Justin “Luchi” Wages started with beer.
The co-founder of a new prosecco company, Don Luchi, Wages wanted to get into the beverage industry a few years ago. He and another co-founder, Andre Grundy, quickly realized that the oversaturated beer market may not be a good fit for their entrepreneurial pursuits.
Then, Wages started to learn more about sparkling wines.
“I went down a rabbit hole for months, and I called to meet my team (David Kinloch rounds out the Don Luchi trio), and I said, ‘I think we need to pivot,’” he said. “There’s really no minority-owned spirit brands, but when it comes to sparkling wine, there’s nobody else doing this except some celebrities. They said, ‘How are we going to do it?’ I’m like, ‘I’ll figure that out.’ ”
And figure it out he did. Wages found an Italian vineyard that wanted to work with folks in the states and he and his team traveled to Italy in March. They imported the prosecco a few months ago, and since its release in June, it’s sold out four times.
As Wages said, “It is on fire right now.”
From the Adriatic to the Atlantic
Don Luchi Prosecco (official name: Don Luchi Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G.) utilizes the Glera grape, a synonym for northern Italy’s Prosecco grape, which is most likely named after the village Prosecco.
D.O.C. wines are wines from regions subject to certain rules and regulations. The D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) designation is important because it means that the wine has met all the qualifications of a D.O.C. wine and has also been bottled in the same area of production.
Wages said that he, Grundy and Kinloch are currently studying to be level one sommeliers. “We spend as much time around people who have the knowledge,” he said. “I have phone calls with people who know more than I do, just to soak it all in. … It’s an everyday learning experience.”
As much as Wages and his team are learning, they’re also trying to educate consumers about prosecco, a wine that’s frequently confused with its French sparkling counterpart, Champagne. Food & Wine offers a simple explanation for the wines’ taste profiles: “If Champagne is built on a base of richness and depth, then Prosecco is its more fruit-driven counterpart.”
Wages likes his Don Luchi Prosecco straight from the glass, but he said he’s seen folks mix it with fresh juices for mimosas and that the brand’s launch party featured a nice cucumber gin iteration. Wages said he enjoys the crisp wine with some local blue crabs, but classic Lowcountry dishes like red rice and fried fish pair nicely, too.
You can find Don Luchi Prosecco at a rapidly growing number of local liquor and wine stores (head to their website, officialdonluchi.com for the full list) and, as of this week, the brand is the official bottle service at local music club The Commodore. Head to a party, Charleston Nights, at 10 p.m. on August 2, featuring Tommy Brown and the Chucktown Players. Buy tickets online at thecommodorechs.com.
“I tell people when I talk to them, ‘you know, anything’s possible,’’ said Wages of Don Luchi’s early success. “We did this in under a year and a half and when I tell people that they’re blown away. … We were just extremely intentional with what we wanted to do and we worked at it every single day. … Our goal is to spread the word and to become a household name.”
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