Raising a glass to the women shaping the world of wine

Women In Wine - by Ana Jackson MW

Writing about women in wine is actually more difficult than I thought - because there is too much of a choice out there! Where to start, where to focus?

There are female winemakers/ successful owners of wine businesses across all regions, from the classics of Bordeaux to Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont, Rioja, Austria, Germany, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Greece, and the UK—and this is just off the top of my head and mainly from our range.

I am always inspired by great stories and successful businesses. If they happen to be driven by women, then what better time to champion their stories than around International Women’s Day?

Here are a few of my personal choices from our wine range, where women are either making the wine or running the business.

Albino Rocca

Albino Rocca is a top-ranked producer from Barbaresco, making some of the region’s Nebbiolo and Barberas.

Albino, the grandfather, started the winery and passed it on to his three granddaughters, Paola, Monica, and Daniela. They have moved away from the traditional 90s style of rich, oaky wines toward fresher, more pure expressions. They have reverted to large old 2000-litre barrels (German and Austrian oak), allowing the wines to express themselves without submerging the fruit.

They have 20 hectares of vines, some very old, mainly in some of the top Barbaresco Crus: Ronchi (surrounding the winery), Cotta, Ovello and Montersino. The 2021 releases are some of their best-ever wines, scoring alongside and above luminaries such as Angelo Gaja

the wines to express themselves.

Every bottle I tried from Albino Rocca has the most expressive character of the grape, be it Nebbiolo for Barbaresco, Dolcetto, or Barbera. This purity, coupled with the ingenious use of oak, gives subtle yet complex character to the wines, which can age but are in excellent condition to drink now.

Dom Collotte

The family estate is based in Marsannay in the North of CDN. Isabelle Collotte has been the female winemaker since 2014. She was self-taught and determined to make terroir-pure wines. When she took over the estate after her husband's sad passing, Isabelle showed similar traits to those of her great-great-grandmother Terese.

This estate has grown from 3 hectares to 16 in 40 years through conviction and love of the terroir.

This very talented young winemaker makes the most elegant, perfumed wines of high quality.

Gavi il Poggio

Gavi producer - Run by the energetic Francesca Poggio, II Poggio is a family-run, sustainably focused winery in the heart of Gavi DOCG, a tranquil and harmonious environment on the magical Rovereto hill, located in the Piedmont region in the north of Italy.

Francesca left her previous job as an estate agent in Milan to return to the family farm and grow grapes on a prime hillside donated by her relatives at the neighbouring Gavi icon La Scolca. It would be fair to say that Francesca’s wines now reach similar levels to those of her famous neighbour. The home vineyards are worked organically, with great care taken to maximise biodiversity in the vineyard.

Also, in the business, Francesca works with her sister, her husband, and her daughter. To quote her, her business is ‘my happy place’.

Spiropoulos

The Spiropoulos family have been growing vineyards and making wine in the Peloponnese since the late 19th century. The original winery was built in 1890 on the plateau of Mantinia at 650 metres above sea level. The PDO Mantinia is responsible for some of the best white wines in Greece and is famous for the aromatic white grape Moschofilero, which forms most of the plantings here. All the Mantinia vineyards are organically cultivated, as are their vineyards in Ancient Nemea, where they grow the Agiorgitiko variety and have a separate modern winery. A little more conventionally grown fruit is sourced from Corinth.

In the last few years, Konstantina Spiropoulos has taken over the running of the estate from her father, Nonda. She has overseen an immediate uplift in quality, producing modern wines of freshness and purity.

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