After the Portland Trail Blazers finished last in the NBA playoffs on Saturday, CJ McCollum was excited to celebrate with his teammates and another one of his passions:
Wine.
“This one is a special man,” McCollum told The Undefeated after the Blazers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs. ‘I think Melo [Carmelo Anthony] goes in his bag and gets something vintage. I’ll get in my bag. Some bubbles. We will enjoy this. ”
While McCollum hit big shots – with a fractured back, no less – during the Blazers’ pushoff, he also made moves as one of the few Black winemakers in Oregon, world-famous for his wine region with more than 700 wineries, 1,000 vineyards and 72 grape varieties.
During a limited release in September, the Blazers guard will debut his inaugural wine, McCollum Heritage 91, made in collaboration with Adelsheim Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains. The wine was delivered September 19-28, 2018, and bottled on August 8, 2019.
CJ McCollum with his McCollum Heritage 91 wine.
Justin Tucker / Nine Aighty Four
“Look where we started where it is now, the process it took, it’s crazy,” McCollum said. ‘From tasting the grapes to picking the vines to tasting five months where it is not ready now. … It’s a testament to surrounding yourself with the right people. That’s the biggest thing.
‘Set unrealistic goals and then go after them. That’s what I’ve historically always done in my life. Being in this position now to have my own pinot noir with a well-respected winery like Adelsheim, shows how I continue to diversify and expand my portfolio and take advantage of my situation. It’s crazy how it all came round from not having my own wine to having my own blend. ”
The name of the wine includes his last name, the name of the street where he grew up in Canton, Ohio, and the birth year of himself and his fiancée, Elise Esposito, who unsuccessfully tried to get McCollum into wine then they meet at Lehigh University. After Portland lined up with the 10th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, McCollum eventually fell in love with pinot noir, which is a staple of Oregon.
“From where I come, we did not drink wine,” said McCollum, 28. ‘I did not see my parents drinking wine until I was older. And now I understand the kind and appreciate it. It’s shifted. Our class has shifted. Our understanding of life, our education has shifted. We have more knowledge and more power. I think we’ll start using it more. …
“Hopefully we will continue to expand. I know there are many great winemakers in the industry, minorities and others who want to be a part of this process and we want to get a chance. “
Oregon’s first recorded Black winemaker, Bertony Faustin, could not have been happier for McCollum.
Bertony Faustin, Oregon’s first Black winemaker
Bertony Faustin
“About six months ago I learned that CJ went with Adelsheim to start his own label. I thought it was great, ”said Faustin, who owns a small batch winery called Abbey Creek Vineyard in North Plains, Oregon. “It’s great for optics. We need more CJs, more Black celebrities. It changes the future.
‘We are traditionally told that we can not do these things in the wine sector. But that may change with CJ and others. I have people who come from all over the world to visit my winemaker because I am the first Black winemaker here. It’s humbling. ”
McCollum brought more than 80 bottles of wine with him to the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, where the Blazers will begin their first matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. The Six-Year Guard said he passed McCollum Heritage 91 bottles to other wine representatives on the site, including teammates Anthony and Damian Lillard, Lakers forward LeBron James, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul and New Orleans Pelicans guards JJ Redick and Josh Hart .
Anthony, who has a weekly wine podcast called What’s In Your Glass, was impressed by McCollum’s wine.
“I think he did a great job taking his time,” Anthony said. ‘I know him, what he did and knew his taste buds and his taste profile. I know him on a personal level so, that wine is he. “
McCollum is not the first NBA player to have his own wind. Former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has been running Yao Family Wine in Napa Valley since 2011. Former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade launched Napa Valley-based Wade Cellars in 2018. And Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry worked with his wife, Ayesha , and sister, Sydel Curry-Lee, wife of Warriors guard Damion Lee, for making a cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc label called Domaine Curry in Napa Valley.
McCollum is proud to be the last NBA player to make a wine, especially knowing that he is one of the few African Americans with a wine label in Oregon.
“It shows you what has happened historically and how we need to immerse ourselves in different things to give ourselves a chance,” McCollum said. “The other part of it is, as a culture and as a whole, we are expanding. We continue to build companies we have not been exposed to in the past. “
With the likes of Faustin and McCollum in Oregon, perhaps change is underway in the wine industry.
Faustin, who named a bottle after late rapper Notorious BIG and tasting rooms called The Crick in Portland and North Plains, which play hip-hop in the background to create a comfortable environment for African Americans, said that he has received more than 100 emails from Black people interested in the wine sector.
Although Faustin has not met McCollum, he hopes they can enjoy some McCollum Heritage 91 and Abbey Creek Vineyard wine together soon and talk about the future of the sector.
“It’s great to be the first Black winemaker in Oregon,” Faustin said. “But more importantly, it’s important that I’m not the last.”
