Celebrate National Wine Day with This LGBTQ Winemaker
Winemaker Remy Drabkin has many kudos including receiving the Governor’s award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Tourism. She was also elected mayor of McMinnville, Oregon, and is cofounder of Wine Country Pride, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing Pride celebrations to rural Oregon.
This queer female winemaker should be on your cellar door and wine shopping list. Remy Wines is located in the beautiful hills of Drayton, Oregon, with a tasting room in a 1900s farmhouse, with Drabkin creating wines in Italian and Old World styles—and new-fashioned approaches to community.
The Queer Wine Fest is returning to the Willamette Valley on June 29th, and this year promises to be the biggest yet. Hosted by @remywines, this one-of-a-kind festival celebrates LGBTQ+ leadership in the wine industry, with 20 incredible wineries from Oregon, Washington, and California pouring 30+ wines. Every ticket purchased supports @winecountrypride’s mission to unite communities through visible celebrations and education. Tickets go on sale June 1st, so be sure to grab your chance to taste and sip with Pride!
This winery is worth a trip to Oregon! Tastings are daily, by appointment, and if you live on the other coast, well, there’s always Remy Wine Club. To stay up to date with Remy’s Pride events, follow them on Instagram.
Remy Wines hosted the world’s first Queer Wine Fest in June 2022, bringing together more than a dozen LGBTQ+ winery owners, winemakers, and winegrowers from across the West. It was the first in the world to specifically highlight wineries with LGBTQ+ leaders.
“Queer Wine Fest is helping to establish professional networks for queer folks in the wine industry. There is now a groundswell of movements in different states that are all seeking to establish this type of community and networking opportunity,” said Drabkin. “For consumers wanting to support LGBTQ+ and BIPOC producers, this is an opportunity to dive into the diversity of wines that we are bringing to the industry.”
Remy Wines was also awarded a Native Wildflower Seed Grant from Pollinator Partnership (P2), a grant that is supporting Remy Wines in its efforts to enhance pollinator habitat and contribute to the conservation of native wildflowers.
Queer and Sustainable Wines
Founded in 2006 by Remy Drabkin, Remy Wines is deeply committed to sustainability and conservation practices, from the vineyard to the winery, and supporting surrounding ecosystems and communities, including the installment of native plants in the vineyard and on the surrounding property.
Pollinator Partnership is the largest non-profit 501(c)3 organization in the world dedicated exclusively to the protection and promotion of pollinators and their ecosystems. The Native Wildflower Seed Grants are funded by Toyota Motor North America and are aimed at enhancing pollinator habitat projects and expanding the impact of ongoing conservation efforts. The goal of the seed grant initiative is to enhance 26,000 acres of pollinator habitat by the year 2025.
To qualify for the wildflower seed grant program, projects must be “shovel ready” and already actively engaged in pollinator habitat enhancement activities. Remy Wines has already been cultivating native plants, tending beehives, and practicing no-till farming in the winery’s estate vineyard. Grant applicants must provide a letter of commitment to continue to manage the site as wildlife habitat and to employ ongoing best management practices for a minimum of 5 years. Projects like those at Remy Wines actively involve their local community through volunteer and educational opportunities.
Remy Wines received a selection of seeds that are most beneficial to preserving honeybee populations. All species included in the seed mix are native at the state and provincial level, and the package has been created specifically for Remy Wines’ environs.
“Sustainability is holistic in its reach, from our built environment to human interaction with each other and the world,” says Drabkin. “Supporting native bee populations in partnership with invested, like-minded folks allows citizen scientists to work alongside researchers as we take determined and informed steps to counter climate change and extend life for humanity as we know it.”
About Remy Wines
Founded in 2006 by native Oregonian and queer winemaker, Remy Drabkin, Remy Wines is a Willamette Valley winery rooted in service to the community. Much like its visionary founder, Remy Wines honors Old World winemaking traditions with a fresh, progressive voice and undeniable flair. Remy Wines boasts an impressive portfolio of Italian-style wines made primarily with Oregon fruit and a welcoming, unpretentious Farmhouse Tasting Room in Dayton, Oregon.
For more information, please visit remywines.com.
