When KT Winery launched its flagship brand, Mom Juice, owners Kristin Taylor and Macie Mincey had a clear vision. “We wanted to shift wine culture and community,” says Taylor. On Aug. 13, the duo celebrated their company’s third anniversary, during which time it grew from a largely online operation to selling in nearly 300 stores. Most are in Colorado, with another 20 or so in Charlotte, North Carolina, “the places where we’ve both lived,” Taylor explains.
While Mom Juice is based in Denver, the wines are produced by veteran winemaker Brian Kosi out in Napa. Flavor profiles are decided by Taylor and Mincey, who travel to California roughly every other month to deliberate on the acid, sugar and tannin content of each release. “The brand has always had a life of its own. We were just quick enough to trademark it and excited enough to lean into it,” says Taylor. The current roster includes a cabernet sauvignon, a sauvignon blanc, a 2020 red blend and a California rosé. Each bottle sells for roughly $20, with no single item exceeding the $25 mark.
The wine itself is excellent, and a good reflection of Taylor and Mincey’s palates. But the goal with Mom Juice has always been more about advancing perception and delivering wines that are more in line with the unstuffy millennial drinking culture that resonates with both founders. “I was just a consumer that liked wine. I was the girl drinking Kim Crawford with her friends at brunch,” says Taylor.
Mom Juice is also about representation. Of the roughly 11,500 wineries in America, only about 100 are Black owned. “With Mom Juice, we’re shifting the way we experience wine culture and how you experience us experiencing it.”
In August, the duo also signed a big contract with Momentum Beverage Team, who will now be handling Mom Juice distribution across Colorado. The products are already available in some of the biggest retailers, including Applejack Wine and Spirits, Bonnie Brae Liquors and most recently Hazel’s Beverage World. “Initially I decided to launch KT Winery because I was ready to offer something new and unique to the marketplace,” Taylor said in a press release. “I didn’t want to just put a label on a bottle of wine; I wanted to partner with a family-run vineyard and seasoned winemaker such as Brian Kosi. This new partnership with Momentum is really exciting since I’ve called Denver my home for the last few years, and to see Mom Juice continue to flourish in my backyard is so rewarding.”
Taylor says breaking into the wine game was no easy feat. “Napa has had an interesting reckoning when it comes to diversity,” she says. “Tenacity and gumption has gotten me much further than my skill set.”
She also says that despite some initial hurdles, there have been plenty of folks in the community who have been more than welcoming. She credits Russell Joy, one of the region’s stalwart wine industry executives, with being particularly forthcoming. “He gave me the keys. He literally wrote me an email about all the things I needed to do to make this happen,” Taylor says. “A lot of the big fish don’t want you to swim in their pond.”
Since its debut, Mom Juice has stayed true to its ideals, continuing to build its own space from the ground up.
Future plans include the release of a no- or low-alcohol line, with pregnant women being considered the primary customer. “We’re thinking about the lifecycle of a mom,” says Taylor. “You still wanna be invited to girl’s night.”
She also says she’d love to do a Colorado wine, and has been enjoying discussions with Western Slope winemakers who might be able to make it a reality. A single-serve product is also set to launch in the coming months.
“Good wine is good wine, it doesn’t matter who makes it,” Taylor says. “We still sell out in stores where we’ve never done any advertising. We still sell out in zip codes we’ve never been to.”
