The soul of the shoe
Shoe Shine Wine® is the loving extension of our heart and soul and the first offering from our San Francisco based family run micro-winery, Justice Grace Vineyards. We are uniquely focused on Petite Sirah and dedicated to making world-class wines that are food friendly, complex, elegant, and balanced.
Heart
Our passion is small volume, hand-crafted wines that reflect the inherent intensity of the fruit and that retain a distinct sense of place from each vineyard and vintage. We make authentic wines that speak volumes about a tiny parcel of the earth in time, rather than the hand that guides them.
Soul
While our winemaking goal is to help sustain and re-define California’s very own Petite Sirah varietal, as a business we are also equally dedicated to social justice. So much so, that “Justice” is part of our namesake. In particular, we are committed to and support a National Living Wage campaign. A staggering 45 million people now live in low-income working families in the U.S. One of the reasons: A multi-decade real decline in wage rates. Adjusted for inflation and increases in the Consumer Price Index, the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage peaked in 1968 and has declined by over 30 percent since. The national living wage movement has been leading the way in reversing this trend. Grassroots campaigns have won living wage ordinances in more than 130 cities and have begun to restore dignity to low-income workers and their families across the country.
Our vision is to be a resource and a catalyst for the national living wage movement as we expand our reach across the country, beyond our base here in San Francisco. We do not accept an economic or political system which perpetuates a false notion of scarcity and encourages a race to the bottom and poverty wages. We are committed to changing the values which enable this injustice and ending the system which perpetrates it.
Pride
As we approach the end of the first decade of winemaking, we look back at the remarkable adventure that this little winery has become. We are proud to have several hand-crafted, vineyard designated Petite Sirah’s in the market, all with their own distinct character and identity. Proud also, for environmental reasons, to be the first in the industry to use beautiful fabric, often vintage, to cover the corks on every bottle. Prouder still to be among the first in the industry to celebrate and feature Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) designs on our front labels. And we are excited to be among the very few wineries worldwide so committed to transparency, that we enthusiastically embraced “ingredient labeling” for our wines.
While our winemaking goals and successes bring great energy and joy to our lives, without a National Living Wage we will never feel successful. And we will never stop working, striving, and agitating towards that goal. Making wine this way is one small step to making a difference. The best is yet to come.
We are:
Shea
The rumors are true—I was named after my dad’s Che Guevara pez dispenser. I’m five years old now and I have four vintages under my belt. Literally. Fermenting grape skins stick like glue. Who knew?
Eric
If it were up to Eric, there would be no bio, but, as his close friend, I wrangled my way in and here’s what I have to say about him:
There are a few things you should know about Eric: He’s deeply ethical, an idealist, and leads from his heart. Eric is as likely to carry on about his devotion to natural winemaking and Petite Sirah, as he is about all the social inequities that burden him. He doesn’t give a damn about wine snobbery, instead naming his brand in honor of those all-too-often ignored members of society who quietly make the rest of us look good. In his utopia, capitalism is replaced by consensus-driven citizen democracy.
Eric is embarrassed to admit he ever worked in the financial industry in NYC, but it was the greed and corruption he witnessed there which solidified his political and moral stance. It propelled him into winemaking as a passionate exploration of beauty and mystery, social justice, and community engagement. In Eric’s ideal world, instead of buying his wine, you’d exchange it for goods and services made or produced with love.
When you join Eric’s world, you’ll be pushed to think about far more than wine. And grateful for his endless hours of hard work and dedication. Eric is a true testament to the power of vision and commitment and following a dream, whether working in the winery or parenting his beautiful son.”
–Michael Straus, Founder Straus Communications