LGBTQ Winemaker Spotlight: Terah Bajjalieh
Terah Bajjalieh of Terah Wine Co. is a queer woman of color who owns and operates one of the coolest natural wine companies in California right now. She has had a long and distinguished career, working 13 consecutive harvests around the world to hone her craft. She first started making wine in a friend’s garage, before starting Terah Wine Co. She only works with organic and biodynamic vineyards and focuses on a minimal intervention winemaking style.
We are fortunate to carry some of Terah’s wines at K&L. The 2021 Terah "Besson Vineyard" Santa Clara Valley Pinot Noir $24.99 is everything I want out of a natural wine. Made from Pinot Noir from two plots on the vineyard (one is whole-cluster fermented; the other is fully destemmed), this light red is just super fun. The nose is pronounced, with hints of cherry cola, funky tar, bubblegum, and lilac. The palate is herbaceous, savory, and alive, with a complex, rustic texture, making it a perfect BBQ wine.
2021 Terah "Bassi Vineyard - Ramato" San Luis Obispo Coast Skin Fermented Pinot Gris $24.99 is a gem for all you orange wine lovers out there. On skins for four days to provide texture, structure, and flavor, this is how it was historically done in Italy, which is where the term Ramato comes from (literally translates to “copper” in Italian). The nose is floral, smoky, and seductive, with powerful notes of blood orange, roasted peach, dried apricot, and salinity on the palate. The finish has wonderful freshness and acidity, perfect for any summer salad or citrusy poultry and fish dishes.
Her 2022 Maker " Terah Wine Co. - Terah Bajjalieh" Lodi Carbonic Sangiovese (250ml Cans) $5.99, canned by Maker Wines, is wild. The fruit comes from Lodi and is biodynamically farmed. She uses carbonic maceration to give the wine an undeniable freshness, making it perfect for chilling (both literally and by the pool). It has notes of fresh strawberries, tomato leaf, and buttered popcorn, with tons of acid and minimal tannins—the perfect combination for a chillable summer red you can crush at the beach.
As a trans woman in the wine industry myself, it was a pleasure to sit down with Terah and talk about her journey.
ZK: What brought you to the wine industry?
TB: When I was in my mid 20s, I was looking to change careers from finance. Because of my love of food, I was looking at culinary schools and came across a sommelier program through the Court of Master Somms. I decided to do a quick course in wine, thinking it would just be fun while I was trying to navigate a career change. But through that course I fell in love with wine and figured it would give me the same benefits that food could have provided from a career perspective.
ZK: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced not only as a woman in the industry, but as a member of the LGBTQ community?
TB: It’s a big list. If I gave you a little laundry list, I would say there were times when my physical ability was questioned, because cellar work is super physical and requires quite a bit of strength. Harvests are long 12–14 hour days. I think any woman, depending on the environment, might find herself being questioned in that context. Or my ability to drive a forklift, for example—especially early on in my career when I didn’t have a lot of experience. Often male counterparts with less experience were given more liberty to learn the forklift, whereas I wasn’t even given the chance to hop on and give it a try. It just took me that much longer to pick up those skills that make you a really valuable intern candidate. My very first internship in California was a struggle, and I think sometimes when you're young and you're looking for mentorship, there are times when male winemakers connect with the male interns rather than with female interns. All I wanted to do was grow and find mentorship, and sometimes there was a disconnect between my desire to learn and my ability to access mentors and people to learn from. As I climbed up the ladder, I had a manager at one point who was younger than me, and male, who was a bit intimidated by my skillset and experience, so often times he took credit for things I did, and I don’t know if that was simply because I am female or maybe just poor management.
And many situations with wineries that I worked for, I didn’t feel comfortable presenting myself as a member of the LGBTQ community. It could have just been the culture within the cellar, not necessarily management, but culturally sometimes it isn't always acceptable to be a member of the queer community. You’re traveling to areas where you're outside of large cities, and there’s less acceptance. Once I flew to Australia and opened up about my sexuality and was immediately taken out of a department because of it. Experiences like that just make you sort of question how much you share with people. I've kinda learned the hard way to not divulge too much about my personal life because you’re sometimes working with people with different views, so that’s been challenging. It’s only recently, since starting my own brand, that I've really been free about that, and I think it's partly because being in the LGBTQ community has allowed me to sell wine with that as a bit of a platform, whereas, you know, maybe 5–10 years ago I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with that. There wasn’t such a push to market women or women-made wine or people in the BIPOC or queer communities, and now they're buzzwords. And retailers are supporting people of these communities, but that wasn’t always the case. It’s a good shift, and I hope it stays that way.
ZK: What changes and trends, if any, do you hope to see in the future of the wine industry?
TB: I hope that the trend of supporting women, POC, and the queer community is no longer a trend and just becomes a general acceptance. And that it's no longer niche to be a woman of color who’s queer. I hope that everyone is more interested in well-made products. I'm super thankful we’ve been experiencing this shift; I just hope that it's not a short-lived trend and that it shifts permanently because I do think our industry is better with more diversity and accessibility. We should all be able to pursue things we love doing, and it shouldn’t just be open to people with a ton of money or people who've been born into family wineries. Because at the end of the day we are just making an agricultural product, and it would be great if we all just had the ability to do that and follow our dreams to the fullest.
ZK: As a winemaker, what are your inspirations?
TB: Stylistically, I would say French and Italian wines and other European wines. In general, I’ve always gravitated towards wines that have more acid, more structure, more complexity. Over the years, I’ve learned that my favorite wines are made naturally, especially from Europe, even if they're not marketed as natural wines. They’re some of the most interesting and expressive and aromatic. I started my career as a sommelier studying these foundationally classic regions around the world, so that’s always been my baseline. Even though I'm making natural, minimal-intervention wines, classic styles represent a big core of who I am. Now I'm just benefiting from the freedom and creativity of natural wine in California, and I'm thankful that I can do these esoteric things, and, for the most part, they are accepted. I certainly aspire to make the best wines I can, and that’s why I'm very selective with what fruit I work with. For example, at a minimum, the vineyards must be farmed with organic or biodynamic practices, because I believe that the farming greatly improves the quality. I know we’re not using the term “Old World” these days, but those classic French and Italian wines have always been an inspiration to me. We also have producers in California who produce really beautiful wines, like Jolie-Laide by Scott Schultz. I think Scott is doing it with a California perspective, and that’s what I hope to accomplish with my brand. I hope to show the years of experience I have. I want to explore new things and provide new fresh, fun wines for people to try from California.
ZK: What do you like to drink? Any favorite producers?
TB: Cold beer. Especially in the summer. Sometimes things that are less complex. Wine is a very cerebral beverage. Something to go down easy, where I don’t have to turn my mind on!