At annual New England Noir, “There is community in every bottle”
Festival goers enjoyed great weather, wine and community at New England Noir in Southampton, Mass., Oct 10. PHOTO: NEW ENGLAND NOIR WINE FESTIVAL
A Black-led wine festival sold out again at a western Massachusetts vineyard this month, drawing thousands of visitors to a region its founder said is often left out of the conversation.
The sixth annual New England Noir, held Oct. 9-11 at Glendale Ridge Vineyard in Southampton, hosted about 2,500 people over the weekend according to festival organizers. They said about 80% of guests were tourists.
Two attendees of the 2026 New England Noir Wine Festival share a bottle of wine. Founder Angela D. Mack says the community that can be created from sharing wine is the inspiration for the festival. PHOTO: NEW ENGLAND NOIR WINE FESTIVAL
“There is community in every bottle,” said Angela D. Mack, founder of New England Noir. “When you’re getting a rum and Coke, you’re getting a martini, you’re getting a Cosmo, well, then nobody’s in the same space and time. But that bottle, you’re sharing that bottle. You’re deciding if you want to open another one together. It’s a collective choice and experience.”
Mack, a graduate of Howard University with a background in marketing, hosted the festival near her hometown of Springfield.
“To have that 80% come and appreciate western Massachusetts in the way that they do, I think that means a lot to the community,” Mack said.
The weekend opened on a Friday with Pilates, sound healing and Prosecco. Mack said the instructor, Tracy Anderson, an African American woman, taught the history of Pilates through the Black and Latina women who helped shape it in America. Maria DelCarmen, an Afro-Latina practitioner from Puerto Rico, led the sound bath.
A woman dances and enjoys wine at the 2026 New England Noir Wine Festival at Glendale Ridge in Southampton. PHOTO: NEW ENGLAND NOIR WINE FESTIVAL
Mack described the Saturday of the festival as “pristine” and sunny, with highs in the upper 60s. Algebra Blessett headlined, and DJs including Springfield-born DJ Mars and Los Angeles based DJ Trauma kept the energy up.
Sunday brought a light drizzle, but Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Eric Roberson “embraced the rain,” Mack said, and gave every brunch guest a signed copy of his book, “Beautifully All Over the Place.”
Mack also said one of the festival’s goals is to uplift Black-owned businesses. She limits the vendor list to five or six to ensure they have the best chance of selling out.
“We’re very intentional about having small businesses that are Black owned be able to vend at New England Noir,” Mack said. “Our goal is to make sure that the exchange is fluid, and that they are leaving with their pockets full and their tables empty.”
This year’s vendors included companies that specialized in soaps and candles, banana pudding and handcrafted leather and knit goods. Mack also said the festival partnered with a few different nonprofits, including HBCU Week Foundation, an initiative aiming to give students a chance to receive a $40,000 scholarship to attend a historically Black college or university.
Kat Taylor, who founded Mattoon Soap Co. in Springfield in 2020, has participated in four festivals so far. The company makes goat milk skincare and home fragrance products.
“This year’s festival brought me so much joy and fulfillment,” Taylor said. “It was especially rewarding to hear returning customers say, ‘I’m so happy you’re here! I need my Honey & Oats goat milk soap bar!’”
She joined through Mack, her sorority sister in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter organization founded by African American college-educated women.
“In many ways, it felt like a family reunion,” Taylor said.
Mack said the festival also aims to integrate more Black influencers and leaders in the wine community. Less than 1% of influencers in the wine space are Black, she said.
“That number is far too low, as is,” Mack said. “So, when we’re talking about New England and western Mass., it’s almost near zero.”
She said she has visited numerous vineyards where she did not feel welcome as a Black person. Although Glendale Ridge is not Black-owned, Mack said owners Mary and Ed Hamel warmly accepted her as the only Black person there.
“If we own those spaces, well, then we can welcome ourselves,” Mack said. “And I think that that’s important.”
She said she hopes the festival can inspire young people in western Massachusetts to look into viticulture [winegrowing] as a career.
New England Noir will return on Indigenous People’s Day weekend in 2027, and Mack said she is planning to host at Glendale Ridge again, as she has since 2021. She said she does not plan to change the festival’s recipe.
“The intention is love,” Mack said. “That was the prayer.”
This story is part of a partnership between The Bay State Banner and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.