About Blackthorn
Want the quick and dirty version?
We help people turn wine into a ritual instead of just a beverage. Through astrology, tarot, curated wines, art, and seasonal guides, we make it easier to slow down, tune in, and choose what you’re drinking with intention.
The Longer Version?
Well, that's a much longer story...We originally started in business as Crush It Wine Education. Ultimately we just wanted to teach people about wine in a way that wasn't pretentious, wasn't intimidating and wasn't a boring lecture on soil types. Fun fact, we still want to do that! We're just going about it a different way now. Because while we think wine education is important and that there are so many cool things to learn about wine, we struggled to not make it sound dry at times. And we were quickly becoming disillusioned with the way the industry was moving, or not moving as the case may be.
We knew we need to do something different. So we created Blackthorn. Well, Blackthorn version 1.0. A hidden world, a secret society with passwords and hidden clues and a whole cast of characters. It was a fun creative writing exercise. It was not, however, very clear. It got away from us a bit, there were too many moving parts for a two person small business to handle.
And so, we simplified. To this. To the things that actually light us up, and shockingly that turned out not to endlessly describing what terroir means. Instead we wanted to put wine into context. We wanted to do something where yes, we could teach you about wines, but in a way that normally people might actually use it. And that context, for us, is astrology and tarot and art.
Yes, a little woo-woo. But also, a fun escape in a time when our world feels like it is literally burning down around us. You can take it as seriously as you want. Go full on witch and embrace your inner power as you dance beneath the light of a full moon. Or just grab a bottle of Clairette Blanche to try with your favorite take out, because when Mercury is retrograde you know you can always use some wine. Have fun with it! Because despite decades of the wine industry portraying itself as serious and complicated and deeply intimidating, we think it actually just needs to be fun. It's just a beverage after all.
Our Values
Blackthorn is proud to be a women-owned business. The wines in our cellar and in our wine club are specifically selected to be in line with our values. We champion sustainability, inclusivity and ethical sourcing. We prioritize women, queer and marginalized makers and we aim to give back more than we take.
We don't think you need to care about the label, or the value or the prestige of wine. But we do care about where our money goes.
Meet the Founders
Allie
Allie has been involved in wine nearly her entire life. From riding on her father's shoulders at 3 as he barrel tasted with his home winemaking crew to working in tasting rooms as soon as she turned 21. Official wine qualifications you ask? Sommelier certification and 14+ years in the industry. Unofficial wine qualifications? She gets very excited every time someone says they have bubbles.
Allie is also a linocut printmaker and digital artist.
Julie
Julie came to wine a little later in life, in her mid twenties, which some would argue is a more normal time. Since then she has worked in tasting rooms, in wineries, in the lab, in the vineyard, and as a wine buyer for restaurants. Julie's official wine qualifications - a degree in viticulture and enology, sommelier certification and 17+ years in the industry. Unofficial wine qualifications? She can actually pronounce all those fancy french wine words without sounding like an ass. (mostly)
Wine for the Week Ahead
This is our weekly newsletter offering where we look at the upcoming astrology and pair it with wine. Are we official, licensed and sanctioned astrologers? No. Not at all. Please do not base your health, happiness or financial future on any astrological advice or insights we provide.
What we can do is a bit of research, let you know what we think is happening in the sky and what that might mean and then find a wine for the exact situation / vibe / energy. It's fun, try it.
Each week we also pull a tarot card and talk about the wine we have paired with that card. The card pull is random each week so hopefully something about the pull that week speaks to you. As you will see in our bio's above, we are also not official tarologists (that's the real word for it, I looked it up). Our insights are our own, if they speak to you great, if not have a sip of wine and make up your own. That's how we did it any ways.
Ritual Box Wine Club
The Ritual Box is our fully customizable wine club subscription. And when we say fully customizable we mean it. Tell us what you like, tell us what you don't like it's a conversation. Is that more work for us? Absolutely! But that's one of the best perks of having a small business, we actually can create something special and custom for you.
And while it might be more work for us, it couldn't be easier for you. Get wines you actually want to drink delivered right to your door. All the supply that you need for your weeknight dinners, your friends parties, your pagan rituals, whatever you get up to.
When you sign up you can fill out an initial form to let us know your preferences, you can also give us feedback after each delivery. If you don't have any specifications we will just pick out fun, seasonal wine each time for you. But as much as I do actually enjoy talking to myself, for something like this it's usually more fun if you're in the conversation too. So even if you just want to see what we come up with, let us know if you're loving it, discovering new wines and / or give us all the deets on whatever that pagan ritual you're performing is.
Ritual Mail Postcard Club
Can I tell you a secret? I didn't start this for you, I didn't do this because I thought it would align with our business or be a good product offer. I started this for me. (This is Allie BTW).
I wanted an excuse to start making art again and at first I wanted to do it within Blackthorn so I wouldn't actually have to call myself an artist. Because maybe I don't have the right skills, or enough training or the right whimsical personality to be an "artist". But I did want to make something pretty. Actually, I just wanted to make something instead of sitting in front of a computer. And if it's part of the business then it's technically a write off. Or at least I am pretty sure that's what David from Schitt's Creek taught me.
But initial selfish beginnings aside, this is now one of my favorite things AND I do think it aligns with our business. It's a different way to put wine into context, through art. Each month the design is drawn, transferred, carved and then printed by hand. And then you get a little spark of joy in the mail. And can send a part of it to someone else in your life who needs a spark of joy. It's like those chain mail emails from the 90s, but not a scam.
Get In Touch
We think wine is all about context and community. So let's start a conversation:
Allie@joinblackthorn.com
Julie@joinblackthorn.com
Text or leave a voicemail: (805)452-4927