Celebrating Women in Wine

Raising a Glass to Outstanding Women in Wine

Noble Estates Wine & Spirits, a wine agent here in the Toronto area, hosted a fantastic event in Toronto a couple weeks ago: Celebrating Women in Wine.  The event featured women from 20 wineries around the world.

The list of women was impressive – there were owners, winemakers, enologists, and women who hold important behind-the-scenes functions that no modern winery can do with out: positions related to sales, marketing, and export. Though many attendees were there primarily to taste the wines, I saw it as a rare opportunity to chat with a bunch of incredible women who are driven by hard work and a love for wine.

The first woman I spoke with was Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, Proprietress of Badia a Coltibuono, a winery in Siena, Tuscany.  Though she grew up in Milan, the winery has been in the family for 170 years. In the 1980s she began doing marketing for the winery and she now manages it, with her brothers looking after sales and the restaurant.

Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti of Badia a Coltibuono

Since I was unfamiliar with Badia a Coltibuono, I asked whether it’s the type of winery that’s considered a destiny. In a wonderfully modest fashion, Emanuela indicated that the winery, which used to be an abbey, is very much a destination, with rooms, a restaurant, and even a cooking school. When I asked her how the cooking school came about, she explained that her mother was a “food writer”. When I asked what that means, she explained that her mother was a well-known cookbook author who also had a cooking show on PBS for a time. Indeed, it turns out her mother is Lorenza de Medici, author of over 30 cookbooks. In terms of their wines, Emanuela described their Chianti as a wine that “shows the history of Chianti” – and with the pedigree of the family and the winery, it’s hard to argue with that!

I then went in search of Beth Nickel, Proprietress of the famed Napa winery Far Niente  With the recent news of the devastating fires in California, the first question was about the fate of their winery and vines, and of the general region. She said a few wineries were damaged, but theirs were not. She also affirmed reports that the vineyards proved to be a natural defense to the fires because the vines hold so much moisture. Nonetheless, she showed photos and said it was a frightening experience and she and her family were evacuated for 10 days.

Beth and her husband Gil launched Far Niente in the late 1970s and I thought I read that they had just sold it. She explained that they took on a new partner last year, but that they are still very much involved. She was especially excited to talk about their Nickel & Nickel wines, which are all single vineyard.

Marta Casas, winemaker of Parés Baltà , a winery outside Barcelona, had an interesting story too. It turns out she and the other winemaker there married into the business. Marta is married to Josep Cusiné and Elena Jiménez, the other winemaker, is married to Joan, Josep’s brother. Together, the brothers manage the winery.

Marta, who began her professional career as a pharmacist, was always interested in wine and she eventually decided to go back to school to study it. I’m not sure when exactly she and Josep met, but clearly their common interest in wine must have played a part in them being together and working at Parés Baltà. Given that Barcelona’s been in the news lately as well, I took the opportunity to ask Marta about it. She confirmed that things are a bit tense now, and they don’t know what the future holds. But, she was much happier to talk about winemaking and about the fact that their winery is organic and biodynamic. One of her wines – their Cava Brut NV – which is made of the classic Catalan blend of Parellada, Macebeo, and Xarel-lo, was one of my favourites at the event.

Barbara Widmer of Casa Brancaia

Barbara Widmer, owner and winemaker at Tuscany’s Casa Brancaia, was there pouring her “super Tuscans” – basically Bordeaux-style blends that feature Sangiovese and other grapes that are not indigenous to Italy. Her TRE, named because it’s a blend of three wines: 80% Sangiovese with a mix of Merlot and Cab Sauv, was lovely. Widmer, who doesn’t look or sound Italian, is, in fact, from Switzerland. Her parents bought the property and started the winery in Tuscany while living in Zurich. Having summered at the winery while growing up, Barbara realized she wanted to be in the business and in she took over winemaking there in 1998.

The wine business – especially when it comes to Old World wineries – is often a family business. So, it’s not surprising that some of the women I spoke with had family connections. But, that doesn’t mean their entrée into the business was a snap. Indeed, the story of Françoise Antech, Proprietress at Antech Limoux, is an example of the fact that even within a family, women can face barriers. Though her grandmother had been involved in the winery, when she expressed interest in working in the family business, her father discouraged her. So, she made her way in the world, working in the perfume business for many well-known French firms. Eventually, with enough business experience behind her, she reasserted her interest, and the rest is history. Since 1996 she has worked alongside her father and uncle at the estate that specializes in sparkling wines.

I’m very pleased to note that the event also featured a few women from the Ontario wine scene: Elisa Mazzi, who has been assistant winemaker at Malivoire for seven years, and Beth Whitty, Proprietress of 13th Street Winery. I am embarrassed to say that though I’ve frequently visited both these wineries, I had not met either of them. I promised both that at a future visit I’d speak with them at length and write about their journey through the wine industry.

In closing, I just want to say hats off to Mark Coster of Noble Estates Wine & Spirits. I understand he played a big role in putting this event together. It is a terrific idea and one that I hope is repeated and perhaps grows, celebrating more women in wine.

Sometimes Grandma Knows Best …

Shauna White, winemaker and vineyard manager

A friend and I were out for a drive in Caledon on a recent Saturday. It was a lovely day and so I suggested we head up to Hockley Valley Resort and the Adamo Estate Winery. I had been there when it first opened in September 2016 but Shauna White, the winemaker, was not there during my previous visit.

My recent visit was spur-of-the-moment and it never crossed my mind that Shauna might be there. To my pleasant surprise, she was. But, she was leading a private tasting when we got there. JP Adamo, one of the owners, was also there and since I had met him before, I decided to ask if he thought Shauna might be free later. I also mentioned that I happened to have my camera and if she were willing, I’d love to do a short video with her. (Whenever I’m headed out for a drive, though visiting wineries isn’t always the plan, it’s always something I’m up for, so I usually take the camera and I made sure the battery is fully charged, just in case!) When Shauna was done with the tasting, she agreed to a video interview.

Adamo Estate Winery

As with so many winemakers, Shauna has travelled the world to hone her craft. And, as with so many winemakers, the story of how she got into winemaking is personal and tied to family. Click here to see the video. When you’ve finished watching, you’ll probably have one question that you wish I’d have asked.

Well, I don’t know why I didn’t ask it on camera, but I did ask afterward. For the answer to the question of who Shauna’s aunt is, I’ll just say it’s someone who’s well known in the Canadian wine world. [Click here to see a video that will reveal who it is.]

Winemaker Amélie Boury’s Favourite Childhood Game Really Paid Off

Winemaker Amélie Boury

Like many winemakers, Château des Charmes’ Amélie Boury attributes a love for the outdoors and growing up on a farm as a reason she’s at home in the vineyard. But, she attributes her interest in winemaking to a creative game her mother played with her growing up. The “Nose Game”, as she referred to it, was “a simple game”: her mom told her to go outside and smell things and then come back and describe them to her.

She loved the game so much, as a young girl growing up in France, she initially thought about a career was in the perfume industry. Somewhere along the line, however, she focused her nosing talents on winemaking, and she hasn’t looked back since.

Amélie was gracious enough to show me around the cellar at Chateau des Charmes and to talk about winemaking –  the unglamorous parts and the joy of seeing people enjoy the wine she’s made. Here’s a video of our chat.

Catherine Langlois – winemaker and owner of Sandbanks Estate Winery

Catherine Langlois

I love Prince Edward County and always look for reasons to visit. This week I had a sad reason – the funeral of a friend’s mother. Because it was a planned trip on a weekday, I decided to see if Catherine Langlois – the winemaker/owner of Sandbanks Estate Winery might be in that day. I dropped the winery an e-mail to ask about meeting Catherine. They got back to me right away and we set it up a meeting.

I love meeting winemakers and have found it especially interesting chatting with women winemakers. Catherine was kind enough to take time from her busy schedule to meet with me and she let me film a short video with her. Click here to watch the video.

As I mentioned to Catherine when we were done shooting the video, I think Sandbanks is an incredibly inviting place. I’ve often thought about why that is. I think lots has to do with the colour scheme and the welcoming lawn full of colourful Muskoka chairs. From the very first time a friend and I were tooling down the Loyalist Parkway headed toward Picton, as we came upon the winery, we were drawn like a magnet to stop in. I imagine that’s how lots of people “discover” Sandbanks Estate Winery.

After meeting Catherine, I now realize that the winery’s ambiance is nothing less than a manifestation of Catherine’s friendliness, enthusiasm, and warmth.

Adamo Estate Winery – a new reason to head to Hockley Valley

Over the past 18 months, I had heard rumours about a new winery in Mono – a “non-traditional” area for a winery. Among the news tidbits about the winery, I remembered reading that Jonas Newman of Hinterland Winery in Prince Edward County was somehow involved. Earlier this summer I found out it’s called Adamo Estate Winery and so I contacted them to see if they were open to the public. They said they’d be opening in September.img_3694

So, last Friday was a beautiful day for a drive in the country and a friend was game to head to Mono. Before we left, I phoned the number on the winery’s website to find out if they were open. I was surprised when they answered as “Hockley Valley Resort”. That was unexpected – I had no idea there was a connection between Hockley Valley Resort (a ski/golf destination) and the winery.

Mono is about an hour north of Toronto, near Orangeville, and we were there in about an hour. The winery is on 3rd Line, just up the road from the resort. I was quite surprised by the huge, attractive structure that houses the winery. Because it’s so new, I was expecting something more on a start-up scale.

img_3671We headed through the welcoming red doors and were wowed by the gorgeous high-ceilinged tasting room and bar area. We were immediately welcomed by JP Adamo, one of the owners of the winery.img_3673

 

 

JP was happy to tell us about the winery. They have 20 acres under vine and are increasing that in the near future. They primarily grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but they also have some Riesling, Vidal, Merlot, Gamay, and Chardonnay Musque. When I said I was surprised that they aren’t focused on hybrids that are less susceptible to cold (they’re next to a ski resort, for heaven sake!), much less that they are growing Merlot, he explained that – like the wineries in Prince Edward County – they bury the vines. (One of the things they turned to Jonas for experience about, no doubt!)

img_3691I had hoped to meet their winemaker, Shauna White, but she was not at the winery that day – she was down in Niagara overlooking the harvest of some grapes that they get from other vineyards. They plan on producing small batches of estate wines, which means consumers have the opportunity to judge for themselves the impact of the different terroir.

Though it’s always tempting to taste a variety of different wines – especially at a winery you’ve never been to – we opted for a Chardonnay flight and a tasting of two Pinot Noirs. All the wines were very good. Of the Chardonnay, I especially liked the 2011 Sogno (which apparently means dream in Italian) un-oaked Chardonnay.

Both 2014 Pinots were quite nice, though we both had a mild preference for the Lowrey (from the St. David’s Bench area of Niagara-on-the-Lake) over the Parke (from the 20 Mile Bench area). Indeed, if you’ve ever had any of the Wes Lowrey’s Five Rows Craft Wines, the similarities are amazing.img_3675

Adamo Estate Winery is a terrific addition to the Ontario wine scene. If you’re the type who likes to drive through rolling hills – maybe to take in the fall colours – it’s a great destination. It’s off to a spectacular start and it’s definitely a place to enjoy now – and likely long into the future.

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JP Adamo was kind enough to let us shoot a short video of him describing the winery. You can find the video here.

 

 

A living lab

On a recent visit to Southbrook Vineyards I asked Ann Sperling, Director, Winemaking and Viticulture, about how the harsh winter of 2014 impacted Southbrook’s spring pruning.

Pruning Technique at Southbrook - Snapshot 3 (05-09-2014 9-11 PM)
Pruned with one cane and a couple of spurs
Pruning Results at Southbrook Sept 2014-second example (05-09-2014 9-10 PM)
Pruned leaving only spurs

She explained that, in general, they pruned pretty heavily. Their theory is that they wanted to ensure that the vines had as much energy as possible, so that they’d be healthy in years to come.

That said, they also experimented a bit. They did pruning trials where they pruned the same variety in different ways to see if different pruning methods have an impact on the vines next year and years to come. In the example she showed us, on one row they left one cane and a couple of spurs. In the next row (of the same variety), the pruned leaving only spurs.  They’ll be taking notes regarding yield and other things and comparing the results of the differently pruned vines – making the vineyard – well, a living lab.

Here’s a video of Ann explaining two of the techniques used on one variety and the different result at this point – September 2014.

Of lemons and lemonade …

Snapshot of Ann Sperling Sept 3 2014
Ann Sperling in the vineyard at Southbrook Vineyards

This week I was out at Southbrook Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Ann Sperling, Director, Winemaking and Viticulture, was kind enough to show me around the vineyard.

Seems the harvest in the Niagara region is going to be late this year (by about three weeks) because of the slow start after the harsh winter and the very wet spring and early summer. Fortunately, though some of us city folk have been complaining about the heat this past week, the growers are thankful for it, as it’s good for the grapes.

Walking through the vines, it was surprising how many of the individual clusters had grapes that were green and grapes that were a deep purple. I asked Ann about this and she explained that the reason for the different stages of ripeness on the same vine is because the primary, secondary, and tertiary buds broke in stages over a period that was longer than usual. The result is grapes in different stages of ripening.

IMG_2083
Grapes harvested in the Green Harvest at Southbrook — Sept. 2014

She said it’s not unusual to have some green grapes among the ripe clusters and that’s why they go through the vineyard and do a “Green Harvest”. This involves trimming out the green grapes from the other ripe grapes. Normally, when they Green Harvest they just take off the less ripe bunches and drop them.

 

 

This year, however, because there’s a fair bit of green among the riper grapes, Southbrook is going to harvest the grapes from the Green Harvest. And, in the spirit of waste not, want not – this year Southbrook will be using them to make verjus.

Here is a short video of Ann Sperling explaining the Green Harvest.

Women Winemakers in Ontario

I’ve updated the app (watch for notification from the App Store for the update) and I’ve included a new category: Women Winemakers.

This is the photo for the app category.
This is the photo for the app category.

I’ve been considering adding this as a category for some time, but a friend of mine thinks it’s sexist of me to do so…. After much thought, I decided to add it – my rationale for doing so is simple: to give a shout out to woman winemakers.

Caroline Granger MVI_1869
Caroline Granger

Women are involved in all areas of the wine business but they often fly below the radar – so I thought it would be nice to celebrate them a bit.

Snapshot 1 (31-08-2014 6-22 PM)
Tanya Mitchell

By the way, of the 144 wineries included in the app to date, 24 of those wineries have women winemakers (or women with the title of associate winemaker). I should also point out that a few of them – like Sue-Ann Staff and Lindsay Puddicombe – are the winemakers at more than one winery, so there aren’t 24 different women winemakers listed in the app. (For the record, this is not uncommon – there are also a handful of male winemakers who are at more than one winery – Andrzej Lipinski and Ross Wise come to mind.)

I’m hoping to get videos of as many of the women winemakers as possible. So far I’ve got videos of:

Click on the names above for a link to the videos.

So – stay tuned…