champagnelelarge-pugeot.com

The Lelarge family has been growing grapes since the late 1700s in the premier cru village of Vrigny in the Montagne de Reims. In the 1930s Raymond Lelarge started making and bottling Champagnes under his own label. Today, the 7th and 8th generation (Dominique, Dominique, Clémence, and Valentin) work together, farming a little over 8 hectares and making a wide range of biodynamic champagnes and coteaux champenois. The winery is Demeter certified.

birdhorsewines.com

Birdhorse Wines is a collaborative winemaking enterprise between partners in love, life and winemaking Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse. Birdhorse is grounded in the principle that terroir expression goes beyond a small subset of internationally recognized varieties. We seek to celebrate the uncelebrated by producing classic and expressive wines from regions and varieties that have not yet had their moment-in-the-sun within the cultural zeitgeist of California winemaking.

trailmarkerwineco.com

Emily V. had the idea to start Trail Marker based largely on a dare. The dare that one could make (& SELL!) an "old-world", minimal intervention, low alcohol California Chardonnay from high elevation vineyards in the Mendocino and Santa Cruz Mountains. 13 years later, Emily and her partner, Drew Huffine work with a dozen different vineyards from Santa Cruz to Lodi to make the best, terroir-driven wines possible. In addition to Trail Marker/ Kid Sister, Emily has worked with other great California wineries like LIOCO and Bluxome to help develop their sales & marketing efforts. She has an MBA from UCLA focused on sustainability and global management and also consults for high-growth, social-good companies to help improve strategy, culture and organizational design.

keplingerwines.com

Food and wine has been an integral part of my identity since childhood. That, along with a passion for the arts and sciences, brought me to winemaking. Once completing the MS program in Enology at UC Davis, I apprenticed under Heidi Barrett and others, before moving to Spain to make wine in the Priorat. The Priorat has been foundational in my philosophy of terroir and its imprint on artisanal wine. I have been fortunate to hone the craft of winemaking over many years and my tenure has now brought me to me own labels, Keplinger and Vermillion, along currently, with the incredible wines of Grace Family Vineyards, Carte Blanche and Kerr Cellars.

kellerestate.com

Jacqueline Yoakum has worked in wineries all across the United States since 1998. After completing her Master’s at UC Davis in 2004, she worked as research enologist for Warren Winiarski at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars while completing her graduate thesis, and then was hired by Ted Lemon at Littorai Wines, who became her mentor in native fermentations, biodynamic farming and winemaking. She consulted with Keller Estate while making her own wine, but has finally joined the Keller Estate team as full-time winemaker.

unefemmewines.com

Jen’s 20+ year career working in food, hospitality, and marketing coupled with her passion to support women in the wine industry and beyond fueled the founding of Une Femme Wines, the fastest growing sparkling wine company in the country dedicated to crafting premium, women-made sparkling wines. Jen was previously the CEO and founder of Magnum PR and co-founder of the beloved The Riddler Champagne bars in NYC and SF.

Jenn pursued her passion by studying Viticulture and Enology at California State University, Fresno. While there, she seized the opportunity to study abroad in London, which she eagerly followed with a winery internship in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Her career choice solidified, she went on to first earn her Bachelor’s degree in Enology, then a Master’s with Distinction in Viticulture and Enology from Fresno State.

Returning to her beloved Sonoma County, Jenn began her career as a Harvest Intern for Ridge Vineyards. From there, her passion for winemaking only intensified. She took on increasing responsibilities across several different wineries, including Frei Brothers Sonoma Reserve, MacMurray Estate Winery and Louis M. Martini Winery, the iconic Cabernet Sauvignon producer where she was named Associate Winemaker in 2018.

Martis is Jenn’s passion project, an expression of her love for her home and its distinctive terroir. “Martis has been such an exciting opportunity, it’s really born from my long history of working with the fruit from Barrelli Creek Vineyard,” she says, noting her childhood vacations overlooking the site. “Getting to pull the best fruit from this world-class vineyard and put my own winemaking spin and voice on it has been one of the highlights in my career.”

schramsberg.com

It only took one internship at Schramsberg Vineyards for Jessica Koga to confirm that the wine industry where she wanted to be. She completed her degree in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis before returning for a second internship at Schramsberg Vineyards which then led to a full-time Enologist position. Three years later, she gave into a bit of wanderlust and went to work harvests in the Marlborough region of New Zealand and the North Fork of Long Island in New York. After that, she held positions at Gundlach-Bundschu Winery in Sonoma and Vineyard 29 in St. Helena. In 2015 Jessica rejoined Schramsberg’s team as Associate Winemaker for Davies Vineyards, their sister winery specialized in producing site-specific expressions of Pinot noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. Most recently, Jessica has been tasked with continuing the legacy of crafting extraordinary sparkling wines from vineyards throughout the North Coast of California as the Winemaker for Schramsberg Vineyards.

tressabores.com

Julie Johnson is the winemaker and owner of Tres Sabores, a winery nestled into the western Rutherford bench land of the Napa Valley. Passionate about food, wine, and the land, for the last 30 years Julie has lived on a certified organic farm, growing wine grapes, pomegranates, lemons and olives, raising her children not to mention Golden Retrievers, Guinea Hens, and sheep. There will be plenty of entertaining tales and ranch products to share.

A native of California, Julie graduated from Columbia as a P.H.N. after receiving a B.A. from Bowdoin College. Relocating to the Napa Valley in 1980, she practiced nursing even as she founded Frog’s Leap Winery (with her first husband, John Williams and partner, Larry Turley) in 1981. In 1990 she joined with Michaela Rodeno, past CEO at St. Supery Winery, and founded “Women for Wine Sense, a vital national organization whose “vision is to support the appreciation for and responsible consumption of wine”. Julie started Tres Sabores in 1999 as a single vineyard estate and soon began making her own wine. She speaks and participates in seminars on the subjects of Women in Wine and Regenerative Farming for a variety of clients and at educational venues around the country. She is currently active in Napa Green, C.C.O.F (California Certified Organic Farms), Wild Farm Alliance and the Rutherford Dust Society. At the end of the day, she sleeps best if she feels that she has been a thoughtful and energetic steward of the land and has capped off the day with a good glass of wine!

troisnoixwine.com

Jaime’s family has been making world-class wines in Napa Valley for over 25 years and for most of those years, Jaime was actually living abroad in Europe. Upon returning to Napa Valley to become a vintner, Jaime wanted to create a wine that would reflect her personal journey, and what she loved most about wine: the people and the sense of community. The name “Trois Noix,” which means “Three Nuts,” is an homage to our founder’s love of France and her commitment to using wine as a catalyst for social change.

markhamvineyards.com

With three decades of experience and an unwavering passion for Merlot, Kimberlee Nicholls has earned a reputation as one of Napa Valley’s most respected winemakers. She is known for crafting wines of character and complexity from Markham’s 260 acres of certified sustainable estate vineyards and land. Kimberlee earned a degree in biology before entering the wine industry and ultimately joining the Markham Vineyards team in 1993. In 2023, Kimberlee celebrated her 30th anniversary at Markham.

A graduate of Cal Poly SLO, Katie’s career started with in internship in 2008 making zinfandel and rhones down in Paso Robles. In 2015 she made the move up to Napa with the goal of spending a few years learning more about Cabernet farming and production then returning back to Paso Robles - but she never left. She joined the Pahlmeyer team in 2019.

oliviabrion.com

Kira Ballotta is the owner and winemaker for Olivia Brion and Cantadora wines. Her winery specializes in organically farmed fine wine that features the stories of trailblazing women from history (Olivia Brion) and today (Cantadora). Her career in wine began in 2010 when she got the opportunity to value several wineries in her career in Investment Banking. After a brief stint in Business Analytics at Constellation, she moved into wine production full time in 2013. She worked in the lab, cellar and vineyard across multiple properties in Napa and Australia before landing her full-time job with Alpha Omega in 2015. She worked her way up from Production Assistant to Enology Research Manager, coordinating all winemaking trails, many of which were under the umbrella of tannin analysis. In 2016 she began making her own commercial wine under the Olivia Brion label. In 2019 the founder of Olivia Brion retired and she assumed all winemaking and financial interests. In 2021 she launched Cantadora wines to incorporate women today, who inspire her, into her wine project. In January she was honored by Imbibe Magazine as an Imbibe 75 for the people who will shape Food & Drinks in 2024. Wine Business Monthly awarded Cantadora their “Hot Brand” honor for 2024. Kira resides in Napa with her husband and two little boys.

chimneyrock.com

After graduating from The University of California at Santa Cruz with a Molecular Biology degree, she returned to Napa to prepare for the MCAT.  While staying focused on her studies, she obtained a harvest-season lab assistant position at Franciscan Estate Winery.  She was immediately intrigued by the complexity of winemaking.  After harvest, Laura’s seasonal position turned into a full-time job.  That promotion marked the end of her medical school path and the beginning of her wine career.

After 6 years at Franciscan Estate, Laura moved on to become oenologist at V. Sattui Winery and was ultimately promoted to winemaker.  Over the course of her career, Laura has gained deep experience across 15 plus varietals and genuinely loves the varied dynamics of winemaking. 

In 2015, Laura joined the team at Chimney Rock Winery as Assistant Winemaker.  Today, Laura works alongside General Manager and Winemaker Elizabeth Vianna crafting the winery’s signature Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon wines.  Laura fell in love with Chimney Rock 10 years earlier – her husband was a cellar worker at the winery. When the opportunity came to join the team, she immediately jumped in.

Her time at Chimney Rock gave her a love and passion for Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2022, due to her hard work and sheer talent, she was promoted to Winemaker for Terlato’s newest wine Brand, Paso-D’Oro where she crafts beautiful Cabernet hailing from the Estrella, San Juan Creek & Paso Robles Highlands districts toward the east side of the Paso Robles AVA.

Coming full circle, Laura’s original dislike of agriculture is now one of the elements she most enjoys. Working in the vineyard has become a pleasure and an honor.

In her spare time, Laura is a committed runner and recently qualified for the Boston Marathon. When she’s not pounding the pavement, Laura stays very busy with her two daughters and husband, enjoying the beautiful Napa Valley.

emeritusvineyards.com

As president, Mari Jones oversees all aspects of Emeritus Vineyards, working with the support and guidance of her father, Brice Cutrer Jones. Mari grew up playing, camping, working, and even learning to drive on the Sonoma–Cutrer Estate. At the age of 12, Mari took her first trip to Burgundy with her father to buy barrels. While watching barrels being made by master craftspeople and exploring centuries-old cellars, Mari fell in love with wine and Pinot Noir in particular. In 2012, Mari joined the Emeritus team to launch a direct-to-consumer program. Mari oversaw the design and construction of the Emeritus tasting room, while also founding the E-Club. She quickly became her father’s right-hand woman becoming the COO just a few years later. In 2019 Brice (literally) passed the baton to Mari as he began his retirement. Mari approaches her role helping to run Emeritus with a long-term vision. “I want Emeritus to outlive me. This means that it needs to be sustainable in every sense, from the way we care for our land, making sure that our employees have healthy families, and always making the very best wine possible. These things aren’t separate from what goes into the bottle; they are essential.”

marthastoumen.com

Martha Stoumen Wines was founded in Sonoma County, CA in 2014 with the goal of recapturing a farming and winemaking culture that has all but faded away: a winemaking culture of patience. After 8 years apprenticing with minimal-intervention winegrowers around the world, Martha set out as a self-funded, first generation winemaker to answer the question, “What does California taste like when we challenge the norm?” Our wines offer new takes on Northern Californian classics. 98% of our vineyards are either certified organic or practicing organic or biodynamic farming, with over 70% being dry farmed (meaning we only use the water nature provides). Martha is part of the 5% of women in the CA wine industry that are owners and lead winemakers. She is proud of her stellar female-led team as well.

artesawinery.com

From Spain, Marta has lived in California since September 2022 and joined Artesa’s team in October 2023.

rymecellars.com

Megan Glaab learned the great joy of hard work in the pursuit of passion from her parents. She began her career in the food and wine community as a young teenager at their restaurant Passionfish in Pacific Grove, CA. After high school, Megan spent four years in Adelaide, Australia working on her Bachelors Degree in Enology and Viticulture. Megan and Ryan met in Australia while working as seasonal harvest hands at Torbreck winery. They quickly fell in love, got married. They eventually settled in Sonoma county where Megan worked at Peay Vineyards, Pisoni and Marcassin, before starting Ryme in 2007.

ruddwines.com

A native Californian who grew up in St. Helena, Natalie Bath came back to the Napa Valley after graduating college with the intention of applying to law school. However, she fell back in love with the beauty of the Napa Valley and gained a new appreciation for wine while working at Angèle restaurant and set about to explore if winemaking was the right path for her.

Natalie completed her first harvest with an internship at Etude in 2010, embracing the long hours, manual labor, and comradery that comes with harvest. She then spent the first part of the 2011 vintage in the Southern Hemisphere at Villa Maria in New Zealand, and the second part of 2011 at Littorai in Sebastopol, getting her first experience with biodynamics working under Ted Lemon. Not knowing where to go next and determined to make winemaking her career, a conversation with longtime friend Samantha Rudd turned into an opportunity to work harvest at Rudd Estate in 2012, and she has worked her way up the ladder ever since.

“It was like finally coming home — I grew up playing in the vineyards and running around the estate as a kid with Samantha. Being here just felt right.” In 2014, Natalie joined the Winemaking team fulltime as a cellar hand and became the oenologist in 2016. An opportunity of a lifetime presented itself, allowing Natalie to travel overseas to work harvest at Château Pétrus in 2016. Coming back from her travels refreshed and rejuvenated, Natalie became the Assistant Winemaker in 2017 at Rudd Estate, and the following year the Lead Winemaker for Crossroads.

After nearly a decade influencing the wines both in the cellar and in the vineyards by innovating the white wine program, helping the vineyard team integrate biodynamics into our organic farming practices, refining our wine analysis program, launching our companion Crossroads label, blending 8 vintages of Rudd wines, and creating our first vintage of sparkling wine, Natalie became Winemaker of Rudd Estate in 2021, a plan that had been many years in the making.

martinraywinery.com

Raemy Paterson's early passion for travel and exploration naturally led her to develop a love for wine. After obtaining her BS in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, Raemy gained international winemaking experience by working harvests in Bordeaux, Provence, and the Barossa Valley before settling in the Russian River Valley. Her winemaking philosophy emphasizes minimal intervention, allowing the vineyards to express themselves fully in her crafted wines. Most recently, she graduated with an MBA in Wine Business from Sonoma State University in May 2023.

littletroublewines.com

Sara’s journey has taken her from lab technician to wine director, national sales broker to winemaker. She has made or sold wine in California, New York, Florida and New Zealand.

Sara became enamored with low intervention wines when she first started working as a wine buyer in San Francisco 10 years ago. Growing up with a park ranger mom, environmental issues were always important and tied in directly with her passions in the wine industry. Her goal with Little Trouble is to express fun and transparent expressions of the fantastic vineyards LT works with, while getting in the way of nature as little as possible.

In addition to Little Trouble Wine Company, she is currently the Director of Operations for Ruth Lewandowski Wines in Healdsburg, CA.

Our philosophy on the wines at Little Trouble Wine Co is a simple one, inspired by countless producers who have come before us; Make quaffable wines inspired by the heritage of California that reflect not only the importance of the special vineyards we are lucky to be working with, but the incredible folks farming and tending to those sites.

makerwine.com

Sarah is CEO of Maker Wine, a premium canned wine company that works with diverse producers. Sarah is the guiding force behind Maker’s mission—to make fine wine more approachable and to lift up independent producers. Sarah is the storyteller, the dreamer, and the ideas gal that brings Maker’s wines and stories to life online. Maker has worked with 20+ independent producers on canning projects, and 80%+ of the winemakers that they work with are women.

Before Maker, Sarah’s expertise was in scaling high growth start-ups. At her day job she managed user acquisition at companies from inception through IPO, most recently in-house at Eventbrite and on the agency side at Right Side Up, a growth marketing consultancy.

In her personal life, Sarah’s passionate about creating connection through food and beverage. As an avid homebrewer she started a beer pairing supperclub business, and spent a year traveling the world as a craft beverage writer. These experiences inspired her to want to create a business that celebrates independent wineries.

elizabethspencerwinery.com

Winemaker at Elizabeth Spencer for more than 12 years, Sarah guides the daily and seasonal facets of viticulture and winemaking. Hailing from New Orleans, her cultural tapestry is woven with threads of food, music, and wine. Rooted in macrobiology, Sarah brings a holistic perspective to winemaking, leaving a lasting impact.

Matanzascreek.com

Coming full circle, Laura’s original dislike of agriculture is now one of the elements she most enjoys. Working in the vineyard has become a pleasure and an honor. In her spare time, Laura is a committed runner and recently qualified for the Boston Marathon. When she’s not pounding the pavement, Laura stays very busy with her two daughters and husband, enjoying the beautiful Napa Valley.

Shilah is a wine industry executive based in the Napa Valley. She’s been in the global wine industry for almost 20 years weaving together her interests in wine, marketing, international business, and leadership. She graduated from college at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo where she studied Psychology and Women’s Studies, and then completed a business program at UC Berkeley.

For five years, based out of San Francisco, Shilah managed the Constellation (NYSE: STZ) portfolio of US wineries internationally, and in 2010 Shilah became the Global Brand Manager for Robert Mondavi.

In 2011, Shilah began to work for the Jackson Family and then led the full luxury department of Jackson Family Wines, the Spire Collection. In 2018 Shilah became the SVP of Marketing at Jackson Family Wines managing their Santa Barbara wineries, and now covers Cambria, Brewer-Clifton, Diatom, La Crema, Murphy-Goode, Siduri, Carmel Road, Matanzas Creek.

She is very active at home in her Napa Valley community with organizations such as the Napa Valley Vintners, The Children’s Museum and Auction Napa Valley. Shilah is also on the board of the Somm Foundation – a trade organization focused on education, diversity and scholarships.

ottavinowines.com

A former musician, Shalini turned from her Master’s Degree in Flute and Piccolo Performance to a career in wine. After completing her studies at Fresno State University in Enology and Viticulture, she began her journey into winemaking marrying the same combination of art and science that fueled her passion in music.

After years of making critically acclaimed wines for boutique producers, Shalini launched her own small brand, Ottavino. Ottavino serves as her exploration of less common varieties and winemaking in California, beginning with Grüner Veltliner in 2020.

Shalini was included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2019 Winemakers to Watch. In 2015 she was awarded Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Today in addition to Ottavino, she continues to be the winemaker for Waits-Mast, Neely, and Xander Soren Wines.

When Shalini is not at a winery or in the vineyards, she is busy studying for her WSET Diploma and traveling with husband and their two young children.

Victoria Gaeta joined J Vineyards & Winery as Associate Winemaker in 2018, helping craft a diverse, world-class portfolio of Traditional Method sparkling wines, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.

“One of the things I enjoy so much about wine is its sense of place and vintage,” says Victoria. “With J, we have an exceptional collection of estate vineyards that allow us to deepen that connection every vintage.”

Born and raised in California’s Central Valley, Victoria grew up surrounded by a rich agricultural landscape. She graduated from California State University, Stanislaus

with a degree in Biological Science, and soon began a research enology internship with E. & J. Gallo Winery. After earning her Winemaking Certificate from the University of California at Davis, she honed her skills as an Assistant Winemaker for Gallo across both the Central Valley and Sonoma County.

Victoria’s winemaking philosophy blends her love of travel and taste with the artistry of the craft and its deep relationship to place. “As you travel the world,

you witness how deeply wine is intertwined with local culture — how it influences and is influenced by a region’s foods, daily life and traditions,” Victoria says. “Through winemaking, I’m able to help bridge that connection between place, cuisine and culture.”

Today, Victoria lives in Sonoma County with her husband and family, raising two young children to explore the world in search of great flavor and enriching experiences.