stirring up the conversation on women in wine
Megan Bell | Margins Wine
Margins Wine produces low-intervention wines using grapes from underrepresented regions, vineyards, and varietals. Margins Wines is part of the growing movement in California to make wines from sustainably farmed vineyards using little to no additives during the winemaking process, thereby showcasing the vineyards the grapes came from. Most consumers of wine are only familiar with a handful of grape-growing regions and types of wine. Margins draws attention to vineyards and varietals throughout northern and central California that are often overlooked.
Margins Wine is a small winemaking project of Megan Bell, a winemaker living and working in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Prior to settling on the central coast of California, Megan received her BS in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis and apprenticed in wineries and vineyards in Napa, the Livermore Valley, the Willamette Valley, Central Otago (NZ), and the Loire Valley (France).
Mireia Taribó and Tara Gomez | Camins 2 Dreams
Camins 2 Dreams was founded in 2017, with grapes sourced exclusively from vineyards in Sta. Rita Hills, a unique appellation in Santa Barbara County. Our philosophy is to make hand-crafted, terroir-driven wines that are fermented with natural yeast and use minimal intervention in the winery. We believe wine is made in the vineyard and we want to showcase the typicity of each site where the grapes come from. We are lucky both to live and make our wines in Sta. Rita Hills, where foggy mornings and cool nights combine with marine soils to make the perfect ingredients for outstanding wines.
We are a team of two winemakers, Mireia Taribó and Tara Gomez, wife and wife, whose paths first crossed in 2006 through our work in the wine industry. Our friendship grew through wine and travels, which also sparked our love. Our journey of friendship, love, and wine now continues as together we found our dream winery, Camins 2 Dreams.
Erin Mitchell | Unturned Stone Productions
A veteran of the wine industry, Erin Mitchell has worn many hats during her 27-year tenure in wine. She got her start in retail in Seattle in the 1990’s, working as a buyer and shop manager for McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants while pursuing a career in modern dance. In the early 2000’s, she helped form Triage Wines, the first wholesale wine company in the Pacific Northwest committed to importing and distributing natural wine. In 2010, Ms. Mitchell retired from dancing, moved to California, and began working as a sales representative for Farm Wine Imports in San Francisco. That same year, she, and her now husband, winemaker Randy Czech, started making wine together in a friend’s barn near the mouth of the Russian River. What started as a passion project soon evolved into Unturned Stone, a small winery dedicated to making artisanal wine from organically grown grapes in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Czech’s wines are hand-crafted and made exclusively with classic California varieties that are well suited to a warm, sunny climate. No additions (outside of minimal sulfur) are made in the winery and the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Cary Quintana | Cary Q Wines
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Cary’s love of the fermented grape began on the retail side in 2005, when she owned a wine shop with an eye on small production and esoteric varietals from around the world.
In 2013, she moved to Northern California to complete her UC Davis winemaking education, get closer to wine production with her first harvest and pursue her winemaking passion, debuting her first vintage a year later in 2014. With a focus on working with organic, sustainable, and meticulously farmed sites, Cary seeks out conscientious growers with unique micro-climates that highlights site-specific uniqueness. Hispanic- and woman-owned, Cary Q Wines highlights hand-crafted, small production California wines that inspire!
Alice Warnecke Sutro | Sutro Wine Co.
Alice Warnecke Sutro is an artist, winemaker and grapegrower. She founded the wine label SUTRO in 2012 and manages all aspects of the business. She is also proud to work in agriculture for her family business: Warnecke Ranch & Vineyard, the inspiration for her wine label and where she sources premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. When she wears that hat (and boots) she is assisting her aunt, Margo Warnecke Merck, to manage the family’s 80-acre vineyard growing premium grapes for winery clients. She is deeply interested in the long-term potential of her local agricultural community and in 2019 joined the Alexander Valley Grapegrowers Association Board and heads their Marketing Committee and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She holds a BA in Art History from Stanford University and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from California College of the Arts, and draws incredible portraits for community projects. Alice is WSET 2 certified and is currently pursuing a Viticulture Certificate at Washington State University.
Photo credit: Alisha Sommer
Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse | Birdhorse Wines
Birdhorse is a collaboration between partners - in love and winemaking - Corinne Rich and Katie Rouse, who met and fell in love while attending the UC Davis V&E Master's program. The inspiration for Birdhorse Wines came from an impactful harvest season spent in South Africa, where the energy and creative perspectives of a new winemaking generation are fundamentally shifting the winemaking landscape. Corinne and Katie are passionate about adventure and rediscovery; creating wines that are truly reflective of the diversity of terrain, climate and humans in California. They produce wines from grapes and regions that have historical precedent in this state, but have yet to have their turn in the spotlight. The wines are minimal intervention, focused on freshness, texture and showcasing the uniqueness of each cultivar. The wines are crafted from organically-farmed vineyards, with no additives other than minimal sulfur, to best showcase the singularity of the fruits' point of origin.
Jacqueline Person | CARBONISTE
CARBONISTE is a wine brand started in 2017 and dedicated to producing modern sparkling wines from distinct vineyards and varieties in California. It began with the realization that there are styles of sparkling wines that don’t exist and deserve to have life breathed into them. They want to reimagine what sparkling wines can be through taking advantage of California’s special terroir.
Their team is composed of Dan and Jacqueline Person, two winemakers based in Napa. After meeting at UC Davis, they worked around the world, then around California. Dan worked for Schramsberg Vineyards for 3 years, making traditional sparkling wines from California grapes. Based on that experience, Dan decided there was a need for a new interpretation of California sparkling wine. Jacqueline was concurrently making still wines from a variety of terroirs that inspired their vineyard selections. Their wines are made by hand, with the highest level of attention and caring. They have hand bottled, disgorged, and labeled each bottle.
Paula Harrell | P. Harrell Wines
Paula Kornell | Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine
Reviving a Napa Valley tradition begun by her father, pioneering winemaker Hanns Kornell of Kornell Champagne Cellars, Paula Kornell is carrying on the family legacy in her own inimitable way with Paula Kornell sparkling wines. The launch of her own wine brand in partnership with Vintage Wine Estates brings Paula full circle. No longer the little girl who sold prunes, walnuts, and peacock feathers in front of the family tasting room, she is a consultant and community leader with 30-plus years of experience in the wine industry. As principal of Kornell Wine Company, she has consulted with esteemed wine brands and appellations throughout Napa and Sonoma Counties.
Alex Young | Blanc Space
Alex Young, a Reno/Tahoe native, grew up with a love of wine, thanks in part to her Mom who was studying for the Master's with the Court Of Sommeliers. Alex worked in the fine dining service industry for 15 years before deciding to take a chance on a harvest internship where she fell in love with winemaking and the wine industry. She is currently going into her 4th harvest as the Assistant Winemaker at Judd's Hill and 3rd harvest for her own label, Blanc Space.
Kristin Olszewski | Nomadica Winę
After earning a degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Gender Studies, Kristin Olszewski got her start in restaurants in the Bay Area. She joined the front of house team at Saison, where she was first exposed to French wine. She has been a sommelier at Straight Wharf Restaurant in Nantucket, Beverage Director at Husk Nashville and for F10 Creative in Palm Springs. She was on the sommelier team at Osteria Mozza working with a list of over 1500-all-Italian selections and is obsessed with Italian wines. Kristin is currently the Wine Director at Gigi's where she has curated a list focused in wines from France and California. She’s a Founder and Chief Beverage Officer of Nomadica Wine where she curates a selection of high quality canned wine.
Sarah Wuethrich | Maggi Hawk Vineyards
Sarah Wuethrich is a full-time mom, winemaker, and Chablis lover from Santa Rosa, CA, with a passion for making expressive and powerful Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Anderson Valley through her Maggy Hawk wines. With over 19 years in wine production, and a broad spectrum of experience from vineyards up and down CA and OR, Sarah is excited to connect with other motivated women who are looking to stir things up in the wine industry.
Terah Bajjalieh | Terah Wine Co.
A native Californian, Terah spent time in hospitality, working in wine bars; a Michelin- starred restaurant, wine education, and consulted with various sommeliers in the Bay Area. Terah ambitiously immersed herself into the international world of wine, studying in both Spain and France and working 13 harvests covering five countries. Terah holds a BS in finance from San Jose State University and a master's degree in enology and viticulture from France’s prestigious Montpellier SupAgro.
In 2020, she started her personal wine label and consulting company called Terah Wine Co. through which she continues to pursue winemaking and other opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. She currently is the head winemaker for Dorcich Family Vineyards. Most recently, she completed the WSET level three certification with merit.
Photo credit: @alyssatwelker
Shanna Vanderstoel | Tooth & Nail Wine Company
Marcia Torres Forno | Matanzas Creek Winery
Though she has over 20 years of professional winemaking experience, Marcia’s introduction to the grape goes back to her childhood. Born in Santiago, Chile, to parents of Spanish and Italian ancestry, Marcia often spent time at her family’s Maule Valley ranch, which had a wine cellar.
Marcia went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering, with an emphasis in Fruiticulture and Enology, at Catholic University in Santiago. In 1995, Marcia started her first winemaking job at Viña Cousiño Macul in Santiago, Chile. She then joined Viña Canepa, also in Santiago, as assistant winemaker. In 1996, Marcia came to the United States as part of the Communicating for Agriculture and Exchange Program. Her first California winemaking job was as an enologist at Cardinale Winery in Napa Valley. From there, she worked for Kendall-Jackson Winery in both Sonoma and Napa counties as assistant winemaker. Marcia was named winemaker for Pelton House in 2006 before being appointed Winemaker of Matanzas Creek Winery in 2010.
Ann Kraemer | Yorba Wines
From studying pomology at UC Davis to working on the family orange groves, Ann earned her ‘viticulture’ stripes managing vineyards for Domaine Chandon and Swanson. She eventually moved into consulting for both wineries and vineyards, such as Ancien, Cain, Calera, Paul Hobbs, Stagecoach and Shafer, as well as clients in Oregon and Chile. With over 20 years of experience in the premium wine industry, Ann and her extended family developed Shake Ridge Vineyards from its inception.
Though she thrived in the industry, Ann longed for a chance to farm again. Shake Ridge Vineyards is proving a worthy, and demanding, subject for her passion. By custom-farming small vineyard blocks, Ann is able to provide Yorba and the other Shake Ridge winemakers the highest quality fruit. As Ann says, “It’s all in the details.”
Andreya Nightingale | Mortar Pestle Cooking
mortarpestlecooking.com | perennialmoxie.com
Food changes the world. Andreya learned this truth time and time again from her grandmother’s pierogi kitchen, to the tables of her Belgian host families; from the Washington farms and gardens she studied at Western Washington University, to the spice and smoke scented street kitchens where she lived in the French West Indies. After wearing many different hats in the legal, wine, and restaurant industries, Andreya Nightingale decided to put her talents to work and establish Mortar Pestle Cooking in 2017, with the goal of bringing thoughtful and honest food and wine to the Bay Area community. Always a student of the world’s delights, she is a certified sommelier, WSET Diploma candidate, and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone. In 2020, Eric (her husband) and Andreya started Perennial Moxie as a platform to inspire self-sufficiency in victory gardening, cooking, and spreading the love for super rad and under-represented winemakers.
Clemence Lelarge-Pugeot | Champagne Lelarge-Pugeot
The Lelarge family has been growing grapes since 1789 in Vrigny, a Premier Cru village in the Montagne de Reims. Today, the seventh and eighth generation work together to make electric, terroir-driven champagnes from their distinct sandy and clay limestone soils.
Certified organic and biodynamic (Ecocert and Demeter), the Lelarge domaine farms 4.4 hectares of Meunier, 2.8 hectares of Pinot Noir and 1.5 hectares of Chardonnay. The family nurtures their vines to produce a diversity of cuvées, all with a sense of place and respect of nature and humankind. Clémence is the 8th generation of the winery, sharing her life between Champagne and Sonoma County. She focuses on spreading Lelarge-Pugeot to the world - currently handling worldwide distribution.
Emily Virgil | Trail Marker Wine Co.
Emily Virgil is the founder and owner-operator of Trail Marker Wine Company, a small winery started with husband and partner, Drew Huffine. Virgil and Huffine make premium, handcrafted wine from family-owned vineyards in Northern California. In 2019, Trail Marker was named ‘winery to watch’ by Wine & Spirits magazine.
Erin Frances Pooley | little Frances
Erin Pooley was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. Before relocating to California, she graduated from Charles Sturt University with a degree in Wine Science. Enamored with the nuance and intrigue of white wine with bottle age and with 5 years of winemaking under her belt, Erin started her wine company in 2012 with Semillon from the Luchsinger Vineyard in Lake County, California, subscribing to the philosophy of aging Semillon before release. These dry white wines develop a savory complexity and depth fascinating to experience over years of cellaring. Little Frances continues to expand on what is possible for Northern Californian wine by adding a textured Chenin Blanc from the celebrated Clarksburg region, and a Merlot made with a white wine lens. The focus for Little Frances is engaging table wines rooted in Northern California and made with minimal intervention. In 2018, Erin was honored to be featured as a San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker to Watch.
Giulia Negri | Giulia Negri
Taking over a well-established Barolo estate at the age of 24 is an incredibly daunting prospect, but for Giulia Negri, the latest in a 150-year line of grape growers in the Langhe commune of La Morra, the challenge proved irresistible. After completing studies in management and biology, and fresh off an inspiring trip to Burgundy, Giulia returned to La Morra motivated to learn all the secrets to making fine wine in her native Piemonte. She started small, releasing microcuvées under her own label, before finally taking over the totality of vineyard management and production in 2014. In the heart of the Serradenari cru of La Morra—the highest point in the Barolo zone, with vineyards culminating at 536 meters above sea level—Giulia passionately pursues her goal of crafting Barolo with a Burgundian sensibility. Barologirl, as she has become known, may still be the new kid on the block in La Morra, but tasting her wines reveals a fine touch and devout respect for tradition that already places her wines among the region’s classics.
Jaimee Motley | Jaimee Motley Wines
Jaimee Motley was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland within the walls of her family’s restaurant. After graduating from the University of Maryland, she moved to San Francisco to pursue graduate school for painting, but in the end could not resist her roots. She fell back into the restaurant business working at Locanda and RN74, where her passion for wine was officially ignited.
From there, she worked in both northern and southern hemispheres in the cellar and vineyard, and spent her last pennies traveling to Europe to walk vineyards and speak with people who have a coveted history in the field of viticulture. In 2015, she accepted an assistant winemaker position at Pax Wine Cellars, and soon began importing Stockinger barrels—from one of the great artisanal coopers of Europe—from Austria in 2016. After 4.5 years working with Pax she decided in December of 2019 to move on from his assistant to focus on Jaimee Motley Wines and start a family with her husband Nico Cueva.
Photo credit: Leigh Ann Beverley @bonafideproductions
Jennifer Reichardt | Raft Wines
Jennifer Reichardt was born and raised in Sonoma County, California and from day one, has lived a life centered in food production. Her passion for good, quality food, transferred to the way Jennifer approached a career in winemaking. In Autumn 2011, she completed her first harvest in Sonoma County, where she got a sneak-peek into the inner-workings of what it takes to make a great bottle of wine. Many vintages later, she launched her own brand in 2016, Raft Wines. A raft, by definition, is a community of waterfowl, like ducks, and the philosophy behind the brand is to craft a wine that is shared with a community - whether it be around a dinner table, or at a picnic with friends. Raft Wines focuses on hand-crafted, small lot wines from vineyards farmed sustainably and organically. She currently splits her time between the family business, Sonoma County Poultry, Liberty Ducks, and Raft Wine.
Jocelyn Jackson | JUSTUS Kitchen
Jocelyn Jackson’s passion for seasonal food, social justice, creativity, and community is rooted in a childhood spent on the Kansas plains. Her family would always sing a song before sharing a soulful meal. Jocelyn founded JUSTUS Kitchen to continue to create food experiences that inspire people to reconnect with themselves, the earth, and one another, with the goal of collective liberation. And she still begins every meal with a song.
Jocelyn also co-founded People’s Kitchen Collective (with co-founders Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik and Saqib Keval), to continue to create food experiences that inspire people to reconnect with themselves, the earth, and one another with the goal of collective liberation. People’s Kitchen Collective (PKC) believes in radical hospitality and uses food as a way to address the critical issues of our time. Through large-scale community dining for hundreds of guests, PKC amplifies histories of political movements, migration, and displacement. PKC was named “Rising Star Chef” by the San Francisco Chronicle, honored on the YBCA 100 list, and presented with the advocate award at CAAMFeast.
Photo Credit: Sana Javeri Kadri
Katy Wilson | LaRue Wines
LaRue Wines is focused on producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay exclusively from vineyards on the Sonoma Coast. For a long time winemaker and proprietor, Katy Wilson, had visualized the wines that she wanted to make: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that are complex and vibrant with elegant acidity. LaRue is named after Katy’s great-grandmother, Veona LaRue, who was a firm believer that if you put your nose to the grindstone, you would be able to accomplish almost anything. With her great-grandmother as a role model, Katy worked her way from being a small town farm girl to becoming an accomplished winemaker.
Since LaRue’s first harvest in 2009, Katy has committed to making exceptional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from some of the top vineyard sites on the Sonoma Coast. Maxing out production at about 500 cases, Katy is determined to do everything on her own, from hauling grapes, to punchdowns, to racking.
Maura Johnson | March Wines
While studying Mathematics at UC Davis, Maura Johnson learned of the Viticulture and Enology program and knew that it provided the perfect mix of science and hands-on work that she desired.
After graduating, to get as much experience as she could, she jumped hemispheres working in Germany, New Zealand, Australia (twice) and always coming back to Napa for the Northern Hemisphere harvest. In 2013, Maura settled down at Miner Family Winery, with the position as Enologist and was quickly moved up to Assistant Winemaker a year later. In early 2018, she started as Assistant Winemaker at the premium Dana Estates in St. Helena.
In 2016 while still working at Miner, Maura and her winemaking partner and now husband, Charley Johnson, started March Wines. It is a project focusing on high acidity, low alcohol food friendly wines- specializing in Riesling and St. Laurent.
Nicole Walsh | Ser Winery
Ser is an artisanal winery based out of Santa Cruz, CA committed to preserving the "Being" of wine. Producing wines that allow the wine to truly express the varieties and vineyards they are sourced from. Producing varietal, vineyard designate, old world style wines.
Nicole Walsh, Owner and Winemaker of Ser, graduated from Michigan State with a BS in Horticulture, emphasis on Viticulture and Enology. For the past 17 years, Nicole has managed vineyards and made wine in MI, Santa Cruz, and New Zealand.
In 2012, inspired from her New Zealand experience, she decided to start her own wine brand, Ser. With her grower contacts in California, she was able to start working with several varieties such as Pinot Noir, Riesling, Cinsaut, Syrah, Graciano, and a more unknown variety, Cabernet Pfeffer. Selecting cool climate vineyards with special soils and microclimates, it is her commitment to winemaking to produce soulful wines with minimal intervention to allow the fruit to express where it comes from.
Rachel Martin | Oceano Wines
Rachel Martin founded Oceano Wines in order to take advantage of a special vineyard in San Luis Obispo just 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Oceano Wines is a boutique winery, producing about 1,100 cases of premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir each year. Rachel has been following and studying wines all her life: Her stepfather is a fine wine collector and in 2004 he planted a vineyard at his Boxwood Estate in Middleburg, Virginia, putting Rachel in charge of his nascent winery. After all, she had already studied viticulture and enology at Napa Valley College and at the prestigious University of Bordeaux School of Enology. She helped propel Boxwood Estate Winery’s Bordeaux-style wines to both national and international renown. And she successfully researched and authored a petition to designate Middleburg, Virginia an American Viticultural Area (AVA). Rachel is an outspoken advocate for women in the wine industry. She also supports numerous philanthropic causes with her time and financial assistance, especially those that benefit women and girls like No Kid Hungry and Janie’s Fund.
Ana Diogo-Draper | Artesa Vineyards and Winery
Born and raised in Portugal, Diogo-Draper moved to California in 2005 to join the team at Rutherford Hill Winery. In the course of her eight-year tenure she was promoted from harvest intern to Lab Manager, and finally, Assistant Winemaker. She joined Artesa Vineyards & Winery in 2013 and was promoted to Director of Winemaking in 2015. Known for her collaborative approach, Diogo-Draper thrives in the fast-paced winery environment and excels at a wide diversity of roles from laboratory analysis and quality control assurance to creative applications such as sensory analysis and blending. Diogo-Draper credits her professional success to a passion for agriculture and winemaking, nurtured from a young age in Portugal when she first planted vines with family and neighbors immersed in the European tradition of wine appreciation. Diogo-Draper holds a B.A. in Agriculture Engineering from the University of Évora, situated in the middle of Portugal’s historic cork industry. Fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French, Diogo-Draper brings an international perspective to the Artesa winemaking team.
Remy Drabkin | Remy Wines
Remy Drabkin knew at age 8 that she wanted to be a winemaker, by 14 she was working a REAL wine job and at 25 launched both Remy Wines and Three Wives. What's the difference between the two labels? Remy Wines are Italian varietals grown in the Pacific Northwest, they are 100% varietal and barrel aged anywhere from 14 months up to 3 years (she even has a 10 year project!), these are all very limited production wines. Three Wives is her playground for any wines she makes that are varietals outside of the Remy Wines lineup and for blends.
“I'm really proud of my wines, my team and everything we've built together and we couldn't do it without you!”
Sarah Heller | Wheeler Farms
Sarah Heller grew up in a small town in Connecticut, where from a young age cooking was her passion and focus. She graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI with a BS in Culinary Arts, before moving to Boston to work at Spire with Chef Gabriel Frasca. After a visit to Napa Valley, Sarah made the move in 2004 for a position at Thomas Keller’s Michelin starred Bouchon Bistro, becoming its first female Sous Chef. She next joined Chef Christopher Kostow at the Michelin Three Star, The Restaurant at Meadowood, learning both a new sense of creativity and technique. Taking all she had learned in 2009 she founded Radish Leaf Cuisine, a private catering company working with top tier Napa and Sonoma wineries and private clients. After 10 years of helming her own business Sarah began working with Wheeler Farms as both Executive Chef and Director of Gardens. At Wheeler Farms Sarah is responsible for creating memorable food and wine paired meals for guests from all over the world, using ingredients from the property’s orchard, gardens and chickens.
