Cleveland native Brian C. Kincaid is many things: a loving husband, a devoted father, and first generation college graduate. And now that he’s completed his degree, he can add first Black enologist in the state of Ohio to his growing list of accomplishments.
“I never thought I’d be the first Black anything, to be honest,” Kincaid told WKYC Studios.
View this post on Instagramadvertisement
In case you didn’t know, enology is the study of wine and wine making. Prior to earning his history-making degree, Kincaid knew nothing about enology or wine, except that he enjoyed drinking it. But he decided to take his interests a step further after getting encouragement from Mansfield Frazier, owner of Chateau Hough Vineyards and Winery on Cleveland’s east side.
“I had a knack for just talking about it. So he recognized that and was like, ‘Hey son, I’ll send you to college to just do this full time’,” Kincaid said. According to an interview with Cool Cleveland, Mansfield made a phone call and a week later, Kincaid was enrolled in college studying the fairly new field of enology. Upon completing his degree at Kent State University in 2023, Kincaid became the first Black enologist in the history of the state.
Unfortunately, Frazier was unable to see his mentee complete his studies, he passed away in 2021. But with his degree, Kincaid plans to continue Mansfield Frazier’s legacy. Kincaid is currently the beer and wine manager at the newly opened Meijer Fairfax Market and is making plans to start creating and distributing his own brand of wine.
“The flagship brand is going to be [called] ‘Thee Enologist,’” Kincaid told Cool Cleveland about his future winery. “We have a lot of great ideas involving art, music, [and] culture in our city. We are the future, we want to bring us together right now.”
In addition to building a brand, Kincaid also hopes to build a legacy he can leave behind to inspire future generations, just like his mentor Frazier was for him.
“He wanted this to be a generational thing so my kids and my grandkids could benefit from this…I want [my daughter] to see something that is out of the ordinary,” Kincaid said. “I want my daughter to see that you could be anything in the world.”
Cover photo: Wine Connoisseur Brian C. Kincaid Makes History As Ohio’s First Black Enologist / Photo credit: Instagram