How Sacramento woman is tackling a male-dominated, celebrity-saturated tequila market

Melanie Shelby calls Enelalma Tequila “Sacramento’s gift to the greater tequila community.”

Shelby keeps sales and distribution of her product limited to local restaurants, bars and shops in her hometown. Returning to her roots is part of how she hopes to make her label stand out.

Besides only selling in Sacramento, the politician-turned-businesswoman said she also wanted a brand that “celebrates the rich heritage, legacy and tradition between Indigenous and African American culture,” which she prioritized in sourcing materials and designs for her tequila, or juice, as she calls it.

“Everything from the top, to the name, to the base, to the juice was curated by either a woman, a person of color, a small, a local, or a family generational business on both sides of the border,” Shelby said. Enelalma is Spanish for “in the soul.”

Finally, Shelby wanted both an “outstanding taste and an iconic bottle,” because when she drank tequila, it was the shape and color of the bottle that she often remembered most.

The bottles have made their way to some of Sacramento’s most celebrated bars and eateries: Ella Dining Room & Bar, Mayahuel, the Jacquelyn and The Kitchen, among others.

Sales since they started in January have created demand for another batch of blanco tequila.

Shelby said raising the money to start was the hardest part, and she even sold her house to reach fundraising goals. But she wasn’t always a tequila enthusiast, or even an enjoyer. She had even once sworn off of the drink.

“I remember a very awful experience with tequila because I was shooting it,” Shelby said. “There was no education attached or understanding in terms of the agave spirit.”

From politics to tequila

Shelby’s business came together through a series of moments–starting during her wide-spanning career in politics, for which she also credits her upbringing in the Sacramento area.

“I was always moving around with my dad who was always involved in politics,” Shelby said.

Melanie’s dad, James Shelby, served on the Citrus Heights City Council for 14 years and headed the Greater Sacramento Urban League for nearly 20 years until he left the position in 2015.

Following the “politics bug” after earning her sociology degree from UCLA, Shelby worked at a nonprofit, for political campaigns and ultimately for Pacific Gas and Electric.

Politics led her to try tequila for the first time in 15 years, in an unlikely circumstance, when a client of hers invited her to debrief a new bill at a tequila museum. Hesitant at first, the tequila captured Shelby’s attention.

“The name of (my) tequila is in the soul, because I believe tequila is a spiritual experience,” Shelby said. “In May 2011, it touched my soul, but I didn’t know it was going to be my livelihood.”

Despite being exhausted by politics by 2014, having run for Oakland City Council twice, Shelby felt confident in her lane and saw no reason to make a change, she added. Now she feels gratitude for the push to make drastic changes in her life, recognizing that she wouldn’t have made that “courageous” move otherwise.

“I realize it’s been 25 years pouring into everyone except for myself and I feel like women do that. I feel like we take care of everyone, we make sure everyone else has what they need and you don’t focus on yourself.”

Within 90 days of the COVID-19 pandemic hitting, Shelby said, she lost 85% of her business at that time — a lobbying firm that had clients like stadiums and food and beverage operators in airports. This was more than just the rainy day that Shelby had prepared for.

Entering a male-dominated industry in tequila production, Shelby hoped to “fix, build and connect” for herself now in building her new business, a motto she uses to describe the work she did in politics and for clients.

Celebrating heritage and culture

At a birthday tasting back in 2011, the year Shelby first rediscovered tequila, she was once again inspired, finding herself moved by the story the curator told about one of the labels.

“The story she told captured my heart and I started crying,” Shelby said. “It was really the first time that I realized the significance between Indigenous and African American culture … growing up nobody ever talked about that, in terms of our collective struggle.”

Enelalma’s bottle also recalls her own history. Reflected by round edges, the background of the bottle features three flowers: the California poppy, a white Mississippi magnolia and a Tennessee purple iris. Those are her home state flower and that of each of her parents.

Below the flowers is another symbol of the tequila’s origin and Indigenous culture: blue weber agave.

“We’re both enslaved on our own land and overcame historic adversity,” Shelby said. “I wanted to tell that story in a bottle.”

She explained that some companies in Mexico offer a selection of taste profiles and will do the rest of the production work, but that was not what Shelby wanted for Enelalma.

“I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ If I’m gonna bring something that is authentic, that celebrates heritage and culture, I need to be involved in every aspect,” Shelby said.

In a market saturated with celebrity-owned tequila labels — Kendall Jenner, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Nick Jonas have jumped on the bandwagon recently — Shelby said she knew she had to come up with something unique.

To stay engaged in the process, Shelby toured Mexico with a tequila expert to see what struck her interest, ultimately landing on Peña Blanca, a family owned distillery, and master distiller Oscar Vazquez.

Additive-free designation and 100% agave was also important to the drink Shelby sought to create, which she calls sipping tequila and recommends drinking from a flute.

Shelby said that independent retail has embraced Enelalma.

It’s being sold at Roco Wine and Spirits in West Sacramento, Taylor’s Market in Land Park, Sheldon Wine and Spirits in Elk Grove and other retailers in the area.

Along with focusing sales in the Sacramento region, Shelby has organized tastings and events in the community not unlike the one she hosted for her birthday, all those years ago.

“People make the mistake of going wide and not deep. I want to look up a year from now and I want people to say, ‘This luxury sipping tequila? It is ours. The founder is from our backyard.’”