For many, this year has been one defined by adversity and change. For some, it meant starting their own business. For Cheramie Law — a Sherman native and current Dallas resident — it meant seeing the fruits of her labor manifest.
Law and her partner Todd Aho recently launched Cheramie Wine, a wine brand that has been in the works for years. A risky move, some may say, given the state and uncertainty of the year. However, Law refuses to put a cork in her efforts to get people to take Texas seriously as a wine region.
“Usually when you first start drinking wine, you start on the sweet stuff. You start on the cheap, sweet stuff,” Law says. “I was in the Marine Corps, so everyone I hung out with was older and already into wine. We would hang out at a wine bar in Denton, and that’s when I began realizing there’s a whole world of wine — different flavors, different varieties. I started learning from there.”
As Law’s mind expanded, so did her territory. In addition to traveling to Fredericksburg to visit wineries, Law and Aho traveled around the state meeting with winemakers, growers and industry leaders. This soon led them to start Salt and Pepper Wine, the holding company of Cheramie Wine.
This past September, they released their riesling to the world. Described as soft yet balanced with tropical aromas and a kiss of Granny Smith apple, the riesling is made from Texas High Plains grapes and sells for $23. Cheramie Wine has also begun the bottling of their 2020 Montepulciano rosé, and you can expect a Rhone Valley white wine blend and a Touriga Nacional in the near future.
“It’s all grown here [in Texas], it’s all made here, but the origins of those grapes start in other places,” Law says. “So we’re going around the world with Texas.”
Back in March, Dallas-area wine shops saw a surge in sales — one upside of the pandemic. While Cheramie Wine isn’t being sold in stores just yet, Law is — from a business standpoint — reaping the benefits, and feeling the sting from COVID-19 at the same time.
“COVID is a blessing and a curse,” Law says. “It’s a blessing that during this time the world is stuck at home. This is how we’re communicating; social media is how we’re communicating. It’s really easy to get people’s attention. On the flip side, some of our 2020 plans were to do wine festivals and farmers markets, so that whole part of our business has been stopped. We have to rely solely on social media and interviews and things of that nature.”
Over the past nine months, Law has seen people finding new ways to connect with wine, but she also sees the people thinking about wine differently.
“What we have seen is social media, and Zoom, and this online community that’s being formed,” Law says. “I think in the beginning of the pandemic, drinking was a coping mechanism. Now I see people viewing wine in a way of learning. People want to make a connection with owners, know the story behind it, be a part of it. It’s not something to take their mind off things — it’s now about learning something new.”
Diversity has also been a notable change in the wine community, in Dallas and beyond.
“The world of wine is being shaken up right now, in the fact that it has not been very diverse at all,” says Law, who is Black. “There’s not a lot of marketing to Black people. When you look at the wine brands, how accessible the wine is, funding, it’s not kind to people of color, specifically black women. It’s starting to change a little bit, but it’s still not kind. But that’s across the board, not just in wine.
“What I love about Texas wine is that it’s at this beginning stage where nobody is better than anybody,” Law continues. “We all have to lock arms so we can rise together.”
For more information, visit cheramiewine.com.
