Women and wine go together like rose petals in the summer. Whether they are together or separate, they can brighten any day at any moment. The Jones sisters learned this early in their young adult life as they traveled from spot to spot seeking the best places to have a good time and enjoy a fancy glass of wine.
Eventually, the sisters came up with an idea to open up not only the first wine bar in Inglewood but the first Black women-owned wine bar.
With the use of Leann’s wine knowledge and Leslie’s background as a luxury wedding planner, the sisters came together to create a business known as 1010 Wine & Events.
“We came up with this idea in 2018 as Leann just finished law school and passed the bar, and I was living in L.A. after I moved back from Arizona,” Leslie said. “After a while of having to leave our city of Inglewood to enjoy a bottle of good wine, we decided to open up a wine bar in our hometown.”
Leann’s knowledge of wine started to peak in law school back in 2015 as she traveled between Arizona, L.A., and various other places experiencing different wines and seeing how impactful wine bars can be. Although the sisters were open to different suppliers and vineyards while creating their business, they strived to focus on working with Black-owned and women-owned distribution companies and selling minority-owned wine.
“We do a mixture of both, since, in California you can self-distribute,” Leann said. “But since we focused on having a large selection of Black-owned wine, we usually do business directly with Black-owned winemakers or through their distributor.”
The Jones sisters learned how small the wine world actually was and how very few winemakers were Black-owned. But with the help of Fern Stroud from Black Vines, they were able to get into contact with different Black and minority-owned winemakers and their distributors which now stock the bar’s shelves.
The Jones sister hit some obstacles while building the business, but it never swayed their decision to change locations or even their plan.
“On top of dealing with the pandemic, obtaining permits for our business was hard,” Leslie said. “The City of Inglewood didn’t see our vision and didn’t know how to label us as we would be the first and only wine bar in Inglewood.”
Leslie’s hospitality background has come in handy when building, decorating, and hosting events at 1010 Wine. She has created a space for customers to enjoy their night and indulge in win. Both sisters are excited to recommend their favorite wines to the guests.
1010 Wine & Events holds special celebrations for many holidays as they recently held a Mother’s Day event that included a brunch, live music, and photo booth, and a setting where everybody could interact with each other.
The Jones sisters will be doing a collaboration with Drobe Stogies Cigar Lounge for the upcoming Father’s day and Juneteenth weekend with the hope of packing both places out both days.
For more information, visit the 1010 website at https://tinyurl.com/46hybx2u
