September 14th – Santa Barbara, CA – Iris Duplantier Rideau, 84, the first Black winery owner in the United States, was awarded the prestigious Pioneer and Legend Award at the Hue Society’s Roses and Rosé Awards Brunch as part of their Wine and Culture Fest. The festival, held in Atlanta, Georgia, was conceptualized by Hue Society founder and Sommelier, Tahiirah Habibi.
Born in 1936 in New Orleans, Rideau founded Rideau Vineyard in the early 1990’s. A Rhone-inspired house with an estate-driven program, Rideau’s wine collection, which included a Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne and Marsanne, became among Santa Barbara County’s most celebrated. Located inside an historic adobe built in the late 1800’s, Rideau Vineyard remains wildly popular among travelers and Rhone-inspired wine aficionados even though Rideau sold the winery in 2016.
Today, Rideau, who still lives only miles as the crow flies from Rideau Vineyard, is busy promoting her memoir, One Life Between Two Worlds: From White to Black. In it, Rideau chronicles her childhood in Depression-era New Orleans, through her exodus from Jim Crow South to her early years as a single mother in Los Angeles, to her illustrious career in the world of Los Angeles politics and finance. Rideau, whose struggles included poverty, violence, sexual assault, and racism, eventually became a critically acclaimed vintner and community leader. To learn more about Iris Rideau, please visit www.irisrideau.com. To learn more about the Hue Society, please visit The Hue Society.
