Wines With Real Bouquet

The first time Aaliyah Nitoto tried her hand at winemaking, she was a little girl. Her mother was entertaining guests, and Aaliyah wanted to get involved with grown-ups enjoying wine. She mixed grape juice with Tabasco sauce and tried to share her concoction. No one was impressed.

- By Maryann Worobiec

Nitoto’s instinct for unconventional beverages was no fluke. She is the visionary founder of Free Range Flower Wines, a budding (ha!) brand of wines made from fermented organic flowers. I’m impressed: I think she is an innovative and inspired winemaker and the wines are exciting.

Nitoto studied biology at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., intending to intern at local wineries. When she couldn’t get an interview, she turned her focus to nutrition and health, consulting with nonprofits. She also studied herbal remedies, which led her to make her first flower-wine experiment: a jar of lavender wine. “It was strong but good,” she recalls, more of an elixir to help a friend suffering sleepless nights than a beverage to drink with dinner.

Nitoto’s research led her to a discovery. “Wine is not a grape; it’s a process,” she explains. “A lot of people ask me, ‘How is this wine and not something else?’ It’s a fair question, especially in the United States.” Books she read from other parts of the world describe wine as made from fermented fruits, honey or flowers.