Chrishon Lampley's upcoming 10 year anniversary of Love Cork Screw, the Black-owned wine brand she launched in December 2013, reflects a classic tale of turning adversity into an opportunity. Lampley ultimately turned water into wine after permanently closing her previous business, Three Peas Art Lounge, unexpectedly in 2011 due to a flood.

 

“Most entrepreneurs don’t even make it to year 10, so it’s almost surreal to be here at this point,” Lampley said.

 

Before Love Cork Screw, Lampley co-owned Three Peas Art Lounge, a Chicago art gallery and wine bar in 2009. Located in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, the popular establishment brought crowds of people to socialize and examine contemporary artwork from local artists. Art installations from Hebru Brantley, a painter and sculptor known for his Afro-futurism techniques, and abstract muralist Max Sansing contributed to the gallery's prominence in Chicagoland.

 

On Christmas Day in 2010, the Chicago-native made a routine pit stop at Three Peas Art Lounge on her way to visit family in the west suburbs. As Lampley arrived, she recalled smelling a potent sewer odor outside the building as she opened the door. While walking in darkness to reach the light switch located in the back, Lampley trudged through two inches of soiled water  caused by flushed biodegradable baby wipes from the above condo-owners. Without any emergency savings or insurance coverage for the damages, Three Peas Art Lounge did not survive past the holidays. 

 

When Chrishon Lampley reflects on the decade with Love Cork Screw, she thinks of her early achievements. From her bottles being displayed on two Times Square billboards in 2019, listed twice in Forbes magazine as best wine to taste in 2020 and, again, in 2023 along with Beyoncé’s 2020 shoutout of Love Cork Screw on her website directory with other Black-owned businesses to commemorate Juneteenth, Lampley basked in the moments of pride saying that it’s been an amazing journey.

 

“I ended up doing something that everyone told me I could not do,” Lampley said. “Own a wine brand.”

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With over 2 million bottles sold around the country, nationwide partnerships with Target and Whole Foods and an endorsement from Beyoncé, Lampley is growing an empire built from the ground up with bottles ranging from $10.99 to $27.00.

 

As the owner and négociant, a wine merchant, the 48-year-old CEO personalizes her selections of red, white and sparkling wines with whimsical labels like “It’s a Whole Mood” and “Head Over Heels,” creating memorable drinking experiences.

 

The Three Peas Art Lounge is where Lampley was introduced to food and drink pairings. Listening to customers being intimidated by wine selections and uncertain about the types of food to pair the flavorful libations prompted Lampley to curate the gallery’s wine list.

 

“That’s when I knew I had the knack for this,” Lampley said. The positive feedback from the curated list laid the groundwork for Love Cork Screw.

 

In addition to co-owning the art gallery in 2009, Lampley worked in sales and distribution at a wine and spirit company. Between searching for her next business venture after the loss of the art gallery, Lampley started a lifestyle blog called “Love Cork Screw.”  

 

“When the art gallery closed, I went into a very dark space and people were always asking what my varietal picks were, what nightclub to go to and what restaurant to frequent,” Lampley said.

 

Lampley’s blog reached nearly 4,000 readers. It became the birthplace of her new entrepreneurial pursuit. The blog had three sections: love, cork and screw. Under “love,” Lempley drafted memories about being a single woman owning an art gallery and bar. The “cork” section covered the blogger’s varietal picks and dining recommendations. Lastly, “screw” was a wildcard discussing pop culture moments.

 

The growing popularity of her blog led to Lampley producing the radio show, “Love Cork Screw,” about wine, relationships and entertainment which drew 7,000 listeners. With her growing audience on both platforms, Lampley leveraged her marketing and entrepreneurial skills to build the early stages of Love Cork Screw wine. 

 

Lampley ended both digital platforms in 2012 to focus on building a successful product.

 

She started following up with connections from her art gallery, taking lengthy car rides across the Midwest in Illinois and Michigan to visit vineyards, networking with wine experts while also launching into an industry with few African American representations. As of 2022, CBS News reported less than 1% of 8,000 winemakers, négociants and brand owners are Black in the United States.

 

“The vision of success for “Love Cork Screw” is knowing that I’ve broken as many glass ceilings as I possibly can in this industry,” Lampley said. “We’re still less than 1%, and that is unbelievable in this diverse world that we live in. My success is inspiring the next generation to make it in an industry that doesn’t look like us.”

 

Without a personal vineyard, Michigan’s custom crush facilities continue to be one of the areas where Lampley outsources her wine flavors. According to VinePair, a digital outlet that delivers drink culture content and trends, a custom crush facility is a winery that allows other wine brands to make their wine using its company’s resources and equipment. Lampley is involved in the entire process from when grapes are picked to taste testing, sugar trials, wine aging and bottle packaging and distribution.

 

Chicago-based writer and wine culture expert, Chastity Cooper, connected with Lampley in 2019. While researching African American wine professionals to highlight on her Instagram page dedicated to the latest wine industry news, Cooper discovered Lampley and showcased “Love Cork Screw” to her 9,048 followers in a post.

 

“It’s been so dope to see “Love Cork Screw” become the brand that it is,” 34-year-old Cooper said. “It’s so amazing to see someone from Chicago become this wine négociant and thrive.”

 

Cooper enjoys sipping “Love Cork Screw” and recommended Lampley’s Sweet Riesling “Head Over Heels,” admitting that it is her favorite flavor to drink. 

 

“You get a sense of Chrishon’s style as a winemaker and what she wants people to enjoy with her unique flair,” Cooper said.

 

With 10 years under Lampley’s belt with “Love Cork Screw,” continued business growth is her top priority. The company expanded its products to include $15.00 wine-fragranced body butter and $25.00 fruity-scented candles.

 

“As popular as Love Cork Screw is, there’s still people who haven’t heard of or tasted Love Cork Screw around the country,” Lampley said. Increased revenue, expanding to additional locations and more advertising in the near future is the end goal for Love Cork Screw.

 

Lampley’s end goal – selling Love Cork Screw, retiring and sitting back in a rocking chair drinking wine at her future vineyard.