Q&A with fascinating Women in Wine
Faces to know… Women who help shape the wine world
Leslie Sbrocco

While researching my book, Wine for Women: A Guide to Buying, Pairing, and Sharing Wine (October 2003, HarperCollins), I was fortunate to interview scores of fascinating women making a difference. Whether recognized names or rising stars, the sommeliers, CEOs, winemakers and retailers I've profiled share one thing in common - a passion for wine.

Fresh faces: A new generation in family-run wineries

Séverine Schlumberger, Domaines Schlumberger, Alsace, France

A dynamo with elegance and smarts, Séverine Schlumberger is part of the new breed of French wine leaders. Just two years in the wine business, she is in charge of public relations for her family’s estate in Alsace, making the leap after earning a law degree and managing a restaurant in England. These diverse skills come in handy working in the family-run company, of which Séverine represents the 7th generation.

Question: What brings you the most pleasure about being in the wine business?

Answer: “The fact that you never know everything. I am learning new things every single day and it’s not a boring job. I also like the fact that you rely on nature, we are in the hand of God and each year is a new vintage which brings new ‘babies’…it’s a fabulous feeling.”

Alessia Antinori, Marchesi Antinori, Florence, Italy

When Alessia mentions family history, she’s not kidding. The Antinori clan can trace its involvement in wine to 1385. Today, Alessia Antinori and her sisters, Albiera and Allegra, help run the famous Italian firm. Alessia says she has always loved wine and officially entered her family’s business five years ago. As a trained winemaker she is in charge of a new sparkling wine project in Italy’s bubbly heaven, Franciacorta.

Question: What do you see as the future of women in the wine business?

Answer: “In Italy recently you can see more involvement with women in wine especially in the technical and winemaking aspects. I think females have a very good sensibility and this is especially important in the tasting and blending parts of the profession.”

Victoria Angove, Angove’s of Australia

If you’re on a plane, you just might see a vivacious young woman with wine in hand. Victoria Angove is the fifth generation involved in one of Australia’s largest family-owned wine companies. She grew up admiring the work of her father and wanted to be a part of the wine industry from a very early age. Today, Victoria is Regional Export Manager for Europe, Asia, Brazil, Kenya and Israel. Her mission is to educate and inform and she believes the wine industry must work to make wine an integral part of life, no matter what country you live in.

Question: What advice would you give to women coming up in the business today?

Answer: “Believe in yourself and work hard. There are no quick or easy roads to success in any business and wine is no different. Choose mentors – both male and female – that you can trust and turn to in times of challenge.”

Chiara Lungarotti, Lungarotti Winery, Umbria, Italy

Many children want to be actors or doctors, but Chiara Lungarotti knew early on that wine was her life’s destiny. “I was born in the wine world and this is the air that I have loved to breathe since I was a little child!” After training to be an agronomist, Chiara has moved into the role of CEO for her family’s company. Along with her mother and sister Teresa – the first female Italian enologist – they are the first all-women team to run a major Italian winery.

Question: What has been the greatest obstacle, if any, that you’ve encountered as a woman in the wine business?

Answer: “When I started to work at our estate I found the same problem Teresa had already found 20 years before: winning the employees’ confidence. They were mainly older men who were used to working with my father. We were both, even if in different times and in different fields, two young women who were bringing innovations.”

Stephanie Gallo, E. & J. Gallo Winery, Modesto, California

American wine royalty begins with the Gallo family. When Stephanie’s grandfather Ernest and great uncle Julio founded the winery 70 years ago, they created a wine legacy. Working in a family business can be a challenge, but for Stephanie Gallo – senior marketing manager for their Turning Leaf brand – it’s her joy. She remembers family dinners spent discussing the wine business and she feels blessed to be a third generation of winemakers.

Question: How do you view the role of women in wine from a consumer standpoint?

Answer: “As the primary purchaser of household goods, women will continue to influence industry marketing and product development. Although we would never target a specific gender, we develop lifestyle programming that seems to appeal more to women, including support of ongoing food and wine education programs.”

Sage Advice: Industry Veterans speak out

Terry Wheatley, Trinchero Family Estates, Napa Valley, California

An inspiration to women of all ages, Terry Wheatley has transformed personal challenge into professional action. A 30-year veteran of the wine business, she is currently Trinchero’s senior VP of Marketing.

Question: Trinchero has made a serious commitment to fighting breast cancer through funding research and raising awareness. How did this come about?

Answer: “Our message is personal and comes from our winery heart. My grandmother died of breast cancer and my mother had a double mastectomy. After I had the same operation, and a member of the Trinchero family was also affected by breast cancer, we wanted to find a way to raise awareness of this crucial issue. Since early detection and treatment are keys to survival, we felt a message could be delivered through America’s favorite pink wine. During breast cancer awareness months of September and October, we place pink corks in every bottle of Sutter Home White Zinfandel and recently added a pink ribbon of awareness on the front label. If we can remind even one woman to do a self exam or get a mammogram, we’ve succeeded.”

Marimar Torres, Marimar Torres Estate, Sonoma, California

Wine and family are interwoven in the fabric of Marimar Torres's life. Born in Spain, she is part of the legendary Torres winemaking family who can trace their wine roots to the 17th century. Instead of staying in Spain and leading a traditional life, Marimar created her own path and moved to California in 1975. At the time, women in the wine business were a rarity. That, however, never daunted Marimar and in less than a decade she helped build her family's American wine interests into a strong force. After having a child of her own - daughter Cristina - this dedicated, passionate, and articulate woman (fluent in six languages) turned her attention to making wine. Marimar convinced her family that Sonoma was an ideal place to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines and craft world-class wines. "Producing a beverage from the earth that adds pleasure to people's lives is a remarkable feeling," she says.

Question: Why do you think it's difficult to get more Americans to embrace wine as they do in Europe?

Answer: "We need to demystify wine and unfortunately, the press here has done a better job of judging wines rather than spreading the idea of wine as a natural part of life. It seems that people are more interested in knowing whether wines are good or bad, rather than all the culture that surrounds wine."

Marcia Mondavi, Robert Mondavi Winery, Napa Valley, California

You could say Marcia Mondavi was raised in a wine cellar. As a member of the famous wine family headed by her father Robert, she worked on the bottling line as soon as she was old enough and gave tours by age 13. “The wine business is a complete and total way of life,” she says. Though Marcia spent a number of years away from wine during stints as a Pan Am flight attendant and teacher, she returned to the family fold several decades ago. In her current role as a member of the board of directors, she helps guide the direction of the company.

Question: Do you see increasing numbers of women in the wine business?

Answer: “Compared to when I first started in 1974, when there were very few women, it’s grown tremendously. Zelma Long was the winemaker at Mondavi for a long period of time and was a trailblazer in the industry. Now, many of our employees are women and it reflects the complexion of the industry as a whole.”

Barbara Drady, Affairs of the Vine, Sebastopol, California

With more than 37 years experience in the wine business, Barbara Drady (aka. Major Drady) is an educator on a mission. In addition to her active role in Women for WineSense, Barbara’s company reaches out to 100,000 people annually through various outlets, including a popular series of wine “boot camps.” Years ago, Barbara was a fifth grade teacher who was passionate about wine. When she was hired to sell wine, it was a real education. “In those days I was THE GIRL in a male-dominated world and had to work hard to gain respect as an equal,” she remembers. Thankfully, things have changed.

Question: What advice would you give to women coming up in the business today?

Answer: “Become a winemaker or viticulturist, if you have the desire and talent. Women are still a relatively small percentage in those areas. As the industry begins to focus more marketing towards female consumers, having women in the vineyards and the wineries will become a strong plus both technically and marketing-wise.”

Wine Seekers: Women following their passion

Nicki Pruss, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley, California

The story of women following their passion to enter the wine business truly reflects the journey of Nicki Pruss. During a five month bike trip through France and Germany, this former podiatric surgeon had what she calls a “Eureka” moment and decided that winemaking would be her new career path. Nicki began studying viticulture and enology and landed a job as an intern at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. Today, she is the associate winemaker of this world-class winery. That’s determination at work.

Question: What do you see as the future of women and wine from a consumer standpoint?

Answer: “I believe that more women will consume wine as they become more comfortable with wine and more educated about the richness it can add to their lifestyles. Most of the promotion has been aimed at men, particularly that of fine wines. The industry needs to recognize that it will benefit by communicating more directly to women and by considering their marketing messages from the perspective of women.”

Laura Catena, Bodega Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina

Why does a former emergency-room physician who studied at Harvard and Stanford get into the wine business? “It lured me in,” says Laura Catena. Born in Mendoza she spent summers playing at the family winery, but only began working for the company in 1997. She trained as a doctor and moved to the States, but was so fascinated by what her father was doing in Argentina that she left medicine to become VP and head of exports for her family business. The wine industry may well benefit from her medical training, however, as Laura is working with a researcher in London to study the benefits of wine on heart disease.

Question: What gives you the most pleasure about being in the wine business?

Answer: “Working with my father has been extraordinary. He has more women in top level positions than probably any other company in Argentina. This year we bought a top-of-the-line breast pump so that women at Catena Zapata can come back to work and continue breast feeding. My father really believes in women, and he has passed along this attitude to the other men working at the winery.”

Kathleen Foley, The Wine Crier, Chicago, Illinois

Passion is what drives Kathy Foley. Her love of wine led her from a career as an award-winning commercial film producer to opening her own wine store. She jokes, “I was sucked in and couldn’t get enough!” With that, Kathy began an intensive three year educational period where she worked, traveled and studied wine and the ins and outs of owning her own business. Her dream became reality when the Wine Crier opened several years ago.

Question: Will females be responsible for widening the base of wine consumers?

Answer: “Women love wine. They are using it more and more as a wonderful way to have a great dinner party with selecting the wine and food pairings as a key focus to the entire dinner event. I just think the more we emphasize the wine and food angles at restaurants, at home and at wine events, the more we will continue to increase wine purchases.”

Eva Bertran, Gloria Ferrer, Sonoma, California

Born in Barcelona, Spain, Eva knows sparkling wine, “I had my first sip of cava within an hour of my birth, so wine has always been a part of my life.” As an MBA student Eva landed an internship at the Sonoma-based sparkling wine house and today is their executive vice-president. The winery itself is named after the wife of Spanish wine icon, José Ferrer (of Freixenet fame). As Eva notes, “it’s nice to have a winery named after a woman and have so many women involved.”

Question: Do you think we can get wine to be accepted as an everyday part of a meal in this country, like it is in Europe?

Answer: “Wine belongs on a table, just like a fork or plate. Sadly in this country there is a lot of intimidation about wine. One of the things that shocked me the most when I moved to Sonoma was how much people talked about wine, yet how little they drank! If wine was a natural part of the table, people wouldn’t talk about it so much. I mean who talks about their forks, right?”

Krista McCorkle, Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance, Walla Walla, Washington

Moving from New York City to this quiet Washington town was a change for the recently-appointed executive director of the WWVWA, but Krista knew this was a great opportunity to make a difference. After attending the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, she went to work for Joshua Wesson of New York’s Best Cellars. The lure of returning to her roots brought her back to Walla Walla, where she grew up.

Question: Have you noticed an increase of women in the wine business?

Answer: “Absolutely. Just to give some perspective on women entering the industry in our region, at the Walla Walla Community College’s Institute of Enology and Viticulture, there are currently 31 students enrolled full time and 14 are women. Look out!”

Catherine Fallis, Planet Grape, San Francisco, California

Catherine wears many hats including wine judge, educator, beverage director for Aqua restaurant in San Francisco and founder of Planet Grape, a multi-faceted consulting business. The fifth woman in the world to achieve the title of Master Sommelier, Catherine has lofty credentials but her aim is to bring wine down to earth.

Question: What advice would you give to women coming up in the business today?

Answer: “Go get ‘em girls! Put on the blinders, focus on what you want to achieve, get out there and do it, and ask the men around you to bring you coffee, type your memos, and answer your phone.”

Women’s wine organizations at a glance…

Women for Winesense, United States

http://www.winesense.com/

Women for Winesense is committed to spreading the word that that wine enhances and enriches everyday life. Chapters are located throughout the country.

Les Dames d’Escoffiers, worldwide

http://www.ldei.org/

An international leadership organization of women dedicated to community involvement and supporting women in the wine, food and hospitality industries.

Le Donne del Vino, Italy

http://www.ledonnedelvino.it/

Founded in 1988, this Italian organization’s goal is to promote education and development of women in the Italian wine industry.

Women in Wine, New Zealand

http://www.womeninwine.com/

A new organization focused on providing an supportive atmosphere for women in the New Zealand wine industry to taste, learn and grow.

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