开启葡萄酒行业多元化之门

文/米基·瓦格纳 译/涂杰

As the second African American and one of the youngest people to ever earn the Master Sommelier1Master Sommelier 侍酒师大师，葡萄酒行业的顶级证书，由国际侍酒大师公会（Court of Master Sommeliers）组织考核。该组织成立于1977 年，是全球首个对葡萄酒侍酒服务进行认证的考试机构。title, McCoy is no stranger to being a changemaker. 作为第二位获得“侍酒师大师”称号的非洲裔美国人，也是目前获得该头衔最年轻的人之一，麦科伊对变革者的身份早就习以为常。

小卡尔顿·麦科伊是为数不多能够掀起行业风暴的人。只要在谷歌上搜索一下他的名字，你就会看到无数文章讲述他如何一步步从普通员工晋升为葡萄酒行业最新出现的重量级人物。作为第二位获得“侍酒师大师”称号的非洲裔美国人，也是目前获得该头衔最年轻的人之一，麦科伊名副其实。“侍酒师大师”代表葡萄酒行业的最高资质，目前全球仅有269 人获此殊荣。

2虽然麦科伊现在因其在葡萄酒行业的工作而闻名，但他当年是通过烹饪进入这个行业的。麦科伊从小在华盛顿长大，由祖母抚养成人。他说，烹饪是他童年生活的重要组成部分。麦科伊参加了“烹饪艺术职业计划”的进修，该计划旨在为条件不好的青少年提供技能培训，帮助他们在烹饪职业生涯中取得成功。完成进修后，麦科伊在一场烹饪竞赛中胜出，赢得了美国烹饪学院的全额奖学金。他表示，这是他人生的一大转折点，因为他原本没有上大学的打算。虽然进入美国烹饪学院学习给他带来了巨大的文化冲击，但麦科伊说，这是一段很奇妙，但又令人备感压力的人生经历。

3“烹饪学院就如同军队。每天，你必须把胡子刮得干干净净，戴好折叠规整的领巾和大大的厨师帽，还要确保刀具锋利。如果厨师长用你的刀连张纸都划不开，那你就得回家磨刀了。这是一个压力非常、非常大的环境。”麦科伊说，“实际上，我觉得很有趣。我知道这很奇怪，但我真心觉得很有意思。”年仅19 岁的麦科伊成为埃斯科菲耶餐厅的助教。这家法式餐厅由美国烹饪学院的学生经营，2012 年改名为博古斯餐厅。

4在获得酒店餐饮管理专业学士学位后，麦科伊来到纽约，在那里由后厨走向前厅。他发现，餐厅服务员赚得比厨师还要多。于是，他成为一名服务员，想把它当作一份短期工作。但他最终发现，自己真的很喜欢通过美食和葡萄酒与人交流。

5“我喜欢与人谈论美食；我喜欢与人交流。”他说，“这是我曾经真正错失的东西。当你经常做菜，你感到非常愉快，因为你喜欢烹饪。但你从来没有机会与人交流，你只是一门心思干活儿。我真的很喜欢把美食端给人们，为他们介绍美食，并与他们互动。”

6因此，一位经理告诉他，要想进步，就必须更多地了解葡萄酒。“这是餐饮行业商业模式的重要组成部分。”他表示，“所以，我开始把葡萄酒当作一个赚钱的东西来研究。这是门生意。”

7麦科伊就是这样了解到国际侍酒大师公会的。他花了五年时间认真钻研葡萄酒。28岁时，他成为世界上通过“侍酒师大师”考试的第二年轻的人。他周游世界，了解葡萄酒的方方面面，走访酿酒人和酿酒公司。在此之后，他搬到了科罗拉多州阿斯彭市，在那里的五星级酒店“小内尔”工作。两年后，他升任葡萄酒总监。正是在这里，他遇到了劳伦斯一家。麦科伊回忆说：“我们一拍即合，开始讨论在纳帕谷投资，以及投资的前景。”

8麦科伊和小盖伦·劳伦斯合伙买下了海茨酒窖、一大片葡萄园和一间品酒室。麦科伊现在是劳伦斯葡萄酒庄园的主管合伙人，也是海茨酒窖的首席执行官兼总裁，他也因此成为纳帕谷地区酒庄的首位黑人首席执行官。

9“我认为，在这个领域身居高位的我有望成为一个范例，能向其他人表明，他们也可以选择这条路。”麦科伊说，“他们不应该被强加任何东西，任何人都不应该被这样对待，但他们可以在心理上感受到，‘嘿，看啊，这是我能够做到的事。’对我来说，这是非常强大的影响力。努力工作，尽可能地让我的职业生涯走得更远，从而向人们展示他们能够做到什么。对我来说，这是非常值得的。”

102020 年，麦科伊与伊基米·杜博斯共同创立了“根基基金”，帮助黑人和原住民开辟一条投身葡萄酒行业并追求职业发展的路径。“我们想好好审视一下，为什么我们觉得有色人种没有参与葡萄酒行业，也没有从事相关工作。”麦科伊说：“人们出于形形色色的理由喝酒，如果你不太了解相关的文化和社交习俗，就难以成为他们酒友社交圈的一分子。”

11“根基基金”提供葡萄酒教育和指导，并为人们在该行业谋求职业发展提供帮助。“伊基米构建我们基金组织的方式有一大优点，那就是管理费用非常低。几乎所有钱都直接用于受助者。”麦科伊表示，“这个基金真的在做一些会产生影响的事，而不是搞一些花里胡哨的东西。作为该组织的一分子，我感觉非常有意义。”

12那么，麦科伊希望葡萄酒行业有怎样的未来呢？“我的终极目标是确保清除所有障碍，让那些希望有机会进入这个行业的人都能获得机会。”□

Carlton McCoy, Jr. is one of those rare people who has taken an industry by storm. Just google his name and you’ll find a myriad22 myriad 无数，大量。of articles on how he has risen through the ranks to become one of the wine industry’s newest heavy hitters33 heavy hitter（政商）大人物；有影响力者。. And as the second African American and one of the youngest people to ever earn the Master Sommelier title—the highest qualification in the wine industry, which only 269 people have earned globally—it seems fitting for McCoy.

2Though he is now known for his work in the wine industry, McCoy entered the industry through the kitchen.He was raised by his grandmother in Washington, D.C. and says cooking was a significant part of his childhood.Through the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, which gives underserved teenagers the skills to move into successful culinary careers, McCoy won a cooking competition that earned him a full scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). This, he says, was a major turning point in his life, as he had not been planning to go to college. And while attending CIA was a big culture shock, McCoy says it was a cool, yet intense, experience.

3“CIA’s like the military. You have to show up every day clean shaven, creased4creased 有折痕的，有褶皱的。neckerchief5neckerchief 颈巾，围巾。, the big toques, sharp knives. If the chef can’t slice a sheet of paper with your knife, you have to go home and sharpen your knives, like a very, very intense environment,” McCoy says. “I found it to be very fun actually.I know it’s very odd, but I thought it was fun.” At just 19, McCoy was a teaching assistant at the Escoffier Room, a CIA student-run French restaurant that became The Bocuse Restaurant in 2012.

4After earning his bachelor’s in hotel restaurant management, McCoy moved to New York, where he moved to the front of house. He found that servers made more money than cooks, so he became a server with the intention that it would be a short-term gig. But he ended up really enjoying getting to connect with people over food and wine.

5“I like talking to people about food;I like connecting with people,” he says.“It was something I really missed.When you’re cooking lots, it’s very pleasant, you love cooking. You don’t ever get to connect with people. You’re just doing the task. And I really like to bring food to people and tell them about food and interact with them.”

6So, a manager told him that to progress, he’d have to learn more about wine. “It’s a big part of the business model of restaurants,” he says. “So, I started studying wine as an economic thing. It was a business thing.”

7This was how he came to learn about the Court of Master Sommeliers.For five years, he rigorously studied wine. And at 28 years old, he became the second-youngest person in the world to pass the Master Sommelier exam. After traveling the globe to learn about wine and the people and companies that produce it, McCoy moved to Aspen, Colo. to work at the five-star hotel The Little Nell, where after two years, he became the wine director.It was here that he met the Lawrence family. “We really hit it off and started to have some discussions about investments in the Napa Valley6纳帕谷，美国著名的酒谷，著名的加州葡萄酒的产地，位于美国加利福尼亚州旧金山以北的纳帕市（City of Napa），以生产葡萄酒而闻名。and what that could look like,” McCoy recalls.

8Together, McCoy and Gaylon Lawrence, Jr. bought Heitz Cellar, a whole host of vineyards and a tasting room.McCoy is now the managing partner of the Lawrence Wine Estates and CEO and president of Heitz Cellar, making McCoy the first Black CEO of a Napa winery.

9“I think my existing in this space, in a high position, hopefully can lead as an example to show others that it’s an option for them,” he says. “They shouldn’t be given anything, no one should be given anything, but just psychologically, seeing, ‘hey look, this is something I could do.’ To me, it’s very powerful,and it’s worth it to me to work hard to take my career as far as I can just to show people what they’re capable of.”

10McCoy also cofounded The Roots Fund in 2020 with Ikimi Dubose to help create a pathway for Black and Indigenous people to engage with and pursue careers in the wine industry. “What we wanted to do is to really examine why we felt people of color were not engaged in and working in the wine industry,” he says. “One was a lack of exposure culturally and socially. So, you were less likely to be in social circles with people who drank wine for a number of reasons.”

11The Roots Fund offers wine education, mentorship and help pursuing a career in the industry. “The great thing about the way Ikimi has structured our organization is there’s very low overhead. Almost all the money goes directly into efforts for candidates,” McCoy says. “So, it’s been very fulfilling to be a part of the organization that’s actually doingsomethingthat’sgoing tohave an impact,not justbesortofsomefluff7fluff 绒毛，无价值的东西。organization.”

12So, what does McCoy want the future of the wine industry to look like?“My ultimate goal is to make sure that all barriers are broken down, where candidates who want the opportunity to enter the industry have them.” ■