Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2023: Remy Drabkin — A Universal Drive for Holistic Equity

By Kathleen Willcox

“It’s all about equity,” Remy Drabkin says of her mission as a winemaker, mayor and co-founder of a nonprofit LGBTQ+ advocacy group. “That encompasses everything from how we interact with our environment as individuals, companies and cities, to how we interact with each other.”

Drabkin’s self-appointed task is to address issues of pervasive inequality in her place of work, her city and the broader community of rural Oregon, while also combating climate change.  This sweeping avocation is born out of hope and calamity. 

“When my brother came out as gay in high school, I was still in elementary school,” Drabkin recalls. “This was back in the 1980s, and we were in McMinnville, Oregon, where there wasn’t a visible queer community. These were tough conversations for my family. But my parents immediately stepped up and showed up.”

When Drabkin herself came out in high school, she worked with the handful of other out students and the administration on inclusion projects. Tragically, one of those students died of suicide — a direct consequence, Drabkin says, of the “rejection” that student felt from her peers. The incident underlined Drabkin’s emergent paradigm and set the stage for a lifetime of advocacy.

“Looking for ways to promote acceptance broadly and give people a platform to share their truth has become an integral part of my make up,” Drabkin says.

Rachel Adams, founder and director of Oregon’s Assemblage Symposium, designed to address disparities of access in the wine industry for members of the BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and those with disabilities, calls Drabkin’s approach a “breath of fresh air.”

“She’s one of the hardest-working people I know,” Adams says. “Remy looks at challenges, even huge ones that affect whole communities, as opportunities.”

Coming Out as a Winemaker

“Even though I was out to my community, when I opened my commercial winery, I was scared to be out in business,” Drabkin recalls of her 2006 launch of Remy Wines in McMinnville. “If we were traveling and making sales calls in a conservative rural area and people just assumed I was heterosexual, I wouldn’t necessarily correct them. It was a safety issue.”

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But circumstances — mostly of her own creation — eventually forced her hand. 

“I was making a documentary [Red, White & Black] about the struggles of minorities and members of the LGBTQ+ community in the wine industry, and my tasting room manager, who was queer himself, would openly refer to me as queer in front of guests,” Drabkin says. “I asked him why he was doing it, and he just said, ‘Remy, the secret is out. You’re making a documentary about being queer yourself.”

That conversation, and the long process of making the documentary (which was released in 2018), gave her a sense of clarity and purpose about her role as an out — and proud — winemaker.

Creating a Platform 

In June 2020, Drabkin ran into an old friend at a Black Lives Matter protest in McMinnville, and the pair bemoaned the lack of Pride festivities in rural Oregon. “You have to drive to Portland if you want to go to a Pride event,” she says. “For the past four years, Remy Wines had been participating in fundraising events for queer communities, but we wanted to do something more.”

Drabkin and a group of like-minded friends and business owners decided to bring the party to the country. They created the 501c(3) Wine County Pride and, a few weeks later, unveiled a COVID-safe car parade, performances, speakers and raffle. They raised $3,000.

“We saw an opportunity to amplify voices, increase inclusion and raise funds for scholarships for LGBTQ+ youth and local advocacy organizations,” Drabkin says. “We do programming in English and Spanish, and in addition to Pride flags, we also fly Black Lives Matter flags.”

The nonprofit has already raised more than $30,000. In addition to funding scholarships and groups, they use the capital to purchase books by or about LGBTQ+ people, for all age levels, and distribute them to more than 25 public libraries in the area. 

As a separate, but linked project, Drabkin also launched a Queer Wine Fest in 2022 to bring together queer-owned, queer-made and queer-grown wines from across the country for a massive toast and celebration.

“I find, if you build a platform for people who want to share their story, everything else lines up,” she says. “The turnout was wonderful; one winemaker even used the event as an opportunity to come out to the wine community. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

This year in June, she expects an even bigger level of participation from wineries — last year, 17 participated — with the same spirit of conviviality, live music and a bountiful feast of international cuisine. 

Environmental Advocacy 

Social equity is an essential part of Drabkin’s raison d’etre, but so is environmental sustainability. 

“When I needed to construct a new winery, I decided to apply my ethos on sustainability and inclusion to that project,” she says, explaining that bathrooms are gender neutral and the building is ADA accessible. “Instead of building a new space, I adapted and reused space and materials from my old tractor barn.”

She chose a contractor who shared her goals, and together, incredibly, created an innovative new formula for concrete — dubbed the Drabkin Mead Formulation — that isn’t just carbon neutral, but actively sequesters carbon. The 5,000-square-foot concrete slab sequestered more than 5.1 tons of carbon. This is an especially notable achievement, with widespread implications, considering the fact that concrete is considered one of the most environmentally destructive materials on earth, accounting for more than 8% of carbon emissions alone. By 2050, concrete production is expected to increase to more than 5.5 billion tons — now, builders will be able to sequester that carbon. 

Getting Political 

Amid all of this, Drabkin also decided to enter politics. 

“Twelve years ago, I was watching a Habitat for Humanity development get built in McMinnville, and I was horrified when it ran up against NIMBYism,” she says. “It would have brought down housing costs for so many people and would have been an amazing example of responsible land use.”

Spurred to direct action, Drabkin ran for planning commission on McMinnville’s city council, and served two terms there. She then served on the City Council and was appointed City Council president. During that time, she served as Council liaison to the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, and was appointed to the Oregon Wine Board by Governor Kate Brown. 

Her crowning political achievement — thus far — is being the first woman and queer-identified person elected Mayor of McMinnville in history. 

Drabkin’s ambition for the city, she says, reflects her intentions for her business and community writ large. 

“We can address overarching goals like accelerating growth and attracting investment, while breaking down systemic barriers to participation,” Drabkin says. “Oregon can build a sustainable infrastructure and be the leader that sees higher returns and gets better investment because we are intentional.”

Maryam Ahmed, owner of Maryam + Company, and founder of the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum, says that Drabkin’s humble, “collaborative approach to equity and sustainability,” serves as a source of inspiration. 

“Remy is in constant motion,” Ahmed says. “She’s at the helm of widespread change, from the impact she makes at her winery to being mayor and her nonprofit works. What makes her a true leader is her ability to know when it’s time to contribute and when it’s time to listen to move a conversation forward.”

Taking action — and knowing when to sit back and let others take a turn — that’s the kind of leadership every industry could use more of. 

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Kathleen Willcox

Kathleen Willcox writes about wine, food and culture from her home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She is keenly interested in sustainability issues, and the business of making ethical drinks and food. Her work appears regularly in Wine Searcher, Wine Enthusiast, Liquor.com and many other publications. Kathleen also co-authored a book called Hudson Valley Wine: A History of Taste & Terroir, which was published in 2017. Follow her wine explorations on Instagram at @kathleenwillcox

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About Wine’s Most Inspiring People: Each year, Wine Industry Advisor chooses 10 individuals from within the wine industry who showcase leadership, innovation and inspiration. For the first time in 2021, WIA opened submissions to the industry at large, and the success of this new nomination process was quickly recognized, as honorees came from more diverse wine regions and had more distinct stories to tell. With more than 100 nominees in 2022, the editorial team selected the top 10 individuals who, they felt, had truly positively impacted the U.S. wine culture over the past year.