Cassandra Schaeg: "Fresh Glass" is brought to you by Visit California: California Dream Big.

♪♪♪ The Conrad Prebys Foundation, Stone Brewing, Beyond Law, KPBS Explore, the Villegas Family Fund, Jonathan and Christina Barbarin, Gemma and Ross Blain, the Clarke Family with additional contributions by "Fresh Glass" innovators and viewers like you.

Thank you.

For a complete list of financial contributors please visit www.freshglassproductions.com.

Cassandra: Today I am honored to introduce a woman who was a trailblazer in the wine industry.

Iris Duplantier Rideau is America's first Creole woman to own a winery in the United States.

Growing up in the Jim Crow era where state and local laws enforced racial segregation, Iris knew she wanted a different life.

Her story is the history of black America and the obstacles we have faced.

Iris Rideau: In the south when we approached a white person we even had to kneel off the sidewalk in the mud.

I'm not even 10 years old.

Cassandra: Iris Duplantier Rideau knew who she was but had to navigate her race to survive and achieve her dreams.

Iris: I think if you just keep dreaming and do your thing, it just keeps evolving.

Cassandra: Iris's story is about being the first.

And I'm honored to witness the legacy of a trailblazer.

Cassandra: I'm Cassandra Schaeg, entrepreneur, adventurer, and wine and beer enthusiast.

Food, beverage, and entrepreneurship are growing with women and BIPOC innovators creating brands and making a name for themselves.

Teo Hunter: Welcome to Crowns Inglewood, baby.

Cassandra: Join me on adventures and discover why they started, what drives them, and how representation is the cornerstone of their passion.

Amanda-Jane Thomas: What do you come to do?

Cassandra: Sip.

Cassandra: I'm creating a space for people who look like me to share their stories and their spirits.

This is "Fresh Glass."

Cassandra: Iris lives in Solvang, California, down the street from Rideau Vineyard, the winery she built in 1997, but her story is about more than wine.

It is about a Creole woman who witnessed and experienced its disparities in black America because of Jim Crow.

Iris: Oh my god.

Are you kidding me, Cassandra?

How are you, girlfriend?

Cassandra: How are you?

Iris: Iris used her experiences as fuel to be a champion in various industries.

Cassandra: Everything that I've done in the wine and beer space would not be possible without you paving the way.

Iris: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, that's the most beautiful introduction ever.

Cassandra: You know, your journey is amazing, but there is a starting point to this journey.

What does that starting point look like for you?

Iris: Who I am is Creole.

My heritage is Creole, and I have never denied my black heritage.

I want to make that real clear because I can pass for white.

I look white.

And people, like, when they walk into my tasting room, whatever they take me for, that's fine with me, but they--once they get to know me they know who I am.

And it was important for me to bring all of that forward into--especially into the wine country.

And in '95 there was nobody.

It was 2% black population, if that, in this valley, but I was accepted by everybody.

My friends--my winery friends accept people to my winery because it was something different, it was unique, it-- and, of course, it was always like home.

Cassandra: But in your life it sounds like there was a time where acceptance wasn't visible.

Iris: Absolutely.

Cassandra: When did that start?

Iris: It started in 1936 when I was born in New Orleans, and during that time Jim Crow was very much a part of our world.

And being of mixed heritage we had to be very, very careful where we went, what we did, who we spoke to, who we looked at.

And I had a cousin, first cousin, who was darker than me.

We had the same grandmother who passed for white.

And when she would send us to the store we encountered the white world and when we approached a white person or they approached us we were told to get off the sidewalk, sometimes we even had to kneel off the sidewalk in the mud, get spit on, called the N word.

And I'm a child.

I'm not even 10 years old at the time.

It affected me so much.

And then I would go out with my Passé Blanc grandmother and I experienced all the privileges of being white.

And so by the time I got to be 10, I knew the difference.

I talked to my mother and I insisted on going to see my father in California.

And I traveled on the train, Southern Pacific Railroad that ran from New Orleans to San Francisco.

So we traveled the first trip as white.

And I remember riding in the car.

It was so beautiful.

It looked like the Orient Express with red velvet drapes and white tablecloths lining the dining car.

And the black porters kind of knew we were pass-up law, but they treated us with so much respect and they would give my beautiful grandmother a little extra nod, you know?

Cassandra: Because they knew, you know?

Iris: They knew.

But, you know, Jim Crow went so far in the law that said if a porter recognized us as passing for white they could make us all get off the train and lynch us all.

Literally, that's the law.

That was the law.

And then I got to California to my dad's Ranch.

He had a ranch in Corona.

I spent the summer there.

My grandmother stayed on the train and went all the way to San Francisco and decided to leave the south completely.

So I came back with my mother's black girlfriend, and we had to ride in the Negro car.

It's hard for me to even get it out.

And the Negro car was one car behind the engine to take the impact of any accident that could happen to protect the white passengers behind it.

It even had the luggage-- leftover luggage that shared that space with us.

The seats were hard as rocks.

It didn't recline.

There was no dining car.

And I kept asking my mother's girlfriend, "Where is the dining car?

When are we going to-- where are we going to eat?"

And she pulled out a bag of fried chicken and said, "There is no dining car, honey."

She saved my life that day.

She didn't tell me we couldn't go to the dining car.

She said there is no dining car.

Cassandra: Looking back, why do you think she didn't tell you?

Iris: She was protecting me.

I couldn't even tell my mother about the experience and how shocked I was.

So that was it for me.

I was like, "No.

I'm going back home to New Orleans, but I'm not staying."

So I nagged my mother for the next 2 years.

When I was 12 she finally made up her mind to move.

Cassandra: How does a woman who has lived through Jim Crow and experienced what you've experienced get to Los Angeles and become one of the most pivotal political figures in Los Angeles County?

Iris: Well, I'll tell you it was something that was always in me.

I think God gave me something that made me different, that made me strong, made me determined.

Cassandra: With the trauma Iris endured, the belief in her faith and herself was the fuel needed to take care of her family.

As a young adult she became a mother and worked in a sewing factory to support her daughter, but she knew she couldn't stay there for long, and her Passé Blanc status came to a tipping point.

Iris: I spent my adult years in Los Angeles.

Got out of the sewing factory, went to college at night.

I had to pass for white again, by the way, in junior college because I wanted a front-office job, and this was in the early '50s and there were no front-office jobs for blacks at the time.

And the girl that picks me to be her best friend hated black people.

And there was a class across the hallway and it was predominantly black guys taking cooking classes.

And she used to calling them by the N word every day.

Finally I just had it and I told her and I said, "You really need to be respectful of all people, of all races because you never know who you're talking to, and you happen to be talking to a black person right now."

Cassandra: And her reaction.

Iris: She went straight to the instructor and told them I was black, and I never got a job placement there.

So when the job placement agency said to me, "You need to go work for a telephone company.

They're hiring black people," I walked out of her office, stopped at the nearest newsstand and picked up an L.A. Times and got into the classified section and found my own job.

Cassandra: That job was for an insurance agency for a Jewish family which set the course for Iris's success and helped other blacks and minorities who were locked out of their traditional insurance due to the Los Angeles segregated redlining practices.

Iris: And it was a wonderful Jewish firm, family-owned.

They never asked me, and I never said, but I could never take my little brown-skinned baby girl picture and set it on my desk at the office.

That was the hardest part.

Cassandra: In 1967 she started her own agency.

Iris: There was no black agencies.

I was the first.

I had 1000s of black people that I saved 1000s of dollars for just writing their insurance on their homes.

Cassandra: As Iris's agency grew, she transitioned to commercial businesses, but black businesses at the time were few and far between, so she assisted nonprofit agencies.

From there she caught the eye of then councilman and LA's first black mayor Tom Bradley who brought her on board to write the insurance specifications for President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty Program.

Iris: And it was across the country.

And the city of L.A. rewarded a $50-million grant.

By then I was looking at City Hall.

I went to City Hall to pick up the binders to see if I could write the insurance on the program.

Why not, right?

Binders are this thick, two of them.

And I'm this tall, and I got on high-heeled shoes.

And the man hands me the binders as I'm going, and then he says, "But I have to tell you this, there's no insurance specifications in the binders."

I said, "What?"

And he goes, "No.

They forgot to write it."

So I wrote the entire-- I hired two black women.

We spent an entire year at my dining room table.

My daughter will tell you this to today.

The table was filled with binders' readings, every kind of underwritings manual there was.

And we wrote the insurance specifications, and I was awarded the contract.

Cassandra: Let me make sure I heard this correctly.

You wrote the specifications for Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty.

Iris: That was the first contract awarded to a woman of any color at the city of L.A. Nixon came into office and the program was over.

He just killed the entire Lyndon B. Johnson program.

So I only had it for 4 years, and I knew that I wasn't going back to that sewing factory, you know, and I said, "I got to keep going."

And so I branched out and had a life insurance department in my agency.

And so from there I went into employee benefits.

So I started--my second company was the securities firm, to write a pension plan for public employees.

Cassandra: Your contribution to helping L.A.-- the city of L.A.'s pension, when you started, what was it?

What was the amount?

Iris: Zero.

Cassandra: When you ended, what was the amount?

Iris: Five hundred million.

Cassandra: Yet she began to see the tide turning in Los Angeles politics.

She knew it was time to find another adventure.

She took a leap and went yet in another direction.

Iris: I jumped on the 101 Freeway leaving Los Angeles knowing I had to go and headed north, and I had no clue where I was going, and I wound up in the valley.

Cassandra: That valley is the Santa Ynez Valley where Iris found a home for her and her mother who lived with her until she passed.

Cassandra: Did you renovate this house?

Iris: No.

I built this from scratch.

Cassandra: So this is flat.

There was nothing here.

Iris: Nothing.

Nothing.

This was--I bought 5 1/2 acres.

Cassandra: You build the casita.

Iris: Yes, for my mom.

A little cottage for her, one bedroom, beautiful, and she just loved it.

She was here for 26 years with me.

Cassandra: And you woke up to this view every day.

Iris: I woke up.

Yeah.

Isn't this magnificent?

So when I finished the house I looked down here and so I said, "I got to plant a vineyard in here."

Cassandra: Iris spent the next 3 years building up the 30 acres of vines that have helped build her signature brand.

Iris: In the 20 years that I had it, I lost 1 year of vineyard.

The entire vigne block was gone.

So we would make 500, 600 cases of vigne a year.

We made 80 cases that year.

Cassandra: And that's the risk.

Iris: That's the risk.

Cassandra: That's the risk with winemaking: bad weather, wind, harvest.

Iris: Yeah, because this is Mother Nature, you know?

Farming.

Cassandra: Yes.

What's the most valuable lesson when it comes to winemaking?

Iris: First of all you have to have projections and cash flow, right?

Cassandra: You need 3 years to start.

Iris: That's right.

That means that you're putting money into it every single year before you get one dime, and then you only have-- you're only getting about 10%.

Cassandra: Oh, no.

Iris: Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah because they're babies.

You know, vines are young.

They're not looking like this.

They're this big.

So you're not going to get much fruit.

Maybe 10% if you're lucky.

And every year it gets better and better.

Cassandra: Nearly 25,000 people visit Rideau Winery every year, and the wine club serves 2,500 members.

From the vines to the barrels, everything is processed on the property.

Iris: We'll have to pay our dinner bell.

Anyway, come on in.

Cassandra: The barrel room is where the wine ages before it's bottled.

Iris: And this is the fun part.

Cassandra: Yes, this is always so fun.

Iris: This is the real fun part.

Cassandra: Barrel tastings are always the best.

So are you using French in this ranch?

Iris: So 25% of our barrel program is French barrels.

Cassandra: Okay, so French shell.

Iris: New French shell.

Cassandra: New French shell.

Oh, that's like pretty bold and intense.

Iris: It's very much so.

Well, you know, it's also blended with a neutral barrel as well.

By the time it starts to age like a year, 18 months in the barrel, it's ready to go, and you've got all that wonderful influence of vanilla and coconut, whatever is coming off the barrel.

But this is delicious.

Cassandra: With Iris it's not just about tasting great wines, it's about experiencing great wines.

And visiting Rideau Winery is an experience.

The wine and tasting rooms are housed in a Santa Barbara County historical building over 100 years old.

Iris: When I bought it, this actually was falling down.

Cassandra: She restored the four-bedroom home, keeping as much of it as original as possible, including a restored shaker roof, original doors and windows, and 16-inch-thick walls.

Iris showed me the country kitchen she added so she could cook for her guests.

Iris: And this is where I would make my gumbo and jambalaya.

I'd grab a bottle of Tempranillo or something, you know?

Pair the wine with the food that I'm making.

People would stand around the fireplace in the wintertime.

Had jazz playing in the background.

Can you see it?

Cassandra: It's no wonder people come from all over to enjoy some time here.

Iris: It just kept growing and growing and it was just wonderful.

I had the time of my life.

I really did.

Cassandra: After the tour we sat down to drink some wine and talk about how Iris has helped shape winemaking for women and minorities.

Cassandra: So all this walking around has me thirsty for wine.

So.

Iris: Well, you came to the right place.

Cassandra: Yes.

Where's Reza?

Iris: We got you hooked up, girl.

Cassandra: Hi, Reza?

Iris: Hey, Reza.

Reza Heydapour: Welcome.

Cassandra: What are you pouring today?

Reza: I am pouring our Roussanne, a very fine wine that has characteristics of beeswax and honey flavors, it has a mouth-feel of a red wine, and it is very well paired with seafood and lobster.

Cassandra: Ah, okay.

How long have you been working at Rideau?

Reza: I've been working here for 13 years, and I've loving it.

Cassandra: Iris hired you, I take.

Iris: I did.

And I have to tell you how I hired him.

He came to the tasting room with a friend and he knew more about the wines than I did at the time.

And I'm going, "Where is this man come from?"

You know?

And so I walked up to him.

And he's cute too, right?

So I grabbed him by the shirt and I said, "You have to come to work for me."

Reza: That's correct.

Iris: And that was it.

Cassandra: All right.

Well, thank you.

Iris: Isn't this fabulous?

Cassandra: Well, a toast to the legacy of a trailblazer.

Iris: Oh, thank you.

Cassandra: We're toasting you.

Iris: Oh, and you know what?

And I didn't even know I was trailblazing.

I was just doing my thing.

I think if you just keep dreaming and do your thing, it just keeps evolving.

Cassandra: You have some varietals here: Chateau Duplantier and you have the Daliet.

Iris: That's my mother's last name.

And it was at the end of her life and a couple of years before she passed and I said I've got to make a wine for this woman because she's done so much for me.

This is all hand-selected, barrel selected, the best of the best, and it all came from the estate, and I have a few bottles left just--and I'm trying to hold on.

Cassandra: Hold on to them.

How would you describe Rideau Vineyards in three words?

Iris: Three words?

Cassandra: Three words.

Iris: How about excellence, excellence, excellence?

Cassandra: Well, one of them got to be black excellence.

Iris: Okay.

Cassandra: One got to be black excellence.

Okay.

Iris: Okay.

So I'm going to say excellence, Creole excellence, and black excellence.

How's that?

Cassandra: Black-Creole excellence.

Iris: Yes.

Cassandra: What's your legacy?

Iris: You know what I want on my tombstone?

Cassandra: What do you want?

Iris: "Don't cry for me.

I did it all."

So my legacy is to promote young people, especially women of all colors, men as well, but I want my legacy to be the one that influences all you guys, all you young folks that's coming behind me.

That's my legacy, is to continue to promote small business.

I did that at City Hall, and I'm still doing it.

Iris: Iris continues to promote new winemakers like her dear friend Jason McLain who owns McLain Cellars here in Solvang and in Orange County, California.

Jason McLain made his first bottle of wine in 2013.

His flagship location in Laguna Beach, California, was chosen because he feels it fits in perfectly with the appreciation this city has for art and creativity.

Jason McLain: Well, welcome to McLain Cellars Laguna Beach.

Cassandra: I love.

I love.

Cassandra: We tasted his promise-keeper red blend that has notes of white pepper and red fruits and we talked about what it means to be the only black-owned winery in the county.

Cassandra: How's that been, having a black-owned business in an area where is not a lot of us here?

Jason: It's very unique.

It puts me in a position where I think that I'm doing something that my grandparents may have done or my great grandparents may have done.

I'm setting an example of quality, luxury, and integrity.

And when people come into McLain Cellars they feel that they're welcome.

As a black-owned winery, as a black man I can tell you I had a responsibility to let everyone know that it doesn't matter the color of your skin but it truly matters the content of your character and the luxury of the world you allow.

Cassandra: Jason sure knows how to live a life of luxury.

We rode over to his second Laguna location that hosts a members-only-glass-enclosed- cold-cellar.

Cassandra: So what temperature does this room stay at?

Jason: It is 57° and 64% humidity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Cassandra: This location holds his first vintages and prices range up to $1,000 per bottle.

Members can stop in to purchase Jason's 30-wine selections while having a good time in the cool atmosphere.

Jason also has two locations in the valley.

He took me back up to the valley to visit Iris and celebrate the launch of her new book "From White to Black: One Life between Two Worlds."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Cassandra: What's the significance of both of you being here right now together?

Iris: Oh my god, what a question?

Bernard Parks: She was a mute child when I first met her, but we were in the city of Los Angeles for a number of years and we used to pass each other in the hallways, in the byways, and then she made an impact on my life because everything she touches turns to gold.

And she looks at me and she says, "Have you gotten into deferred comp?"

And I said, "What the hell is deferred comp."

And so she said, "Come to my office and we'll explain it to you."

And when I left the city I was one of the largest contributors to deferred comp.

Iris: And he would say to me, "I have to sneak to my mailbox every time the statement came 'cause I'm making so much money."

Bernard: That's right.

Tara Gomez: Iris literally helped us as our tribe get started in the wine industry.

Reza: I told Iris I would do anything for her.

Anything.

Iris: It's been a wonderful day.

It really has.

I mean, it's been unbelievable, more than I expected.

Cassandra: Throughout the season we have met phenomenal innovators in food, beverage, and entrepreneurship who like Iris are making a name for themselves.

Iris has given BIPOC women a chance to realize our dreams, see past our limitations, and to continue helping our communities rise.

Cassandra: The journey continues.

And now it's your turn to support our guests by sharing their stories and their spirits.

Cassandra: Thank you for joining me on this adventure.

Let's raise a fresh glass and cheers to many more.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Cassandra: "Fresh Glass" is brought to you by Visit California: California Dream Big.

♪♪♪ The Conrad Prebys Foundation, Stone Brewing, Beyond Law, KPBS Explore, the Villegas Family Fund, Jonathan and Christina Barbarin, Gemma and Ross Blain, the Clarke Family with additional contributions by "Fresh Glass" innovators and viewers like you.

Thank you.

For a complete list of financial contributors please visit www.freshglassproductions.com.

female announcer: Support for this program comes from the KPBS Explore Local Content Fund, supporting new ideas and programs for San Diego.

Cassandra: To learn more and support our guests, visit us at www.freshglassproductions.com.

♪♪♪