JSL Wines

JSL Wines is Black owned with a Black winemaker. JSL Wines is a partnership between winemaker, Joseph Smith and his wife, Lorraine, along with their daughter Sanaya Saignée. 

Born and raised in Belize, Joseph came to California for a construction job that happened to be at a winery. It was there that he tasted wine for the first time and, before he knew
it, found his calling and passion.

 Joseph has now been making wine for 23 years. Many of his wines have been highly acclaimed, award winning, 93pt+ wines. Joseph has been featured in both the Wine Spectator and the Wine Enthusiast magazines. Joseph is the first Lodi winemaker to have a wine appear in Wine Spectator's “Top 100”(December 2020).

From 2008 to present Joseph has the winemaker for Klinker-Brick Winery. From 2001 to 2008, Joseph worked as the righthand man in Barry Gnekow’s wine consulting practice. During these years, he worked with Michael David Winery (Lodi), Hahn Family Wines (Santa Lucia Highlands), Klinker-Brick Winery (Lodi), Roger and Rogers (Napa Valley), Jessie’s Grove (Lodi) and many others. Under Barry’s mentorship, Joseph gained wine making experience and had the opportunity to learn and oversee all aspects of wine making. Joseph’s work with wineries and grape growers throughout California has given him the opportunity to make wine from Lodi, Central Coast and North Coast as well as Sonoma and Napa Valley’s best known AVAs.