It is true that someentrepreneurs find their passion unexpectedly. That is true for winemakerDaniel Bryant of Running Tigers Wines. Bryant is one of a dozen African-American Vintners in the country.
Bryant was introduced tothe wine country shortly after moving to Northern California from his homestate of Alabama. While living in Walnut Creek, the frequent requests fromfamily and friends to go wine tasting allowed him to develop a palette for bothred and white wines. Bryant soon turnedhis new found hobby and knowledge into an educational business called A ColorGrape Wine Tours & Education.
Through A Color Grape,Bryant provides customized tours, wine tastings, and hosts seminars forclients to experience wine in a relaxing and enjoyable environment. He quickly coined the saying “Let us help youtake the mystery out of a bottle of wine and discover the pleasures within.” This slogan along with his unique andunintimidating style has produced a variety of events and seminars allowingBryant to seduce wine lovers across the country.
A corporate move placedhim in the city of Windsorwhere there are easily 70 wineries on his way home. Shortly after, a friend mentioned an articlein Black Enterprise about MacMcDonald of Vision Cellars. It was not long before the two would meet and to thisday they are the best of friends.
McDonald, who is the co-founder of the Association of African-American Vintners (AAAV) took Bryant under his wing as a mentor. Bryant noticed that none of the members within the association produced one of his favorite wines, a Syrah or Shiraz and soon Running Tigers Wine as born.
Bryant wanted to produce awine that like the name of his new company, was smooth, graceful and demandedthe attention of anyone who came in contact with it. The 2004 Vintage was his first release andreceived rave reviews. Since becomingavailable, Bryant and Running Tiger has been featured in national publicationssuch as the Wine Spectator, Urban Influence and the Texas Inform. Clients include celebrities as well as the Governor of Nigeria.
It is currently a part ofthe wine list in various four and five star establishments in Sacramento such as The Waterboy Restaurantand The Firehouse. His 2006 release isdue out this October.
When asked about thesuccess of his two businesses that were not part of his plan when he moved to California, Bryant notedthat he comes from a strong family of business men. His grandfather owned three successfulbusinesses in Birminghamwhich provided for his family and sent his kids to college. And his dad followed in line with asuccessful business of his own. So itwas only natural for Bryant to inherit his business sense from such strong rolemodels.
But even with successcomes challenges. It is no secret thatAfrican-American vintners must work twice as hard and produce wine that iscomparable or surpasses that of their White counterparts. Bryant notes that unfortunately wine producedby African-Americans is sometimes thought of as being of less quality andtherefore many, even African-Americans, don’t trust it.
However, Cuisine Noir cansay from experience after tasting Bryant’s wine as well as others from theAAAV, that there is no truth to this negative notion. We got a chance to experience RunningTigers’ Syrah at a Greens Cook-Off event this past August hosted byMcDonald. We paired a cool glass with ahelping of beef brisket prepared by the local restaurant Zin Garden and the result wasso unbelievable that we did it again and again and had an amazing time.
To order your bottle ofRunning Tiger’s Syrah, go to www.runningtigerswine.com. To schedule a tour or seminar with Bryant,call 707.888.1574 or visit www.acolorgrape.com.