By Anna Befort

Every bottle of wine has a story to tell. Of soil and sunshine, farmers’ hands, and the winemakers who ushered that wine into existence. For centuries, the story of wine in the United States has largely been told by white men. But Cassandra Schaeg is working to change that.

As the host and co-founder of the award-winning PBS series “Fresh Glass,” Cassandra is uplifting wine and beer entrepreneurs who look like her, telling the stories that haven’t been told, and expanding who can see themselves as both consumers and owners in the beverage industry.                                                  

Cassandra knows this terrain well, as a Black woman who achieved her lifelong dream of becoming an entrepreneur in 2015 when she opened SIP Wine & Beer in Escondido, California. She created the tasting room to promote brands from women and BIPOC producers, and to make the often hoity-toity wine world more fun and accessible—especially for those who might’ve felt they didn’t belong because of their racial, cultural or socioeconomic background.

When the pandemic hit, Cassandra had to suddenly pivot, as her brick-and-mortar business closed for more than a year. A self-described “workhorse,” she found creative ways to keep sharing the stories of BIPOC producers online, hosting Zoom events where customers could order a featured wine for pickup or delivery, then enjoy their libations while the winemaker shared her story in real time and answered questions. That soon led to an even greater pivot, when writer (and TV producer) Theresa Hoiles interviewed Cassandra for an article and said Cassandra had the makings of a TV star. “I told her she was full of it,” says Cassandra. “But it put that spark in my ear to think about it.”

She thought in particular about how she’d seen Black women portrayed on mainstream TV, and it wasn’t flattering—they were often a mess, screaming and throwing things. They generally weren’t portrayed as successful business owners, and certainly not in the wine industry, where only about 1 percent of all wineries are Black-owned. So Cassandra decided to help change the narrative.

The result is “Fresh Glass,” which debuted on KPBS in San Diego in 2022. The first six-episode season highlighted entrepreneurs Cassandra knew from running SIP, such as Iris Duplantier Rideau, who grew up under Jim Crow segregation and became the first Creole woman to own a winery in the U.S., and Tara Gomez of Camino 2 Dreams, the first Native American woman winemaker in the country. The show received rave reviews—becoming nationally syndicated and winning an Emmy Award in 2023—and in early 2024 Cassandra closed her flagship wine bar to focus on making the second season of the show (and opening SIP at the San Diego airport in 2025).

Winning an Emmy may look glamorous, but making the show hasn’t always felt that way, says Cassandra. There’s been plenty of late nights, fundraising, and grunt work, along with the responsibility she feels to make sure she’s honoring the entrepreneurs who share their stories. Cassandra says Episode 7 of Season 2 was the hardest one for her emotionally. In it, Moe and Flora Momtazi talk about escaping the Iranian Revolution by motorcycle when Flora was 8 months pregnant, then traveling to four different countries before getting political asylum in the United States, where they went on to build a 532-acre winery, Maysara, using traditional Persian ways of winemaking. It’s a story of courage, perseverance and love—and it leaves both Cassandra and the couple in tears.

“The Momtazi family is a vivid example of the migrant story and why so many people risk their lives to come to America. People need to see that vs. the current rhetoric saturating the media,” says Cassandra. “This wasn’t [just] about wine, this was about the true definition of diversity and how their stories created brands and a legacy that will endure.”

Telling these stories on “Fresh Glass” is an important way to support entrepreneurs Cassandra wants to see succeed, but perhaps just as importantly, it’s about expanding what people of color believe they can do with their lives. Since PBS viewership tends to skew older and white, Cassandra has worked hard to make sure “Fresh Glass” reaches more people who look like her, including screening Season 2 on college campuses. When she speaks to diverse audiences, she’ll often ask: How many of you know a Black winemaker or sommelier? How many of you know that’s a possibility for you? That representation was something she didn’t see growing up in the wine destination of Temecula, and she calls it one of the biggest rewards of the show: to help expand the stories people believe are possible for themselves. “Now more than ever, it’s important to make sure these stories continue to be told.”

Watch the series at PBS.org/fresh-glass. To learn more about Cassandra’s business, visit FreshGlassProductions.com, and follow @thisisfreshglass on Instagram.

Photo: Fresh Glass Productions