Sonoma’s Tasting Diversity Initiative Honors Patriarch of Wine Mac McDonald

With over 25 years in the wine industry and mentor and advisor to so many following in his footsteps, Edward Lee “ Mac” McDonald was so deservingly honored last month for his pioneering spirit and contributions to making wine.

Born and raised in Texas, McDonald has long been the catalyst in Sonoma County wine country, encouraging African Americans to claim leadership roles in the wine industry. In 2002, he co-founded the Association of African American Vintners with Black winemakers Vance Sharp and Ernie Bates in 2002, which now has over 200 members.

McDonald is now the subject of a Visual Oral History produced by the Sonoma County Wine Library Association in collaboration with the Sonoma County Library Foundation’s Tasting Diversity program.

The Impact of Black Winemakers in Sonoma County Wine Country

Tasting Diversity, founded by the Sonoma County Library Foundation, is a collaboration with the Sonoma County Library’s Wine Library and its Wine Library Association in partnership with the Association of African American Vintners and the NAACP/Sonoma, Santa Rosa.

Led by foundation board member and award-winning winemaker/owner Dennis McCarter (McCarter Cellars), Tasting Diversity focuses on important contributions of African Americans to the vitality of every aspect of Sonoma County’s wine industry.

The foundation’s mission is to cultivate the promise of the next generation forging their career path going forward, to raise visibility for exemplary leaders today, and to honor those trailblazers upon whose shoulders others stand. Tasting Diversity was launched with a special event during Black History Month 2024 at Black/woman-owned Fog Crest Winery in Sebastopol.

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Tasting Diversity: The Mac McDonald Vision Award

As part of Tasting Diversity’s initiatives, the foundation has established a new award, the Mac McDonald Vision Award, which was inaugurated with a presentation to McDonald himself on June 17 at Paradise Ridge by surprise guest Andre Hueston Mack of Maison Noir Wines.

Created by the Sonoma County Library Foundation, the award will carry on McDonald’s vision of encouraging young African Americans interested in building their careers in any aspect of the wine industry.

The Mac McDonald Vision Award will be presented annually, beginning with an open invitation inviting nominations from the public. An independent blue-ribbon panel of prominent leaders in the wine community will review the nominations and make their recommendations to the Tasting Diversity Advisory Board.

The annual presentation of the Mac McDonald Vision Award will be the centerpiece of Tasting Diversity’s annual program in February during Black History Month.

To learn more about Tasting Diversity, open call for 2025 nominations for the Mac McDonald Award and other events, sign up for the Sonoma County Library Foundation newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Cuisine Noir Magazine