Regina King is a multi-talented actor, producer, and director, an Academy Award winner for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk, and most recently a tough-as-nails police detective in the crime thriller Caught Stealing. Being a wine producer is definitely a new role for her.
As Food & Wine reports, she founded her wine label, MianU, in honor of her late son Ian Desduné’s legacy. “MianU has always been about more than wine,” she says. “It is about celebrating the art Ian lived every day, and treasuring the beauty of connection.” Ian’s name is at the heart of the wine’s name, and its pronunciation embraces their bond. MianU’s first wine, a juicy, orange-hued, skin-contact blend of Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay from Mendocino, was released earlier this year and was snapped up immediately.
Ian loved to cook (and loved wine; he was the one who first introduced King to orange wines), and when it comes to holiday cooking to pair with the new Syrah, King thinks back to being in the kitchen with him. “I mean, lamb for sure,” she says. “I might pull off Ian’s recipe this year — one of his secret ingredients is apple juice. He’d marinate the lamb in it. Though another dish we love is short ribs with a parsnip purée.”
Now, there’s a second MianU wine: a spicy, blackberry-inflected Syrah, also from Mendocino, made with grapes from the organic, dry-farmed Amitabha vineyard (the name means “infinite light” in Sanskrit). It’s a limited-edition holiday release, and with only 175 cases, it’s sure to sell out quickly as well. But if you miss it, the next vintage of the MianU orange wine will be released in summer 2026.
As to why Syrah for this new wine, among all the many grapes in the world, King says, “What made it right, first, is the way it’s farmed. California suffers a lot from drought, and it’s a dry-farmed vineyard. Also, we had talked about doing an orange pet-nat – which I wanted to do so badly – but it ended up not feeling like a good companion to the regular orange wine. Then my winemaker said he had a farm he was working with that had some really beautiful Syrah. The first time I tasted it, I thought, Am I betraying my orange wine if I do this? And my sister told me, ‘No, Ian wants this. I can feel that.’ So I was like, no, right there, that’s it. That’s my wine.”
The MianU Syrah is brighter and less weighty than many California Syrahs, offering a crisp, cool-climate interpretation of the grape. That’s something King was very much after. It’s a wine meant to go with food and meant to be shared with friends and loved ones, particularly during the holiday season.
Regina’s wine is Ian’s wine; MianU, really, is their wine together. Wine can be a simple pleasure, but it can also tell stories, hold meaning, keep memories alive. “I never had a single thought, ever, of being in the wine business,” King says. “But 1,000 percent, this wine is a new tradition for me. It’s part of my conversation with Ian — because I’m always having a conversation with him. That’s why each box will have a copy of a print of one of Ian’s artworks. Every time someone opens a bottle or looks at Ian’s work, they’ll think of his name.”
To buy and be the first to know about the MianU Syrah and future releases, sign up for the newsletter at mianuwines.com
—
Photo Credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com