La Fête du Rosé is not your mother’s wine. Founder and Atlantan Donae Burston joins us on an escape to St-Tropez and walks us through how he created a wine for everyone.

La Fête du Rosé founder and CEO Donae Burston sips away at his favorite Atlanta spot Le Bilboquet.

“For so long, rosé has been marketed here in America exclusively for brunches, lunches, baby showers and weddings, and mostly identified as a feminine drink,” says Donae Burston, founder and CEO of La Fête du Rosé (lafeterose.com). “But, while in Europe, I noticed how rosé was for everyone—men and women all from different backgrounds, races and social standings. I wanted to bring that notion to America and introduce a rosé for a diverse audience.” And that he has.

Burston, a Baltimore native and Georgia Tech and Clark Atlanta University alum, started his 15-plus-year career in the luxury spirits industry here in Atlanta. He went on to foster a huge network across the U.S., working for brands like Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Hennessy and Moët. While on a business trip in Cannes, Burston crossed paths with the owner of Domaine Bertaud Belieu, the oldest and largest vineyard on St-Tropez’s peninsula, and the discussion about creating an inclusive rosé began. “I wanted to create something new that was inclusive of everyone,” says Burston. As for taste, rosé typically rests at two different ends of the spectrum: either bitter and acidic or overly sweet and heavy. La Fête tries to walk the line between the two flavor profiles, giving a fruit-forward taste with a snap of acidity and a smooth finish—making it perfect for everyday drinking, regardless of season or time of day. Burston admits he hit a lot of speed bumps and gatekeepers along the way, but despite these struggles, the wine now stands as the only Black-owned brand being produced in St-Tropez.

The color of La Fête was very purposeful as Burston wanted the flavor to lie perfectly in the middle of sweet and dry.

Today, Burston splits his time between Miami and Atlanta and has introduced La Fête to 32 states across the country and counting. “La Fête du Rosé is about everyone coming together at the table,” he says. “We all love each other without hate, without judgment, and really that’s what La Fête du Rosé is all about.” Since La Fête du Rosé’s debut, the company has donated a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold to various programs such as Atlanta-based All Abroad, which sends underserved and underrepresented youth on unique travel experiences.

Pair La Fête du Rosé with classic accoutrements like fruit and cheese as well as seafood, mussels, caviar and the like.