“A Fruitful Labor” for Suite Magazine

Bertony Faustin, owner of Abbey Creek Vineyard in North Plains, is the first Black winemaker on record in Oregon. Faustin was raised in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn by parents who had emigrated from Haiti. Faustin grows a wide variety of grapes at Abbey Creek Vineyard: pinot noir, pinot gris, chardonnay, gewurztraminer, gamay noir, and albarino. He has also produced a documentary, directed by Jerry Bell Jr., called Red, White, and Black that tells the stories of minority Oregon winemakers. “Early on, I realized the industry didn’t fit me,” he said. “The industry joke is, ‘How do you make a small fortune in wine? Start with a large one.’ So that just meant it was a bunch of rich dudes throwing money around as a hobby. I’m from Brooklyn, man. In Brooklyn we say, ‘If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense. When I became truly successful is when I accepted that not everyone is going to be my customer,” Faustin said. “I could just be me. So we’re a hip-hop winery, where I wear Timberland and Carhartts and do me.”

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