Wine Country Times

The Association of African American Vintners (AAAV) has partnered with Sonoma State University to create a $5,000 scholarship award to increase diversity within the Californian wine industry, which largely underrepresents ethnic minority groups, a press release said. 

AAAV seeks to increase diversity within the wine industry by providing funding to students looking to get into wine and bringing awareness to black winemakers, the press release stated.

“The Association of African American Vintners is excited to partner with Sonoma State University and their Wine Business Institute with this scholarship to support the next generation of wine business students who want to have a career in the wine industry,” Louis Garcia, vice president, and treasurer of AAAV said.

Students looking to apply for the scholarship must either be a senior or junior with a minimum GPA of 3.0 working toward a B.S. or MBA degree in business administration with a concentration in wine business. Also, the applicant must be part of an underrepresented ethnic group including African Americans, Latinos and Asian groups and must have participated in one of the Black Student Success Initiatives offered through Sonoma State. 

"We appreciate the support of our students by the Association of African American Vintners,” Ray Johnson, executive director of the Wine Business Institute said. “We aim to create a pipeline of diverse talent that will fill the executive ranks of the wine industry."

AAAV was founded in 2002 in order to foster cooperation between various players within the wine industry at all points of the supply chain. All applications must be submitted by Sunday, Feb. 28 in order for applications to be eligible. Without the work of organizations like AAAV, ethnic minority groups would remain underrepresented in some of the most lucrative industries in the American economy.