Local Black-Owned Wine Company Strives for Success
It didn't come without roadblocks, but Camillya Masunda's passion for wine has grown into a dream fulfilled.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When asked about how it all got started, Camillya Masunda says, “A dollar and a dream, minus the dollar.”
She’s a dreamer. A trailblazer. An artist. And one of the few Black vintners in the Carolinas. Stop by the Ebony Experience Gallery in Mint Hill, and you’ll notice her vivacity and vigor for vino right away.
“I really created this wine in the sense of having something, a taste that everyone will love,” she exclaims.
She’s a firm believer that there’s no such thing as someone who doesn’t like wine – just someone who *thinks* they don’t.
“I have something for everyone,” she adds.
Her passion started years ago as a college student, drinking with friends at Johnson C Smith.
“I would always look at the back of the bottle,” Masunda recounts fondly. “I would always look at the label because I would see something in me really wanted to know, like, ‘What is this that we’re drinking?’”
And that passion grew into a dream fulfilled. But it didn’t come without roadblocks.
“There were many things that I had to learn with nobody to teach. There were so many brick walls that I was hitting over and over.”
Luckily, Camillya is a one-woman wrecking crew.
“Once you learn how to accept no and the fact that the only thing you can tell me is no, but I keep going, those nos slowly but surely turned into yeses.”
And now, she is thriving. Her very own award-winning company, Ebony Wine & Spirits, has popped bottles in all 50 states – an important success story for her and for her mission to diversify the wine space for all.
Only 1% of all vintners, or wine merchants, in the United States are Black. Even fewer are Black women. That’s something Masunda wants to change.
“It’s so important that we see representation because the representation is that encouragement to other people. That’s to say, ‘Hey, if they can do it, I can do this.’”
And she has a message for girls striving for success.
“That there is absolutely nothing that you cannot do. There is nothing you cannot achieve. If you really want to do something, you are the only person who determines if you succeed of if you fail. So dream big but not only dream. Have a plan, a vision, and execute.”
The Ebony Experience Gallery is located at 7714 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd in Mint Hill, North Carolina. For more information about Camillya, her studio, and her selection of art and wines, click HERE.
