Grant recalled being introduced to “wine culture” when she was 12 and living in Paris with her mother
Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Alexandra Grant, girlfriend of Keanu Reeves, told PEOPLE exclusively that she would be a winemaker if she wasn’t an award-winning artist
- She recalled being introduced to “wine culture” when she was 12 and living in Paris with her mother
- Grant and J Vineyards have unveiled the second run of their LOVE Wine
Alexandra Grant has made a name for herself — and received numerous accolades — for her work as a visual artist. But she also has another major passion.
Grant, 53, said that if she wasn't an award-winning artist, she would probably be a winemaker. While speaking with PEOPLE exclusively at the LOVE Wine launch in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 28, she shared how she developed an interest in winemaking when she was 12 and living in Paris with her mother, whose job as a diplomat brought them to the French capital for the summer.
Grant, who is the girlfriend of actor Keanu Reeves, said she would explore the City of Light during the day and, at night, she and her mom would try out different restaurants. The pair visited one restaurant with a prix fixe menu that included wine with the meal.
Grant recalled that when her mother pointed out to the waitress that her daughter was only 12 and asked for water or Coke instead, "the waitress stormed off and came back and put a giant glass of wine in front of me and said, ‘Madame, la Coca-Cola, c'est mauvais pour votre enfant [translation: Madam, Coca-Cola is bad for your child].' "
"And that was my introduction to the culture of wine," Grant said, adding that she was taken by "the idea that [wine] was something that came with a meal that was sort of like a proposal from the chef. You know, the idea that it's not just the alcohol, and wine culture goes with food culture."
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Ever since she was first introduced to the world of wine as a preteen, Grant explained, she had "this fantasy" in her head about getting into winemaking. The perfect opportunity eventually came along after she developed the Love Project under her grantLOVE foundation.
"I was like, I'd really like to make a wine, I love wine. And [I had] lots of meetings with different vineyards, but nothing was quite the right fit. It was definitely Goldilocks," she said. "And then I began thinking, 'Well, what's my fantasy?' And I learned about Stephanie Gallo and the Gallo family and her philanthropic work and just what a leader she is in the wine industry. And I wrote her basically a love letter."
The letter remained as a draft in her "Google files" until someone eventually connected her to J Vineyards, part of the E. & J. Gallo Winery portfolio. The company pitched the idea of Grant doing a project with J Vineyards Estate Director Nicole Hitchcock, whose work Grant admired.
Credit: Donato Sardella/WireImage
"I'd really learned about different grapes and, you know, gone on tours and like, just seeing the agricultural side of it a lot. And so when I met [Hitchcock] and she's such a student of what different methods are and grapes and is such a passionate proponent for Sonoma and California. And when we met, the nerdiest bonding happened, and we had this sort of super meeting where we each put together like a PowerPoint."
The idea was to showcase and support women in both the winemaking and creative fields.
That meeting led to a collaboration between Grant and J Vineyards for the launch of LOVE Wine, a California Brut sparkling wine adorned with a label created by interdisciplinary artist Genevieve Gaignard. Now, a second bottling has been unveiled, featuring a label designed by Sonoma graphic artist Blanca Molina that pays homage to her Mexican roots and California upbringing.
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Grant told PEOPLE that Molina "knocked it out of the park" with her design. "I want someone to fall for the label, you know, like see the label. But the art is also inside the bottle," she noted, referring to the wine itself and all that went into its creation.
As part of the LOVE Wine collaboration, grantLOVE will be awarding grants to women creators.
The Ode to Happiness author went on to share how she finds similarities in the processes of making art and producing wine.
"The great thing about being an artist is experimentation. It's like the science experiment of it, right? And I think that winemaking keeps you on your toes in the same way," she explained. "Like if you're like, 'Next year we're going to do this,' well, you know there's going to be some weird pest, or some crazy storm, or it's going to be 100 degrees for five days."
"So the dance with, can I control the outcome? Whether you're an artist or you're a winemaker, you are in the process," she added.
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