Larisa Stephenson and Dana Sabin of Stand TALL Wine Co.
Long before Dana Sabin and Larisa Stephenson launched their own wine label in Northern California, they were just two girls playing for the North Shore Women’s Rugby Club in Chicago, full of love and longing. Well, Dana, who is 5’1, was mostly full of her “fear of getting killed.” That fear was obviously unrealized, but she did break her wrist, and luckily her teammate Larisa, a kinesiologist, was on-hand to deal with the injury. “That was my in,” Larisa explains to us over glasses of Pinot Noir in the cellar at Sabina Vineyards.
From that fated union came not only a successful relationship but eventually a thriving business partnership: Stand Tall Wine Company, which uses Sabina Vineyards in Saint Helena for producing and bottling its first wine label, Genetic. We met Dana and Larisa at the estate in what is referred to as “winter” in less temperate climates to hear more about their new company and taste the goods.
me and Autostraddle.com co-founder Alexandra Vega with a bottle of wine
The Little Wine History
Napa is, of course, best known for its vineyards, the first of which was opened in 1859 by John Patchett, a settler who’d been trained in Pennsylvania as a brewmaster and went West during the California Gold Rush. His winemaker, Charles Krug, would eventually establish the valley’s first commercial winery north of St.Helena. By the end of the nineteenth century, over 140 wineries were thriving in Napa Valley, which all suffered a communal setback in the 1920s due to prohibition and an ill-timed phylloxera infestation. After World War II, the wine industry picked back up, with big-name wineries popping up throughout the area, and Robert Mondavi broke away from his family’s Charles Krug estate to launch what is now the Valley’s most famous vineyard. Today over four hundred wineries are currently operating in Napa County, and Napa Valley hosts more than 45,000 acres planted to grapes. It’s a worldwide tourist attraction and a popular day or weekend trip for Northern Californians who like pretty scenery and drinking a lot. California accounts for almost 90% of America’s total wine production.
But only 9.8 percent of California wineries are headed up by women, although it can seem like more because on the whole, the wines made by women are more highly acclaimed based on the ratio of female vs. male winemakers. So it isn’t just being openly gay that make Dana and Larisa’s enterprise unique, it’s also their gender.
When Dana’s job (she’s a Social Worker) moved the couple out to Napa Valley from Chicago, they were surprised by the lack of LGBTQ community in the area, especially relative to the more visibile community in nearby Sonoma. “Moving to Napa from Chicago was a huge change,” says Dana. “It’s not just the few gays that are out here (we love you — come out!), it’s that there’s a lack of diversity, which is stifling in its own way.” Dana and Larisa got involved with the Napa LGBTQ Project, which works to create a more visible, supported community through outreach to local populations and businesses as well as engaging directly with the youth and older adult population. This involvement coincided with their increasing interest in wine and wine-making, which was surely helped along by Dana’s parents, Susan and David, owners of Sabina Vineyards in Saint Helena.
“I got interested in starting a wine company ’cause I wanted to create labels that support causes I believe in and ‘stand tall’ for,” said Larisa. “I also felt like there was this niche market out there that was being neglected by the large wine companies.”
“Larisa obviously had the passion to start this company and after many months of convincing, I realized she was right and this would be a great idea,” says Dana. “She also would not return my iPhone until I agreed to join her on this endeavor.”
A First for LGBTQ-Marketed Wine
As far as Dana and Larisa are aware, Genetic is the first LGBTQ wine label ever produced. (The second, Égalité, from Biagio Cru & Estate Wines, was released in January, and incorrectly touted as the first by news outlets which have since corrected themselves and mentioned Genetic). Genetic is a 2010 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon, and 1% of total sales go towards the Napa LGBTQ Project. Dana and Larisa hope to donate a larger percentage of sales to LGBTQ causes as their label grows more successful. (We actually connected with them in the first place because of the generous donation they made to our fundraising campaign!) Right now both women still hold down full-time jobs and are pursuing the wine thing in their spare time, which comes with its own challenges, especially in an industry that tends to attract the already-wealthy.
It’s always a challenge to combine business with pleasure, but lesbians have been undaunted by that warning for centuries, Dana and Larisa included. “We’ve definitely had a few more squabbles than we would have had if we weren’t running a wine company,” says Larisa. “However, we made the choice to open a wine company thinking about where we would like to be in the future as a family. At the end of the day, our relationship is stronger because we started this company.”
It certainly seems that way — Dana and Larisa are delightful human beings and a super-cute couple and, despite not being a fan of red wine in general, I found Genetic precisely as intimidating as Dana and Larisa, which is to say: not at all. I love it. If I was a wine expert, I’d note its aromas of wild cherry, sour cherry, blackberry and plum or the “transcendant” ruby and maroon color and then add that it “exhibits all the character of the burgundy with the definite terroir of the Eola Hills in Willamette Valley Oregon.
“We’re surrounded by Cabernet Sauvignon here in Napa Valley, and we wanted to do something different,” Dana said of their decision to make a Pinot Noir.
It was a wise choice. I think we killed a bottle in less than an hour, and went home with extra bottles in tow, which pleased our dinner guests quite a bit:
If you like good wine, lesbians and women-owned independent businesses, you can get your very own bottle of genetic at the Stand Tall website.
you still have your christmas tree up? for real?
also… lesbian wine? yeah I’m all over that.standard.
is it weird that i’ve started thinking “standard” at the end of particularly awesome statements because of reading your comments on this website?
not weird at all lovely. Its a perfectly acceptable way of ending any sentence or thought process with lots of power and feeeeeeling. It’s even more powerful when said with a Welsh accent… but then I would say that…
our christmas tree lives forever, it is immortal and if it ever dies, its memories will be downloaded into a new christmas tree
You’ve been watching Battlestar huh? ;)
this is so cool!! And honestly what better way to woo a woman than with pridewine?
pridewine sounds like something you can collect in skyrim
lesbian wine!!!! i’ve been waiting my whole life for this to be an option
Give me a LGBT-owned small business and I’m ON it. Happy to support these women and their endeavor!
this is THE BEST
Awwweee! They’re so cute!
Well I know where my next bottle of wine is coming from!
This is 50 shades of awesome. Also the pics of them and their dog are way cute!
The label is beautiful and looks a little like PCR!
thoughts: oregon pinor noirs are the best in the entire world. so what if i’m from willamette valley, this is based on hard research, people. i can’t wait to taste stand tall’s pinot!
patricia green, who makes phenomenal wine in dundee hills, oregon, runs her winery with her girlfriend. they’re super wonderful lesbians and welcomed me with delight when i stopped by during a male-dominated wine tour. the convo went something this:
patty: robert, you brought a woman! how revolutionary of you.
rob: yeah, and she’s gay, too
patty: YOU COME HERE RIGHT NOW AND LET ME HUG YOU
…the glass ceiling is real low in the wine world.
also they have bumper stickers and shirts that say Women Taste Better. like are better at tasting wine, but also haaaa yayyyy.
patricia green hasn’t explicitly marketed her wine to the LGBTQ community and proceeds don’t go back to any organization, so kudos on the women of Stand Tall to be the first to do that! i like it.
The important question is, where can we buy this wine? Is it in stores?
We need Harto to go check this out. Stat.
can we talk about how awesome and (almost) appropriate this typo is?
“Dana and Larisa hope to donate a lager percentage..”
HOW DID YOU KNOW I AM TAKING A CLASS ON WINE RIGHT NOW ahhhhh. Autostraddle. You are perfect. I am going to try a bottle for ‘homework’ purposes.
Happy about the interest in our company! Thanks to Autostraddle for the great article, especially to Alex and Riese! We currently don’t sell our wine in stores, but you can purchase direct from us on our website (www.standtallwine.com).
do you ship to the UK?
Regarding shipping to the UK–give me a bit of time to find out how I can do that. Please send me an email with your contact info. Thanks! larisa@standtallwine,com
I was all excited about this until I saw that the Pinot Noir is Willamette Valley instead of Napa. I think it’d be more true to self to do the Napa Cab Sauv. Or if they were that determined to be different, do Napa some other grape.
And to think I got bashed on this morning by a straight-ass “friend” over Valentine’s – and was considering buying a bottle of this to drink my woes away. Boo-Hiss. If it isn’t the real deal, I’m not buying. LGBT Napa wine my ass.
Especially since the bitch I had the extreme misfortune to fall in love with a couple years back and who is in all likelihood as gay as they come lives near the parents’ winery listed in the article. I dreamed – past tense – of meeting someone and living near Napa myself. For the record, singles awareness day sucks and so does fakeness in advertising. The photo of the couple is starting to make me feel sick. Either sell Napa LGBT wine or don’t pretend it is Napa wine whatsoever. There should be some integrity in LGBT marketing.
Andi,
Sorry for your misfortune, and for your thoughts on our wine company being located in Napa Valley and us selling a Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley. This is our first release, and we chose the Willamette Valley Pinot because we enjoy Pinots from that valley. The TTB sets the rules for what is listed on a front and back label (grape, appellation, location of the vineyard/wine company, where the wine was fermented) which we followed, and we will continue to follow for future labels that will use grapes from Napa Valley and other regions–we choose grapes we believe will give you a great tasting wine. We are in the process of creating a second label that will be a California Red Wine Blend, and because our company is located in Napa Valley, it will state that on the back of the label. If you would like further information from us, please email me at [email protected] so I may answer any questions you might have. Thanks, and if it makes you feel any better, we choose to not celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Larisa, Thank you for your reply. Suffice it to say I’m way impressed. I’ve noted your details. Maybe one day I will buy the cab or we’ll meet in Napa Valley…
“She also would not return my iPhone until I agreed to join her on this endeavor.”
Cutest.Businesswomen.Ever.
My girlfriend purchased a bottle of this wine and it is fantastic. We loved it!!