First Night of Summer June 20th, Dinner at Bistro d'Azur with wine from Aamira Garba of LoveLee Wine.

Hi Everyone, Now this is a timely one. June 20, the first night of summer, there will be a five course/four wine dinner with Aamira Garba of LoveLee Wine. Aamira is an Orange, NJ resident, a mom and marketing exec at Audible and she makes wine in California that has gotten acclaim. She has been featured in Forbes and the Washington Post. The dinner will feature her current portfolio of four wines and conversation with her throughout. Come support a young Black female rising star winemaker. Dinner is $95 plus tax and service which will come out to around $121. The wine charge for the night, payable that night to Aamira, is $28. So the total for the night all in is $149. She is a marketing whiz with a great social media following...this will sell out. Ticket sales are live at this link: Bistro d'Azur - South Orange, NJ | Tock (exploretock.com) 

 Here is the story Hank Zona wrote about Aamira, first appearing Dec. 29, 2021 in Jersey's Best: Raise a Glass: How one woman is changing the face of N.J.’s wine industry - Jersey's Best (jerseysbest.com) At first glance, Aamira Garba is not your typical winemaker. She may not fit the big wine magazine ad depiction of a winemaker, and she certainly has not followed a traditional path to becoming one. Although not so well known here just yet, she has received some national recognition, and on those larger stages, the Orange native never shies away from saying where she is from. In her words, “Jersey is always home, and ‘Jersey Strong’ is life!” New Jersey: Meet Aamira Garba. Orange native Aamira Garba currently makes her wine at a custom facility in Napa, around her other roles of mother and marketing executive at Audible in Newark.

Photo by Xcentric Visuals According to the Association of African American Vintners, about 0.1%, or one-tenth of 1%, of winemakers and wine brand owners are Black. That includes Garba. Making her foray into wine even more challenging, her LoveLee Wine label is similar to any of the other wineries that have been featured in this column — small artisanal producers fighting for recognition and shelf space against giant names with giant marketing budgets. Garba currently makes her wine at a custom facility in Napa, around her other roles of mother and marketing executive at Audible in Newark. Those other roles have profoundly impacted the shaping of the business she created. The LoveLee name is derived from her daughters’ names, Heaven Lee and Lyric Lee, and her girls inspire her daily. Her marketing and analytics background has helped her shape a tangible business from a dream. She not only has sought to make quality wine but to create a connected community around it, which is evident in her active social media presence. Garba also can discuss the details of her business planning and can tell you who exactly is buying her wine — 65% women, typically between the ages of 25 and 45 years old (she falls directly in the middle), and although mostly in the Northeast, from 34 states, for your information. Garba’s marketing and analytics background has helped her shape a tangible business from a dream.

Photo by Lance Thomas/Love Determines Value Photography Garba said, at age 30, she was feeling restless. Reading Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist,” she came away motivated by the novel’s theme that one cannot search for their destiny and happiness but, rather, has to create it. She knew she wanted her own business, “to be a boss,” she said smiling. Recognizing that she and her friends already enjoyed socializing over wine gave her the impetus. She determined that to build a foundation for this business and community, she had to establish herself as a winemaker first, which is to say, not how most folks start out. Undaunted, she did research, talked with people and took classes, and as she launched herself into the industry, Garba was aware she looked different than the other people around her. It did not intimidate her, but instead, excited her. “I realized, based on my experiences and interests, this was where I was supposed to be.” She knew the underappreciated spending power of the Black community needed more accessible entries into wine, too. Garba is working constantly to not just make a name for herself, but to continue to make really good wine for her community, which is open to everyone.

Photo by Lance Thomas/Love Determines Value Photography Although not making wine for all that long, Garba clearly has a knack for it. She has produced a handful of wines, with a Blanc de Blancs-style sparkling wine the most recent release. VinePair, the largest digital media company delivering wine content, called the LoveLee Pinot Noir one of its top 25 pinots of 2021 globally. It is the first pinot noir Garba has ever made. Perhaps her only weakness so far is that she does not make more wine — not yet at least. She is currently working on collaborations (one potentially here in New Jersey) and looking to secure funding to start a new brand to put in stores and restaurants. LoveLee Wine is now only direct to consumer through her website: loveleewine.com. The tragic events of the past year and a half have, fortunately, led to more recognition and accolades for Garba. The Black Lives Matter movement magnified the underrepresentation of people of color in many fields, including wine. There was an article in Forbes. She received a scholarship from the Roots Fund, which provides people of color with resources for education, mentorships and job placement in the wine industry, to further grow her knowledge and network. In August, at the Wine & Culture Fest in Atlanta, run by the Hue Society to recognize multicultural brands, winemakers and wine professionals, Garba walked away — no, make that floated away — with two awards, the Brand of the Year and the Innovator/Who’s Got Next award. In August, at the Wine & Culture Fest in Atlanta, Garba walked away with two awards: the Brand of the Year and the Innovator/Who’s Got Next award.

Photo by Lance Thomas/Love Determines Value Photography “I love this industry, and I finally felt truly valued. That I have arrived and that I am seen. What was most important to me was that the people there really liked my wine, too. The awards would mean nothing if they didn’t like my wine.” Ray Sholes, a Miami-based sommelier and consultant, had a unique view on Garba at the Wine & Culture Fest. They are both Roots Fund scholarship recipients and act as sounding boards to one another. But what Sholes saw that weekend surprised even him. “I knew she was knowledgeable and driven, but when she was given the platform, she seized it. Her professionalism and presentation blew me away. And her wines … I want them in my Miami restaurant.” When asked at the end of a lively conversation if she ever sleeps, she said, “I haven’t been sleeping much, but I’m working on it.” Like everything else she works on, she will likely eventually succeed at that, too. This is Aamira Garba, winemaker. Know her name. Look for her wines. She is working constantly to not just make a name for herself, but to continue to make really good wine for her community, which is open to everyone. Hank Zona writes regularly about wine, spirits and a range of other topics such as food and culture. He also has been running wine and spirits events of all sorts for over a decade. This article originally appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Jersey’s Best. Subscribe here for in-depth access to everything that makes the Garden State great. Let me know if you have questions or anything else you would like me to know. Thanks! Hank