SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Susy Vasquez spends most of her time surrounded by wine. She's the senior winemaker at LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards, near Lodi, in San Joaquin County.
"As a kid, I never dreamed of being a winemaker," Vasquez said. "Life took me there and I'm so thankful. I just fell in love with the process and transformation, from the grapes all the way to the wine."
Vasquez moved to California from Bolivia at the age of 24. She says she quickly found her passion for wine and credits family for her success today.
"I grew up with an example of hard work," Vasquez said. "I was able to put in place these values and the heritage from my family, and work through achieving the goal to become a winemaker."
Vasquez is encouraging more diversity and inclusion in the wine industry across the nation. She says she'd like to see more representation from all communities, especially people in Latino and Hispanic communities.
"I would love to see more Latinas in the wine industry as winemakers, director of winemakers and presidents of winemaking," Vasquez said. "It is a wonderful industry and I see more and more interests that Latinas are having in it."
According to the Wine Institute, California is the nation's top wine producer, accounting for 80% of wine production in the U.S. California's economic impact on the country is $170 billion each year, just from wine. Although California leads the nation in wine, there's still work to be done in diversity. White men continue to dominate the industry.
The nonprofit, Hispanics In Wine works to increase representation by providing educational and career-advancement opportunities to the Hispanic community. Gabriela Fernandez is a board member with Hispanics in Wine. She explains the importance of representation on all levels.
"Latinas are usually not visible across a lot of different genres of industries, let alone wine, which is already a heavily male dominated industry," Fernandez said. "Latina representation in the wine industry is huge. And, having Latinas in positions of power, like high leadership positions of power, allows you to not only create effective change, but also allows you to set the tone for the team and culture that you're building."
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Hispanics in Wine also works "to connect, amplify, and support the ever-growing Hispanic and Latinx community, including wine entrepreneurs, producers, sommeliers, retailers, restaurants, vineyard stewards, and consumers."
The group offers a number of community resources, like wine events, a directory of Hispanic wine professionals, a LatinX wine summit, scholarship opportunities, and so much more. But, even with providing support to Hispanic and Latino communities to succeed, Fernandez explains that breaking down barriers can still be challenging at times.
"For people of color, especially Latinos, a lot of the times you're boxed into being a vineyard stewart, someone who is out in the fields," Fernandez said. "That already doesn't get enough representation and acknowledgement as it should. That is hard work, a craft and a skill. But, even beyond that, we're boxed into being a monolith. There are a lot of people that want to see the industry progress and move forward."
Melissa Sanchez wants to advance representation, too. Thats why she organizes networking events, like the Elevate Wine Series, to help bring Latinas and others together for the love of wine in Sacramento.
"The more representation you have, the more perspectives you have," Sanchez said. "People from all over the world come here, so I thought it would be really great to sort of showcase Latinos in wine."
For Sanchez, the mission is personal. She explains her family roots and the significance of putting a spotlight on people in Latino and Hispanic communities involved in wine production from the very beginning.
"We are the backbone of the wine industry in California," Sanchez explained. "But we do not get a lot of coverage of that. I actually learned this from my dad who picked grapes when he was a teenager in the Central Valley. We pick all the grapes. We do all of this amazing, difficult and very skilled work, but that's kind of where it ends. So, my hope for the wine industry is that it becomes even more diverse and more inclusive."
Just like many others, Vasquez, Fernandez and Sanchez are working to create a positive change in the wine industry. They say the goal is to also provide a safe and welcoming space for the next generation of Latina wine connoisseurs.
"It would be wonderful to see, in the future, all these doors that will open for the next generations that are coming," Vasquez said. "As Latinas, fighting for these spaces and embracing these challenges, what we're doing is opening doors for the next generation coming in and taking over. So, we need to support each other, help each other, and be very proud of who we are."
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