We were lucky to catch up with Brandy Grey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

We donate 10% of every sale to support Native non-profits. Our focus has predominately been with Adopt-A-Native-Elder, which aims to support Dine (Navajo) Elders – this Nation experiences some of the greatest food disparities in the United States. A great number of Elders still use firewood to heat their homes on reservation lands, and funds can also be channeled to ceremonial funds. My husband and business partner, Ari, and myself were raised in the Southwest, so supporting Pueblo Nations is natural way to give back to the land where we were raised.

We also donate to the MMIW movement (Missing ad Murdered Indigenous Women) and NAYA in Portland – the Native American Youth Alliance, which supports all Nations in the Portland area with everything from education to food and professional support.

To be a part of this industry for me – my work has to be more than about what I make – it has to be about what I can do for others with it. There has to be a reason to put your work out there that contributes to something greater. As a woman of Shawnee and Cherokee Nation decent, I want to create a larger conversation about the land and the people who came before us wherever we live in this country. The truth is the bounty we enjoy can be largely contributed to the original Indigenous inhabitants, who care for the land pre-colonization. Creating space for that conversation in my industry and giving back to Native communities is what keeps me moving forward.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.]]

I left a career in print journalism after falling deeply in love with the Willamette Valley. Stories are what connect us, and as it turns out – wine is just as much about storytelling as telling the news. It is the story of a place, a time and people.

I went back to college after a 10 year career in news and discovered an industry full of people entering their second careers. If you aren’t born into wine, you usually don’t learn to appreciate it until after you’ve set your professional sites on a career in college. At least, this is true if you are raised in the desert.

As an adult, I knew I couldn’t chase the harvest around the world as so many younger people can do. I had to find another path. So I entered the industry with my new education as a hospitality manager – and set about creating my own small label. My parents retired in Oregon from New Mexico, purchasing a small piece of land and we grew our vines from cutting nurtured in Red Solo cups for the first year taken – with gracious permission – by some of our favorite vineyards. We now grow enough to produce our Sparkling Rose of Pinot Noir (about one ton) and source our Pinot Noir for red still wine from Fairsing Vineyard, where I have managed hospitality for 8 years. The generous and supportive ownership of Fairsing included building me a wine studio on site, where we process and bottle our production 100% by hand.

For being a small label, only about 100 cases at this point, we have gained might. We were a featured winery at the celebrated International Pinot Noir Celebration and are included at the well regarded Okta restaurant in McMinnville in addition to being featured at the first Native American Heritage Dinner at The Allison Inn and Spa.

I’ve found that staying true to my path, knowing it will look different from other larger producers with more funds and resources, is the best course of action. I compare myself only to myself and aim for a new personal best with each vintage.

But truly, my heart is in creating space for Indigenous voices in the wine industry. All wine is grown on Native land. Native history with the alcohol industry can be, understandably, complicated – but in order for the industry to be truly inclusive space has to be made to recognize that the land we enjoy is only here thanks to the hundreds of years of understanding of the original inhabitants. Native names and features are widely used on labels, but when you enter the Tasting Room – where do you see these cultures represented? How is a brand contributing to the culture it’s “honoring”?

If we think about trying to solve the big problems – it’s overwhelming. One person can’t do everything. But if I can show up in my community and my industry and do what I can, however imperfectly, at least there is the chance that I am moving the needle in the right direction.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My business partner is my husband. We met before I entered the wine industry. He worked in advertising as a set designer for commercial photography. On our first date, he told me he didn’t like wine.

I told him that was a deal breaker.

He has been a hospitality manager in wine for over a decade now and is my vineyard manager as well. He is the one out in the vines in the rain and the cold doing a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the year.

There are absolutely challenges with working with your spouse. We don’t always agree on things, and it can get incredibly tense during harvest when there’s long hours and lots of big decisions to make in a short period of time.

We do our best and don’t expect perfection out of each other when it comes to what we do together – because that’s impossible. Our hearts are united by the causes we support and in the effort of putting our best selves forward in an impressive industry of professionals. You have to cut each other some slack sometimes and embrace the imperfections as part of a bigger learning process.

I’m thankful he is my partner in all things.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

2020 was an impossible year for most people. For us – it all compounded. Being essential employees responsible for keeping teams safe and employed in our day-to day hospitality careers was already excruciating, particularly when caring for elderly parents was also involved.

Then the fire came at harvest. We have one chance in a year to make wine. That’s it. Smoke came in the days we had to pick. We hoped we would escape the smoke taint as we also packed up our belongings on standby for evacuation for the fires. My parents’ home was evacuated.

At the end of the fermentation, it became obvious. We would lose a vintage completely. An entire year’s worth of work – and revenue gone.

In the end, Ari’s hard research scored us a small business grant that helped us pay our insurance and basic operational fees. We kept going. Thankfully are part of great industry that works together when things get tough so we can all emerge better together.

I’m thankful to be part of such a resourceful and resilient industry full of people who care for and about each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.greywingwines.com
• Instagram: @greywingwines
• Facebook: Greywing Wines

Image Credits
Brandy Grey