Today we’d like to introduce you to Terrence Low.
Hi Terrence, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, I’ve always been passionately curious about connecting dots and disrupting the norm. I’ll admit this curiosity sometimes got me into trouble but also opened doors for me along the way. One of those doors is what led me into the spirits/wine business after a decade of building intrapreneurship teams at Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and LinkedIn.
Having a pulse on emerging consumer trends through my day job allowed me to notice a shift in my peer group’s appreciation for wine but lack of education about its offerings vs. those of spirits like tequila and vodka.
Quickly realizing the wine industry’s glaring lack of attention and marketing towards the minority wine drinker was strongly contributing to the gap in education around premium wines, myself and three of my friends took creative license to develop a disruptive brand fused with art, education, and most importantly, unmatched wine experiences – Michael Lavelle Wines – to fill this void.
Intentionally partnering only with small-batch wineries to ensure the preservation of the integrity of our wine, on June 19, 2020, Michael Lavelle Wines released its first varietal the Iris Rosé.
Now recognized as the youngest Black-owned wine company owner, I oversee the execution of current and future visions of Michael Lavelle Wines traversing between worlds of strategy, creative and operations to execute each objective at the highest standard.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In hopes of inspiring the next generation of wine entrepreneurs, negociants’, sommeliers, and wine drinkers, Michael Lavelle Wines is striving to solve the lack of production, accessibility, and education about high quality / innovative wines specifically targeted to millennial and African American wine drinkers.
As young Black negociants striving to disrupt a sometimes antiquated and predominately white business like the wine industry through innovation and unique wine experiences, we’ve faced many obstacles and challenges and are still working through them as we continue to build the Michael Lavelle Wines brand.
When starting out, it was a challenge to find the ideal winery partner that shared our integrity and commitment to innovative wine offerings. Our mission has been to partner with small-batch wineries to preserve the integrity of the wine ensuring every glass of Michael Lavelle is consistently high-quality, premium wine.
Now, our biggest challenge is securing distribution to ensure Michael Lavelle can be accessed in retail nationwide. As a young brand, there are many obstacles we have had to maneuver to build a relationships and gain pick up by reputable distributors.
Additionally, our target audience – minorities and millennials – is overwhelmingly unfamiliar with what qualifies a premium wine from an inferior wine like mass production vs. small batch production. So we are on a journey to educate consumers further and drive appreciation for the high quality of Michael Lavelle.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Michael Lavelle’s Iris Rosé is a delicious melody of cabernet and pinot grigio grapes grown in coastal California. Its crisp flavors and aroma fill the nose with morello cherries, fresh strawberries & lemon verbena. On the palate, it continues the journey of fresh fruit with some notes of fresh peaches and watermelon rind.
This premium wine is available for purchase at www.sipmichaellavelle.com for $25. It’s also available at select retailers and restaurants such as The Alinea Group and Juice@1340 in Chicago, IL, Sandlot in Washington, D.C. and RichWine RVA in Richmond, VA to name a few.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
There are few Black stories within the wine industry, even fewer in the millennial demographic. Michael Lavelle Wine’s mission is to create economic opportunities within the wine industry by increasing and amplifying those voices.
Through wine education, culturally relevant branding, and most importantly, sourcing wine from small-batch wineries worldwide, Michael Lavelle Wines introduces high-quality wine offerings to typically overlooked consumers.
Our focus on visual storytelling, education and philanthropy while meeting the next generation of wine drinkers and wine professionals where they are – online and in retail – is helping to bring our audience further into the world of high-quality wine.
With commitments to education and philanthropy, the growing visibility of the Michael Lavelle brand allows us to directly partner with non for profits organizations like “The Roots Fund”. In our current partnership, Michael Lavelle Wines donates proceeds from each online order to fully fund an HBCU graduate scholarship to live abroad in France and earn their MBA in Wine Business & Management. As a team of Howard University graduates, partnerships that inform and educate HBCU students and graduates of the opportunities available in the wine industry are extremely important to us.
Additionally, this focus on creating economic opportunities not only applies to potential employment at Michael Lavelle Wines but a greater impact on encouraging the next generation of Black wine professionals.
Pricing:
- $25.00
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.sipmichaellavelle.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sipmichaellavelle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sipmichaellavelle
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/siplavelle
Image Credits:
Demarcus Davis (Terrence photo; bottle with glass photo) Malik Jackson (Hands holding bottle photo; bottles in net photo)
