90 Point Wines of Austria
International Women Winemakers for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2020
We’re celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, and March as Women’s History Month with a salute to our fabulous women winemakers.
Angela Michlits, biokult, Pamhagen, Austria
Angela Michlits
Angela Michlits is one of our outstanding women winemakers, and the primary winemaker for biokult Biodynamic wine from Pamhagen, Austria. From the beginning Angela was in charge of all the winemaking and vinification processes. While their three children are at school, Angela spends her day in the cellar with her colleagues. She understands the use of traditional wine growing and winemaking techniques and has developed them in modern ways. Angela and her husband’s search for establishing the best conditions and thus letting nature do its best work for the wines without excessive human intervention is very innovative and contemporary, while hearkening back to ancient practices.. Read more here about Angela and biokult.
Veronica Pareja, Bodegas Familiares Matarromera, Ribera del Duero Spain
Veronica Pareja
Veronica Pareja, Winemaker and Cellar Chief for Bodegas Familiares Matarromera, helped to develop the award-winning organic wines from the Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Toro regions of Spain. Veronica previously worked both at the University of Córdoba and the Denomination of Origin Montilla-Moriles.
Elodie Gilles, Maison Raymond, Bordeaux
Elodie Gilles
Our French organic wine partners at Maison Raymond hired Cellar Master Elodie Gilles in 2017, straight from famed Champagne house Veuve Clicquot. Elodie chose to become a Cellar Master because of her passion for wine and a desire to get closer to the final product. She comes with impressive credentials. Elodie holds a Master 2 in viticulture, terroir and environment. As Cellar Master, she is responsible for every aspect of the organic wine production from the time the grapes arrive at the winery to the time the bottled wine is shipped out. She works with the winemaker, Yohan Lafon, to create wines that reflect his taste and style, while imbuing important aspects of femininity into the wines.
Check out this video about the Strong Women of Bordeaux featuring Elodie!
Dorina Lindemann, Quinta da Plansel, Portugal
Dorina Lindemann
After completing her degree in oenology at Geisenheim University in 1997, Dorina Lindemann moved with her husband, Thomas, to Portugal to join her father at the family winery. She used the existing vineyards from the grapevine breeding operations established by her father to produce her own organic wines of Quinta da Plansel and systematically extended the vineyards as part of a targeted expansion program involving the production of propagation material. Decades’ worth of experience were quickly passed from father to daughter. Today, Dorina and her two daughters, Luísa and Julia, enthusiastically advocate Portuguese wines vinified from the grapes of autochthonous varieties, especially those from the Alentejo region.
Famous Women of Wine Throughout History
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine lived in the 12th century during the ages of Robin Hood and was known for her high-spirited nature. As a member of a powerful royal family, she ruled the entire region of Southeast France and was one of the wealthiest women of the time. A fan of fine wine, Eleanor single-handedly started the import of Bordeaux wines to England. She’s been played by several women over the years in Hollywood films including Katharine Hepburn and Glenn Close. Read the whole juicy story of Eleanor here.
La Veuve Clicquot, or the Widow Clicquot
Widowed in 1805 at the age of just 27, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, née Ponsardin, took over her late husband’s business and turned it into a thriving wine house. By developing a new technique known as riddling, or remuage, she was instrumental in creating early champagne. Her name remains on the famous yellow-labelled champagne bottles of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin to this day.
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