Women in Wine

This past weekend, I attended the second annual Women for WineSense Grand Event, Celebrating Women in Wine, at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. The event provided an educational and entertaining opportunity for women to connect with others who share their passion for wine.

The weekend festivities were kicked off with a lively food and wine reception at Paraduxx Winery, which set the stage for the weekend events to come.

On Saturday there were many educational seminars to choose from. Speakers lectured on organic vineyard practices, sensory evaluations, and food and wine pairings taught by a sommelier and a master chef.

The Symphony of Wine class discussed how music-from classical to jazz-can actually affect the sensory evaluation of wine.

The educational portion of the day was followed by a delicious buffet prepared by the chefs at the CIA, and accompanied by fine wine and toasts to new women “rising stars” in the wine industry.

Southern California wine marketer Julie Brosterman who founded Women & Wine was the first to receive a rising star award.

“This is my first recognition from my peer group, and it means a lot,” Brosterman said, “It’s really about connecting with old friends, and feeling like you are a part of the community.”

Other Rising Star recipients included Vanessa Wong, a winemaker from Sonoma who makes world-class, single-vineyard wines, and winemaker Whitney Fisher from Fisher Vineyards who is working on her tenth vintage.

Susan Sokol Blosser, President of Sokol Blosser Winery in Oregon, received a lifetime achievement award for her pioneering spirit of planting vines in a place that previously had no wine industry. She is recognized as playing a large part in shaping Oregon’s wine industry, and has written the book, At Home in the Vineyard.

Dawnine Dyer, a California winemaker and a founding board member of Women for WineSense, was one of the speakers at the event. Dyer said the event was an opportunity to reflect on what women have accomplished, and added, “The energy here is good.”

She believes that the door is open for women in the wine business, with plenty of good opportunities in the future.

Women taking leadership roles in the wine business do not always have it easy, Dyer says. “The goal, and difficult aspect of this job is to achieve is a balance between family and your work—and it is hard to achieve.”

The day commenced with a grand tasting on the terrace of the CIA, where fellow wine enthusiasts were able to taste wines made by women in leadership roles. They were also able to connect with others, and reflect upon the day.

“It is incredible—sometimes you feel alone, and there are not a lot of women in this profession, so the only resources you have is something like this,” stated Sommlier Barbara Paige who is the Director of Hospitality and Marketing for Caldwell Vineyards in Napa.

“It is also good to have different perspectives on what people are thinking and doing in the wine business,” added Albacela Winery Vice President Hilda Jones.

Wineries from all over the valley opened their doors the following Sunday with behind the scenes tours at wineries. Spring Mountain, Quixote, Paloma, Palmaz, Swanson, St. Supery, EMH and Schweiger Vineyards all participated in tours and exclusive wine tasting.

Deborah Brenner, author of Women of the Vine summed up the weekends festivities by saying, “What I’ve learned is that you can do what you want to if you are passionate about it and believe in it…but it does take patience.”

Brenner insists, “Everyone should spend time with all these wonderful women in wine.”

Written by Karen