Black vintner wins two wine awards with Italian reds blends

Zachary Marcus Cesare Harris

Zachary Marcus Cesare Harris. Image: Ikavina

Black and veteran-owned Ikavina Wine and Spirits “Wanna Be” wines imprint was awarded bronze medals for both their “Aether” and “Bakhita” Rosso Veronese red blends in the Veneto IGT and Verona IGT categories respectively at the Texsom 2021 International Wine Awards.

While Ikavina has 10 wines under its own label, “Bakhita,” named after the Sudanese saint who is the patron saint of Schio located in the Province of Vicenza located in the Veneto region of Italy, is their best-selling red. It is their most affordable red, but also even approachable for those who have not yet developed a palate for red wines. Itis a blend of Corvina, Molinari, Rondinella and Cabernet Sauvignon. “Aether” whose name points to what was considered a fifth element of alchemy, is a combination of Merlot and Corvina, with twenty percent of the grapes held back for extra drying of what is called the appassimento method.

“We’re very proud of this accomplishment and look forward to next year’s competition as well as submitting all of our wines. Not only do awards help with sales, but on the corporate side, it hopefully leads to more sources of capital, which is the hardest thing for Black endeavours in wine to obtain, especially when you’re not doing the same wines as everyone else,” said Zachary Marcus Cesare Harris.

Ikavina Wine and Spirits was founded in 2015 by Harris, a native of Philadelphia. Its focus is wines from Italy, Portugal and Spain as well as bringing great wines at affordable prices to African American consumers, the most overlooked and under-served demographic in the wine world.


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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