Three friends launch black-owned prosecco brand Don Luchi

Three friends are behind the latest black-owned prosecco brand available on the market. Co-founders Andre Grundy, David Kinloch and Justin Wages sold out of their first batch of bottles just five weeks after launching Don Luchi. Luckily, there are more on the way in which.

It’s been an incredible journey for a bunch of friends who desired to shake up the wine and spirits industry with a Black-owned brand. They officially launched Don Luchi in June 2024, but sparkling wine wasn’t the unique plan.

“We wanted to enter the world of beer,” the trio says BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP. “We just couldn’t get distribution based on the type of beer we had because it was a fruit beer. When we finished the beer, the distributors said our fruit beer wouldn’t work in the winter.”

The friends didn’t let the skeptics stop them. Wages convinced Grundy and Kinloch to take a position in sparkling wine after falling down the rabbit hole when a friend introduced him to high-quality sparkling wines.

“When I used to go out and order champagne, I never looked at what I was ordering. If the champagne was bad, I just accepted it,” he says.

But the varieties his friend introduced him to were something he had never experienced or tasted before. They left a long-lasting impression—one which sparked their goal and dreams of diversifying into the space. Wages began exploring different flavor profiles and delving deeper into why some brands were higher quality than others.

Getting the green light from an Italian winery

After successfully getting Grundy and Kinloch into sparkling wine, their next task was to search out a supplier. They contacted suppliers in Champagne, France, but bumped into some difficulties. Wages says the region could be very controlled, making it difficult to get in.

However, the owner of a vineyard in Italy was willing to take heed to them after they asked about prosecco.

“We told them our vision, which is to bring a high-quality product to the United States, bring it to the market and educate more people about it. I also told them that the black-owned market here is untapped for sparkling wine. The only people who own it are celebrities,” he says.

The winery was greater than blissful to work with the co-founders. In March 2024, they flew to Italy to finalize the deal, and by June 30, the wine was on shelves across South Carolina.^.

Wages says Don Luchi has an intense and fragrant flavor profile, with notes of golden apple, peach, rose and almond. It’s dry and full of life, clean but complex, and Wages says it goes well with every part.

“It’s one of those proseccos where you don’t have to add juice if you don’t want to,” he explains.

Wages said he hopes their journey launching a Black-owned prosecco brand will encourage others to pursue their dreams, even in the event that they seem unattainable.

“We got here into this space knowing absolutely nothing. We worked on it for over a yr and learned a lot about wine. Now we will walk into any room and discuss our product and the region where the wine comes from.

Don Luchi can Currently can be found at stores in Charleston and Florence, South Carolina. Wages says the team plans to start shipping nationwide in the autumn.