the profile of rosé, where it comes from, as well as its expected fresh flavors and characteristics. He also discusses the various ways you can enjoy rosé like making it sweeter or using it as a vehicle for cocktails like a mimosa. 

He discusses some recommended pairings, reasonable price points, and more exotic bottle recommendations. Anani also talks about the vintage of rosé and how, unlike other wines, the preferred rosé is younger to exude its rose and citrus notes.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The ideal grapes to create rosé
• Personalize your rosé: Make it sweet or a cocktail  
• Pair your rosé with light and heavy flavors
• Expected price points and bottle recommendations 

QUOTES

Anani: "Ironically, the younger the wine, the better because we're seeking a wine that exudes a lot of freshness, a wine that's lively. Those characters we're talking about, the freshness, the liveliness, the rose petal essences, the strawberry notes, the citrus notes would be more pronounced."

Reach out to Anani in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananilawson/
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ananisays

Connect with Jena by checking out these links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Website: https://urbanvino.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

This episode of The UrbanVino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Greg Vaughn, 4-time MLB All-Star and Founder of Vaughn's Valley Foundation. There is a trend of former professional athletes reinventing themselves in the wine industry.

Greg shares his introduction to wine and his decision, informed by his own evolving palate, to enter the business. He also talks about the roots of Vaughn's Valley, his advocacy for child diabetes, and how all proceeds of the wine go back to his foundation.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Greg's journey from MLB All-Star to winemaker
• Embracing change and evolving to sit at executive tables
• Vaughn's Village: Sharing his blessings and fighting diabetes
• Greg's personal style and having no excuses to do better

QUOTES

Greg: "I've been to the harvest. I've been to the label people. The cork. I went through the whole process. I know it from top to bottom. I know how it's made. I know how it's harvest. I know what I like. I know what we put in it."

Greg: "I think my palate and my choice of beverages have changed and I think more African-American young males are drinking wine now. I think we're in that business realm, so to speak, and we're executives, we're sitting in different tables and different spaces and we evolved."

Greg: "Change is good and I think we have grown and I think we're thinking different now. We're thinking about the larger picture. We're thinking about, it's not just let's get rich and have our posse and this and that. We're trying to make executive and business decisions now on our own stuff."

Greg: "There was no excuses at my house and she didn't want to hear it. Play better. Do better. But do not, do not, do not come here with any excuses or attitudes. Check all that at the door."

Reach out to Greg in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregvaughn23/
• Website (Vaughn's Valley): https://vaughnsvalley.org/
• Website (23 Wines): https://23wines.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregvaughn23/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregvaughn23

Connect with Jena by checking out these links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Website: https://urbanvino.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Nana Meriwether, former Miss USA and Founder of Navina, an herbal wine brand that continues an age-old tradition dating as far back as ancient Rome, Greece, China, and Egypt. Their first releases include Hibiscus Wine and Marigold Flower Wine.

Nana shares her amazing journey, how she founded Navina, and her roots in athleticism (she trained for the Olympics!) and pageantry. She also talks about her internship at Harper's Bazaar and living the Devil Wears Prada life for 3 years.

Using flowers for wine is steeped in tradition and Nana's goal is to bring it to the mainstream, especially in the USA where wine tradition is ripe for adoption. She empowers women to enter winemaking and hopes her story inspires others to follow suit too.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Navina: A play on words and starting American herbal wine culture
• Growing up an athlete and becoming Miss USA
• Internship at Harper's Bazaar and entering tech
• Product development for Navina and making herbal wine mainstream

QUOTES

Nana: "I started product development in 2020 and I had been apprenticing with this distiller, she also does wine on the North Fork of New York in 2019 and then I told her I wanted to build a business around this and so, she agreed to help me."

Nana: "In 5 years, I am hoping to be a mainstream wine brand. And what that means is that when someone purchases my product, they're not just buying the wine of flowers, they're buying into a lifestyle and into the storytelling that I'm hoping to really put out there."

Nana: "Winemaking itself was a tradition of women. We were mostly the ones making wine and now over 90% of winemakers, and thank you for existing, our men, so I'm hoping through my work and through my storytelling to empower women to winemaking."

Nana: "Find community within the space that you're building. I've learned that, just from day-to-day, business-building is very much an exercise in personal development that you're not really fighting a market or trying to find your way in market, it's really in your mind. All fear on business-building stems from the founder."

Reach out to Nana, Navina, and Nana’s foundation in the links below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-meriwether-6176a184/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinknavina/
• Website (Navina): https://www.drinknavina.com/
• Website (Meriwether Foundation): https://www.meriwetherfdtn.org/

Connect with Jena by following the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Website: https://urbanvino.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanvino/

This episode of The Urban Vino Podcast with Jena Domingue features Anani Lawson, Sommelier. Anani shares his inspiring story to become a sommelier starting with his roots in Togo, West Africa.

Anani talks about mentorship and gaining wine wisdom by emulating the success of others. Now exploring teaching, he also discusses how he will use video to share his knowledge with a global audience via YouTube and LinkedIn.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Meeting a Master Sommelier and learning from him
• Joining the US Peace Corps in Togo
• Mentorship to level up your wine career

QUOTES

Anani: "Everybody else around them, around, is probably as talented and, more likely, more talented than you are and so, at that point, you have one realistic option is to find inside yourself the motivation to emulate and learn from them."

Anani: "While you may have one idea to do certain thing, there could other options available."

Anani: "There's a lot that can be self-taught and then there comes to be a stage where you may take it to the next level where you may need more expert knowledge and expert input."

Reach out to Anani in the links below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananilawson/
• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ananisays

Connect with Jena by following the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxebuytheglas/

HIGHLIGHTS

• Luxe by the Glass celebrates the little luxuries in life
• A mission to make wine culture more accessible
• Intertwining wine, fashion, and mood
• Care for your mood and appreciate the smaller things

QUOTES

Jena: "Maybe you can't afford to buy the whole bottle of Dom or your favorite champagne to celebrate, but you can buy a glass, and that's okay too. So just go ahead and have little luxuries in life. Just one glass at a time."

Jena: "Mood is such an internal vibe. There's a difference between when I've got my girls together and we're going to celebrate somebody's birthday or somebody got engaged or a promotion at work, we're going to drink a certain wine. We're going to celebrate."

Jena: "If it's about what you're enjoying for yourself, nobody is going to look at that price tag. Nobody's going to judge you. I always say always drink what you love and don't feel judged, don't feel bad about it. Somebody produced that with you in mind."

Connect with Jena by following the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxebuytheglas/

HIGHLIGHTS

• Wine brings out elegant moments to appreciate craftsmanship
• A passion for helping women grow  
• Learning to be a woman with Oprah
• Jena's guests: Finding hidden gems and celebrating success 
• Change your mindset if you want to achieve your goals

QUOTES

Jena: "You find a really nice shirt even if you're just a guest. You find something special to wear. You put on your suit, tie, your dress, and you show up and you realize that there's sort of an elegance about it and you slow down. You're in the moment. You're acknowledging what's happening. I appreciate those moments."

Jena: "I ran home every single day and I watched Oprah Winfrey when I was, I'm sure, junior high school... in so many ways, she raised me and she trained me and she taught me how to show up as a professional woman." 

Jena: "When you want to achieve something, sometimes you have to lose your mind. What do I mean by that? You got to change your mindset. You cannot continue making choices that your mother, your aunties, and your sisters, and everybody else made and think that you're going to get a different result."

Connect with Jena by following the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-domingue-87642b48/
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/luxebuytheglas/