Meet Mindi Abair

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mindi Abair.

Mindi, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve spent my life as a musician, writing, recording & performing music. My husband Eric has spent his life managing some of the world’s most prestigious wineries like Kendall Jackson and Mumm Napa. We literally sat down one evening in mid-2019 with a bottle of wine, a whiteboard and 2 magic markers. We knew we each had dream jobs. But we wanted to explore what our perfect lives might look like. We love to travel. My passion is music. Eric’s passion is wine. When we’re home with a bottle of wine, I’m constantly creating our “playlist” for the night based on what bottle of wine he opens. If it’s an earthy yet elegant Pinot Noir, we’re listening to Soul music. If it’s a bright, beautiful Chardonnay, it’s Jazz. You get it! We figured we loved doing this… the only thing that would make it better would be sharing it with our friends… being together more… and having fun combining our passions to make our lives even fuller. Eric quit his job running a winery in St. Helena up in Napa. And we started our own company www.wineandjazz.com. Eric knew so many people in the wine industry. We had winemaker friends make us wines that were exclusive to us. And I would put together the label artwork for everything and brand it all musically. It was the best of both of us doing what we loved. We started shipping these amazing wines to family and friends. And about six months later, the pandemic hit… everyone started drinking like crazy (you know you did) … I was doing Facebook live shows from our porch in Hollywood with Eric doing a ‘wine intermission’ and our little wine and jazz company grew like crazy.

Our company started solely as a wine club, where we ship our wine club members 2 different exclusive wines four times a year. We expanded from there to taking people around the world in small intimate groups with Mindi Abair’s Wine and Jazz Adventures to Spain, Tuscany, Bordeaux, and Sonoma, CA. I also wanted to ‘take it on the road’ once touring came back. I heard the band Rascal Flatts was throwing big pre-show BBQs for their fans. I thought… we should host a pre-show wine and jazz tastings. That appeals to me! Eric can teach people about each wine, and I can play to demonstrate the music pairing. Now we do pre-show wine and jazz tastings in front of 95% of all my shows. It’s a blast!

Today we have hundreds of wine club members around the US who join us for pre-show wine and music tastings and go on worldwide Wine and Jazz Adventures with us… We’re literally living our dream that we envisioned just 3 years ago. And we get to be who we are and enjoy the pairing of our wine and music worlds!

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?
We started www.wineandjazz.com in September of 2019. My husband Eric was used to a big paycheck running super successful wineries. He quit his job to start our business. All of a sudden, there were no assistants or staff to help us. It was all up to me and Eric! So on my off-time from being in the studio or on tour with my band, I was developing wine brands and wine labels and curating music playlists to all of them. Eric took on so much… he was connecting with all his winemaker friends and buying wines and creating software and being the only customer service representative (he still is!) and the graphic arts department and…. well, everything! I think it was a gift that the world went away for me as a musician for a while during the pandemic. We had a huge year of touring planned, and it all “poof” went away. I was able to focus on building our wine and jazz business, and we really just took it from a grassroots level… literally doing tastings from our porch on Facebook live. We did 80+ shows from our porch during the pandemic featuring a different musician every week and featuring different wines every time!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love being a woman in a man’s world. Before I started www.wineandjazz.com with my husband Eric, I forged my path as a saxophonist/vocalist in jazz and blues and rock. I moved to Hollywood after graduating Berklee College of Music and I never looked back. I’ve recorded 13 solo albums, received 2 GRAMMY nominations, had a few #1 Billboard Jazz and Blues albums, spent a few years as the featured saxophonist on American Idol, and I’ve been lucky enough to have recorded or toured with a lot of my heroes… Aerosmith, Joe Bonamassa, Smokey Robinson, Joe Perry, Trombone Shorty, Booker T. Jones, Gregg Allman, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Fantastic Negrito, Waddy Wachtel, Bobby Rush, Keb’ Mo’, Teena Marie, Lee Ritenour, Adam Sandler, Duran Duran, Bill Champlin, Richard Elliott, Jimmy Webb, Max Weinberg, Dave Koz, Peter White, Gerald Albright, Mandy Moore, Lalah Hathaway and the Backstreet Boys. It has been a wild ride and I recommend it wholeheartedly. I’m on the road with my band now and loving every second of it!

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I learned something early on that helped me so much. When I was a senior in high school, I wanted to audition for the Florida All-State Jazz Band. There were only 2 alto saxophone seats for this band, so it was a long shot to get one of them. I practiced so much for the audition, but one day I thought to myself… there’s no way I have a shot at this. I’m 17 years old from St. Petersburg, Florida and there are players all over the state that are going to chew me up and spit me out. I talked myself out of practicing and auditioning. I knew I didn’t have a chance realistically. My Dad came in one day and asked why I wasn’t practicing. I’d been so diligent! I told him my reasoning and he said… “OK, I guess you can just quit then.” I didn’t like that thought, so I figured I’d audition. I gave it my best shot and won the 1st chair alto saxophone seat. I was so excited. When I told my Dad he said to me, “Sometimes it’s not the most talented people who get what they want in life. It’s the ones who go for it and put themselves on the line. If you do that, you have the possibility to get what you want.” I learned that amazing lesson that day, and I always “go for it” when I want something now.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.wineandjazz.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mindiabair
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mindiabiar
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/officialmindiabair
• Other: http://www.mindiabair.com

Image Credits
Greg Allen, Coucou, Chyrisse Tabone, Eric Guerra, Jordyn Guerra, Michael Becker, Bob Hakins