If there has long been a history of glass ceilings for women in the workplace (I’m looking at you, “Mad Men”), female winemakers and winery owners have nevertheless been shattering glass bottles for decades.
Consider Winemaker Emeritus Geneviève Janssens, famous for her stellar Bordeaux-style wines for Napa’s Robert Mondavi Winery, and her reverence for the globally celebrated To Kalon vineyard on the western Oakville bench.
The French artist joined Mondavi in 1978. She was hired by another icon, the now-retired Zelma Long, who was California’s second woman ever in enology (Mary Ann Graf was the first). Sip any of Janssens’ wines, and you’ll be delighted.
And I have to salute Carol Shelton, as well, winemaker and co-owner of Carol Shelton Wines in Santa Rosa. Playfully called “The Queen Of Zinfandel” among industry friends, she has celebrated her favorite varietal since 1978, alongside smatterings of equally notable white and red blends. With her cozy-casual tasting room in an unlikely industrial area, you might never guess how elegant her wines are.
I could go on and on about more powerhouse women in wine, and for later columns, I certainly will. For notable wines boasting female flair, though, start by giving these other two standouts a try, too.
Pedroncelli Winery
Founded by John Pedroncelli Sr. in 1927, the Geyserville property is now run as a fourth-generation business by president Julie Pedroncelli St. John, with Montse Reece as winemaker.
The two women work closely together on the primarily Dry Creek Valley bottlings spanning Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Chardonnay and accents of unusual wines like a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay; a Sangiovese, an inaugural Blanc de Blancs and a Dry Creek Valley Port blend of Tinta Madeira, Tinta Cao, Souzao and Touriga Nacional (this is the final vintage, with just a few bottles remaining).
Pedroncelli St. John has been in the family business for 39 years, since 1985. She first worked in the tasting room and then, in 1988, started to travel on behalf of the winery.
“There were women on the supplier side of wineries working the market alongside me, as well as a few women in managerial roles at distributors,” she said of the 1980s wine industry. “It had a feeling of a men’s club at times — mostly since I was so new to the business. And, of course, I was not always recognized as a family member … when I was, it was assumed I was the owner’s wife.”
Since she took over in 2022, Pedroncelli St. John has updated the winery’s hospitality center, dialed in the portfolio to focus on estate vineyards and smaller batch wines, and implemented a replant plan for the Home Ranch Vineyard, the original land purchase by her grandparents.
Wilson Artisan Wines
With 11 wineries across Sonoma and Mendocino counties, co-owner and winemaker Diane Wilson has a lot to keep track of. Add to that numerous bottlings ranging from Cabernet Sauvignon to Sauvignon Blanc to a Kenneth Carl Brut sparkling of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a splash of Pinot Meunier. Red wines are her particular favorite.
“I try to make wines that are fruit forward, full bodied, and approachable reasonably soon,” she said. “I don’t think customers should have to wait 10 years to open a bottle.”
Together with her husband, Ken Wilson, she started buying land in western Dry Creek Valley in the early 1980s, planting their first vines in 1988. She soon took over as winemaker, working out of an old tin barn at the historic Fredson Winery (what is now Wilson Winery) in Healdsburg.