Tennessee Minority-Owned Wine & Spirits Association

The home of minority-owned wine & spirits in Tennessee.

A FRACTION OF THE SHELF.

Make your own table.

Create an Opportunity Join the Community

Minority-owned and women-owned brands are still a small fraction of the U.S. spirits industry. We've been inside. We're holding the door.

The Back Bar

The shelf,
lit all the way up.

Six Tennessee-owned brands. Real bottles, real founders, one spotlight. Think outside the barrel.

Brands on the shelf.

Whiskey. Bourbon. Tequila. Vodka. Wine. Every one of them minority-owned, every one of them Tennessee-owned.

Not just a seat at the table. Our own table.

Gladys Wines

Caesar Harris & Jamar Dials · Memphis, TN

Fiyori Hemp Vodka

Clarence Darkwa · Nashville, TN

2023 Red Blend

Twisted Sistuhs 2023 Bourbon Barrel Red Blend bottle lying on purple marble beside two blackberry cocktails — 2023 Bourbon Barrel Red Blend

Disbelef Tequila

Toriano Banks & Ralf Golden · Memphis, TN · Bottle photography to come

Ask for them by name. That is how a shelf changes.Every brand, every founder

The Problem

Extinction.

“The word we use is extinction. We don't say it lightly.”

“We didn't know about you.” — the #1 thing retailers say.That sentence is the whole problem. This site is the answer to it.

The spirits industry is contracting, and the minority-owned part of it is contracting faster. Brands are losing distribution. Most of us are first generation: nobody passed this down, and many founders work full-time jobs to keep the brand alive. When a founder gives up, the lessons leave with them.

“We need each other.”

Our Story

The six brands who
set the table.

Founded March 10, 2022. Nashville rooftop, five founders, every bottle on one table. That photograph is the whole thesis.

The five founders of TMOWSA on a Nashville rooftop with their bottles on one table

Founded 03 · 10 · 2022

Jason Ridgel/Ogechi Anyatonwu/Mike Frazier/Clarence Darkwa/Stacey Thomas

We've been inside.We're holding the door.

Not just a seat at the table. Our own table. TMOWSA exists because the stories deserve a home, the brands deserve a spotlight, and the next generation deserves a roadmap.

We are founders who got through the door — distributors, buyers, shelves, licenses — and decided the door stays open behind us.

Think Outside the BarrelWe Need Each OtherOur Own Table

“If you close your eyes and still see it, there's a place for you here.”

Read our story

The Plan

Five moves.
Start anywhere.

Discover → Learn → Connect → Participate → Create an Opportunity. Tap a step.

Discover

Walk the back bar. Six Tennessee-owned brands, photographed like the art they are: whiskey, bourbon, tequila, vodka and wine. Leave with a name you can ask for out loud.

See the brands

Meet every member brand and its founder
See what is already on Tennessee shelves
Leave with one brand you can name out loud

Learn

Talk the talk.

The glossary is the on-ramp. Nobody gets kept out for not knowing a word.

Three-finger pour: An informal measure: whiskey poured to the height of three fingers laid flat against the side of the glass. Roughly three ounces, depending on the hand and the glass.
Sour mash: A fermentation method where a portion of the previous batch's spent mash (the 'backset') is added to the new mash. The acidity keeps unwanted bacteria out and keeps flavor consistent batch to batch.
Angel's share: The portion of spirit that evaporates through the wood while a barrel ages. In a hot Tennessee rickhouse it can be several percent a year.

Open the full glossary

Happenings

Rooms we're in.

Tastings, retail walk-throughs, member roundtables. Dates are announced on Instagram.

Tastings

Buyers, bartenders and neighbors in one room with the bottles in front of them.

Retail Walk-Throughs

Founders and retailers, face to face, on the shelf where the decision gets made.

Member Roundtables

Licensing, distribution, production. What we learned, passed down.

@tmowsa_tennessee — event photography slot

See what's happening

Join

Three ways in.

Whether you pour it, stock it or just drink it well, there is a door for you.

01 / Supporter

Supporter

You drink it, you post it, you ask for it by name at your bar. The cheapest, loudest form of support there is.

Join the Community

02 / Member Brand

Member Brand

Minority-owned wine or spirits brand in Tennessee. Get the spotlight, the roadmap and the room.

Apply to the Shelf

03 / Industry Partner

Industry Partner

Distributor, retailer, bar group, brand house. Bring shelf space, education or capital to the table.

Partner With Us

Create an
Opportunity.

Stock a brand. Book a tasting. Hire a founder. Pour one at your bar. Opportunity is a thing you make, not a thing you wait for.

Create an Opportunity

info@tmowsa.org · @tmowsa_tennessee

A FRACTION OF THE SHELF.

The shelf,
lit all the way up.