Photo Credit: Grace Bukunmi for IBest Wines
Ingrid Best is a woman who truly loves wine.
Best is not only a lover of wine, but a global citizen, avid art collector, and the founder, CEO, and wine négociant of her namesake brand, IBest Wines. She was raised in a diverse Bay Area community with Napa Valley as her backyard, which is where she developed her initial love of wine and spirits. Prior to founding IBest Wines, she had a successful 20-year career working for the largest suppliers in the industry including Diageo, Moët Hennessy, and Bacardi, breaking glass ceilings as the only marketing executive to manage the joint venture spirits partnerships between cultural icons Sean “Diddy” Combs and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.
During her almost two-decade career, Best took a life-changing business trip to South Africa. It was on the coast of Cape Town where she came to realize her life purpose: launching her own wine brand. Energized and clear, she combined her marketing prowess, business acumen, love of wine and need to change the industry and founded IBest Wines. Her vision for the company is to not only bring excellent wine to the US market, but also to share the stories and experiences of South African business owners and creatives.
Here, we go on one on one with Best to talk about her career, her inspiration, and her company’s future.
Photo Credit: Jorge Meza
You’ve had an impressive 20-year career in the wine and spirits industry including working for Diddy and Jay-Z. How did you get your start in the industry?
Thank you. I have been in wine & spirits for 20-years, working for some of the largest suppliers in the industry. I started my career at Diageo when they had one of the industry’s leading impressive wine portfolios. I then went on to Moët Hennessy where I worked on some of the world’s most iconic spirits brands and its wine and champagne portfolio before spending time at Bacardi and Combs Enterprises. My career has taken me to many places, and I am especially proud to be the only marketing executive to manage both joint venture spirits partnerships for cultural icons Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter with Bacardi and Sean “Diddy” Combs with Diageo which was a full circle moment as Diageo is where I started my wine & spirits career. It has been a two decade journey that I would not trade for anything – everything I’ve learned and experienced has set me up perfectly to launch my own brand.
Did either Diddy or Jay offer you words of advice that have impacted your career path? What, if so?
Diddy was hugely of my supportive of me launching my own wine – he simply said
“I believe in you”.
Why did you want to start your own brand at all, and specifically why wine?
I felt incredibly inspired by Sean [Diddy Combs]. He is the pioneer of spirits partnerships – he paved the way for so many other celebrity spirits partnerships and changed the way so many of us think about ownership when it comes to collaborations. Seeing him live his vision and then working with him, it gave me the push I needed to start my own brand. Wine was the easiest decision in the journey – I grew up in Oakland with Napa as my backyard. I’ve always had an appreciation for the time and craftsmanship that goes into wine.
Is there one particular experience you had that made this dream need to become a reality for you?
Launching D’USSE in South Africa during Global Citizen fueled my desire to launch my own global brand.
What ultimately led you to take the leap into entrepreneurship?
The calling in my head got louder than the doubts. The idea of starting my own wine brand, specifically with wine from the beautiful yet underrepresented region of South Africa, was outweighing everything else in my life. I was quite literally called to start my own brand.
You’re a wine negociant, which is different than a winemaker. Can you talk to us about what a wine negociant is?
I am not afraid to say I am not a winemaker; maybe I will be a winemaker one day but right now, I’m leaving that to the people who have studied and perfected the craft of wine making for decades! What I am is a wine negociant. Simply put, a wine negociant is the person who is in the business of wine – purchasing grapes, working with a winemaker to create blends and bringing the product to market. I am in the business of wine.
Can you take us through the creation process of IBest Wines and what you learned along the way?
I learned so much through building IBest Wines and I’m still learning, I do not ever plan to stop learning about this beautiful and dynamic industry. The first part was to roadmap my vision – I had so many ideas in my head I needed to get them on paper and figure out what my one, two and five year plan was while leaving room to pivot, which is key. Research and development is a crucial part of the process. My team and I spent months in South Africa meeting with prospective winery partners to find the type of people and quality wine we envisioned. We were hands-on in every step of the process selecting the raw wine product and perfecting the wine blends. You have to develop your brand DNA and how your brand will look and feel to consumers – from packaging to creative. There’s a whole other side of the business which is sales and distribution – without sales and distribution you do not have a viable brand so that’s key to nail. The fun part is marketing – the events, where we show up and how we celebrate life!
Photo Credit: Jorge Meza
Can you talk to us about how wine and art play an integral role in your life and how they are connected?
I’ve always appreciated wine and art – there is a certain finesse with both that can’t be taught. I love that wine and art are both subjective; they have the ability to be interpreted and enjoyed by the viewer (or drinker) in an infinite number of ways.
Wine and art collecting has been a long time hobby of mine – and it goes beyond just a hobby to building wealth. When I look at successful people, most of them collect real estate, art and wine. Early on, I took my bonuses from work and bought art. I’ve been vocal about encouraging people – especially Black and Brown people – to collect wine and art as a way to build generational wealth.
You talk about bringing wine to the forefront of culture. What does that mean to you?
There are several spirits brands that have helped shape pop-culture, culture and the culture. There is no wine brand like that…yet. I have a vision for IBest Wines to seamlessly blend wine and culture, sparking a wine renaissance, changing the way the wine industry looks, feels, talks, and tastes. We will do this by celebrating global creatives; showing up at the biggest cultural music, fashion & art moments around the globe; and celebrating the “If You Know You Know” people and movements in the wine and entertainment industries.
Your two wine blends are from South Africa.Why did you choose South Africa as the first place to focus on?
I took a life changing trip to South Africa a few years ago and I immediately fell in love with the country – from its wine to its people to its culture. Even after being in the wine & spirits industry for, at the time, 15 years, I did not know much about South Africa’s breathtaking wine country – – why was everybody only talking about California, France, New Zealand and Italy and not South Africa? South Africa does not get enough of a spotlight as a top producing wine region – and I felt an urgency to help change that narrative – and IBest Wines was born (after several years of research and determination). IBest Wines currently offers consumers an opportunity to experience fine wines from Stellenbosch, a world-renowned wine region in South Africa.
Photo Credit: IBest Wines
Can you tell us a little about the wine and how they should be enjoyed/paired?
We intentionally decided to create blends to show the breadth of quality wine coming from South Africa.
Our red blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Petit Syrah, and Malbec – there’s something in the blend for everybody. On the nose, you get red rose tea and spice notes including clove, cumin and green peppercorn. The red and black fruits including blackberry, black currant, raspberry, dark cherry and blueberry have a ripe and dried character. On the palate, this is a textured experience – it’s very smooth with well integrated tannins that linger on the tongue and check. IBest Wines’ red blend can be enjoyed alone or with food – we invite everyone to experience; we love pairing it with grilled dishes like a Cajun butter steak, oyster mushrooms, curried lentils or oxtail – or try a pasta like brown butter sage gnocchi.
Our white blend is Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc, providing a multi-dimensional wine for all palettes. There are notes of ripe peaches, apricots, complemented by aromas of floral honeysuckle with a fresh finish that makes it both complex and approachable. On the nose, it boasts citrus and stone fruits like fresh lemon, lime, pineapple, peach plus savory and rich elements of cheese, biscuit, basil. We suggest serving this slightly chilled – as it warms up the wine gets bigger, rounder and more food friendly. Again, we suggest experimenting with food pairings to find what you love – we like it with sharp cheddars and brie, enchiladas, mac and cheese or vegetable casseroles.
Is there a life lesson you’ve learned from owning your own company and launching your own brand?
Have good people in your corner and keep going. I didn’t do this alone. I have a team of wonderfully talented women who have helped me roadmap this journey. Together, we brought my vision to life. Even with a team, sometimes as a founder, it’s just you in your head – that’s when you have to talk to yourself kindly. There will absolutely be tough moments and you have to make sure you keep going, even on the hardest days. Take a moment, breathe, reflect, learn and, most importantly, keep going.
What can we expect from IBest Wines in the future?
IBest Wines is just getting started! We are excited to continue to educate consumers about the stellar wines from South Africa and celebrate the people and culture coming out of that country. We are in the process of developing additional product offerings. In terms of a longer term goal, I have always had the vision to create wine from multiple regions, celebrating the many cultures around the world – we are building a wine renaissance at the center of culture!
Photo Credit: IBest Wines
