Some time ago, I started to take note of the number of women winemakers I was encountering in my reading and research. I decided, on a whim, to keep a list, and today that list runs to more than 900 names, including those of winemakers in such unlikely places as Tunisia, Bulgaria, Israel and China. A few years ago, when I was invited to conduct a tasting for a group I meet with occasionally, I took "women winemakers" as my theme, and before I had a chance to present the wines one of the gentlemen in the group raised his hand and asked me what I hoped to prove; my answer was that I hoped to prove that I had nothing to prove! In the spirit of having "nothing to prove," then, let me introduce you to a few of my favorite women winemakers.
+/- Women winemakers
Winemaker: Stacy Clark, graduate of UC Davis, winemaker at Pine Ridge in California's Napa Valley for more than 25 years
wine to try: Pine Ridge 2009 Chenin Blanc/Viognier @ $13.99
Winemaker: Dorina Lindemann, native of Germany, trained oenologist, co-founder with her father, industrialist Jorge Bohm, of Quinta da Plansel in Portugal's Alentejo region
wine to try: Marques de Montemor 2008 Tinto @ $15.99
Winemaker: Arianna Occhipinti, natural winemaker from Vittoria, Sicily, trained under her uncle at the COS Estate and at university in Milan, making her own wine since 2004 (when she was 21)
wine to try: Occhipinti 2008 Frappato @ $34.99
Winemaker: Belinda Thomson, a "flying winemaker" from Australia (Crawford River), making some of the best white wines from down under and, since 2007, in Spain
wine to try: Shaya 2009 Old Vines Verdejo @ $14.99