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Slideshow
Top 50 most powerful women in wine: 50 – 41
Which game-changing women hold the most power in the wine world today?
The fact that there are enough powerful women working in wine to warrant a top 50 is a sign of how far the industry has come in a short space of time.
Since Sarah Morphew Stephen became the first female Master of Wine in 1970, the pace of change has been rapid. Entrants on our list range from 33 to 80 years old, spread evenly between the Old and New World, proving equal opportunities aren’t the sole preserve of the more forward-thinking regions like California.
Our top 50 have been ranked according to the extent they are shaping what’s in our glass, from the winemakers making it, to the savvy buyers bringing it to our attention. The variety of different jobs our entrants undertake is testament to the fact that women have conquered and are thriving in all areas of today’s wine trade. Read on for our first installment of the top 50 most powerful women in wine, where we round up from number 50 to 41.
The list can be found in its entirety in the December issue of the drinks business, out next week. Disagree with our order or feel we’ve left someone important out? Have your say in the comment box below.
Due to popular demand we have changed the image on this page of the feature. The original image was not meant to cause any offence, we apologise to anyone who was offended. We look forward to comments about the feature and the list, Teamdb.
50. DAPHNE GLORIAN
AGE: 52
One of the original pioneers of modern Priorat, along with Rene Barbier, Alvaro Palacios and José Luiz Perez, Swiss-born Daphne Glorian is at the helm of one of Priorat’s smallest and most prestigious estates, Clos Erasmus in Gratallops, which today is almost exclusively sold in the US via her husband Eric Solomon’s import company European Cellars.
Clos Erasmus proved popular with Robert Parker’s erstwhile Spain critic Jay Miller, who gave both the 2004 and 2005 vintages of its Clos i Terrasses a perfect 100- point score, describing the 2005 as having, “liquid minerality.”
Glorian is now shifting her focus at the estate back to Garnacha for her top wine, with the ultimate goal to get as close to 100% Garnacha as possible.
49. ALISON LEVETT
AGE: 54
Our 2012 Woman of the Year, Levett heads up UK on-trade specialist importer Enotria.
Joining the company as CEO in 2006, having worked in consumer marketing for the likes of Allied Domecq and the Campbell Soup Company, Levett is passionate about opening up wine to the world of consumers.
Respected for her integrity and for helping to build Enotria’s reputation, during her time with the company, Levett has been credited with diversifying Enotria’s portfolio, taking it from a strong Italian slant to representing a broad range of agencies from around the world, including a number of new wave Spanish producers from up-and-coming regions such as Cariñena, Cigales and Montsant.
48. SU BIRCH
The chief executive of Wines of South Africa since May 2000, Birch has been a torchbearer for South Africa’s green winemaking initiatives, promoting the industry’s environmentally friendly techniques and strategy in export markets around the world.
In the past 10 years, she has helped to treble sales of South African wine in international markets.
Beyond her immediate role, Birch has been involved in initiatives to get people from disadvantaged backgrounds into the wine trade, and has played an enormous part in promoting sustainability in South Africa, creating a Sustainability Seal, an international first that promotes production integrity from vineyard to consumer.
47. ISABELLE LEGERON MW
AGE: 40
A standard bearer for the natural wine movement,in 2011 Legeron, France’s first female MW, co-founded the Natural Wine Fair with Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrène. Held in London Bridge, the fair featured talks from the likes of natural wine pioneer Nicolas Joly of Château de la Roche aux Moines in the Loire.
It was a sell-out success, spawning a second fair this year, RAW, in which she went head-to-head with Wregg’s Real Wine Fair and pulled in thousands of punters across three days this May, despite the fair overlapping with the London International Wine Fair.
The self-confessed “crazy French woman” plans to repeat the coup next year.
46. DANY ROLLAND
AGE: 61
Married to Bordeaux go-to consultant Michel Rolland, Dany also plays her part in consulting for some of Bordeaux’s biggest names, including a key role as leading consultant for Pomerol estate Le Pin, producer of one of the most expensive wines in the world, run by Jacques Thienpont and Fiona Morrison MW.
She also co-directs The Rolland Collection with Michel – a series of wines from five appellations on the Right Bank in Bordeaux, including Château Fontenil and Le Bon Pasteur, along with three wines from Argentina, including Clos de Los Siete, two from South Africa and one from Spain – Campo Eliseo in Toro.
45. ANN C NOBLE
No round-up of the most powerful women in wine would be complete without tipping one’s hat to Ann C Noble, creator of the Aroma Wheel, credited with enhancing consumer understanding of both wine tasting and wine terminology.
The first woman to work in the oenology department of UC Davis in California, the sensory chemist invented the Aroma Wheel there in 1984.
Divided into segments, the wheel gives a visual map of the different categories and aroma components found in wine, such as floral, spicy, fruity, earthy and woody, and has become an indispensible tool for both wine students and enthusiasts.
44. LOUISA ROSE
AGE: 37
One of Australia’s foremost winemakers, Rose joined Yalumba in 1993, becoming chief winemaker in 2006.
Involving herself in every aspect of winemaking and cellar management during her tenure, Rose has actively pioneered the Viognier variety at Yalumba, resulting in the creation of The Virgilius Viognier, which has helped to put quality Australian Viognier on the map.
Known for her flair and painstaking attention to detail, she has also been instrumental in the development of Riesling at the estate. In her spare time she judges at both Australian and international wine competitions.
43. MAUREEN DOWNEY
AGE: 40
One of the world’s leading experts in fine wine authentication, California-based Maureen Downey runs Chai Consulting, a fine wine collection management firm she founded in 2005.
She is hired by wine collectors across the US to authenticate the contents of their cellars and played a pivotal role in the Rudy Kurniawan case in identifying a number of the wines the Indonesian-born collector was selling as fakes.
She began raising concerns about Kurniawan’s “magic cellar” a decade ago. He is currently on trial in New York for four counts of fraud – and Downey has subsequently been busy doing interviews with Vanity Fair, Fox Business, and CNBC’s Crime Inc. “There’s a lot of dubious wine out there. I don’t sugarcoat it if I find fakes,” she says.
42. VITALIE TAITTINGER
Vitalie Taittinger, credit Oliver Doran
AGE: 33
The eldest daughter of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, Vitalie is gearing up to take the reins at her family’s Champagne house, and is becoming increasingly involved as a global ambassador for the brand, hosting Taittinger tastings and dinners in key cities around the world.
With a degree in design, Vitalie is currently artistic director for the family-owned house, which she joined in 2007, starting out in the marketing department.
Her mission is to develop and reinforce Taittinger’s image through its visual identity via projects such as the Taittinger Collection series, where each release is designed by a contemporary artist.
41. ANNE PARENT
In 1998, Parent took charge of Domaine Parent from her father Jacques. A former law student, she looks after the technicalities of the viti- and viniculture, while her sister Catherine Fages-Parent is responsible for the commercial side of the business.
Parent is custodian of the 10-hectare estate in Pommard, which produces around 6,500 cases of wine a year, 90% of which are exported.
At Domaine Parent, the ever- passionate Anne produces wines of all levels, from Bourgogne to grand cru. During her tenure she has reduced yields and begun fermenting with local yeasts.
Parent is also vice-president of the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne.
I’m all for combining women with wine, especially when they make Riesling for a living, but I’m not sure your visual is really in keeping with the subject. It’s reinforcing the image of women as sex objects, trapped under a glass ceiling, rather than celebrating that they are b****y good at their jobs. Perhaps the image is their to provoke a reaction? If it is, well done, you have.
Well said. I echo your thoughts. Powerful women? More like what you’d see on a mudflap with “hot broad” or something equally sexist.
Mudflap! That’s where I’ve seen that image before (and I do spend alot of time in flyover country). Two problems – would this article be the same if we were talking about powerful men in the wine industry? Would the first image be of a silhouette of a man draped over some satin sheets? Secondly, would the next most important bit of information provided about these powerful people be their age? Not sure I can remember a power list of men that started out with their age? I can’t get past those two points to even read the article. Too bad because I like the idea.
The second picture is just as big of a problem as the first. Would this article have been written the same if it were about powerful men? The second problem is that in this article the very first important piece of information we are given about these powerful women is their age – unless they are over 61 apparently? I couldn’t even get through these two problems to read the article which is a shame because I like the idea of celebrating women in the industry.
Call the art director, STAT, and bring a casket for that illustration. This image of women is dead and smells very bad.
Wow. Worst Visual Ever.
I second Martin’s comments. This image is highly inappropriate and should be swapped out for something else. I agree that it certainly has the effect of provoking a reaction!
Perhaps consider hiring someone other than James Bond to do your graphic design work. Oh, and the 50’s called. They want their view of women back.
Seriously? “Let’s look at powerful women in the industry…” gives you an mage of a woman in heels trapped under a wine glass? I’m not getting it.
Couldn’t get past your image of a “pole dancer provacitively posing in heels” to want to finish reading the article.
I’m always fascinated to learn about the people behind the wines, and am very glad for the recognition that these successful professionals are receiving. The graphic itself seems terribly incongruous with the content of the slideshow, and confusing in the message it is trying to convey, if there is a message at all.
Given that you still have a few more installments to add to this list, I might suggest you give the creative department another chance.
Um yeah, as a woman that has been in the wine business for over 15 years, and often writes about the sensuality of wine and the way it can seduce you, that image is insulting as hell. Period.
Maybe the art director misunderstood the connotation? Very bizarre.
It is always interesting to learn more about the people behind the wines, and those that move the industry. I’m also very glad to see the recognition given to these successful professionals. The original image that you associated with this list seemed terribly incongruous with the content of the article, and sent an extremely confusing, if not an outright misogynist message.
I’m posting this comment a second time, as my original got whacked while you were updating the original image to the one you have currently, which frankly is not much better. From a stripper under glass, to a woman in a nightie adjusting her, um, nightie.
It’s uncertain what the people included in this list would think of this association, but my own thought is that the creative department needs to engage their brains just a bit, and lay of the stock clip imagery.
The new picture’s not much of an improvement. Still ridiculous.
You’re getting a reaction.
But really not the one you want.
With the poor choice of the Playboy/Esquire/Maxim/James Bond image to lead-in to the article you marginalize and objectify the women you are purportedly celebrating.
And for me, just having separate lists for women is offensive. It implies that women in the wine world cannot compete with their male counterparts. (And if they do, it’s based on sexual attributes, not skill.)
All the best,
Nannette Eaton
Really? That’s the new image you’re using? Let’s trade one offensive image for another! No one will notice!
How is a picture of grapes offensive?
That image is no better!
Beyond the fact you swapped out 1 offensive image for another. Your page visit-whoring does nobody any good. Clicking one page at a time to read something is not helping you, nor making anyone want to find out who these people are. Though I do agree with Wine Harlots, “Why would you separate the women from the men”? 1 list, if you need to do it, should be a “people list”.
Regarding the silhouette stripper images in this article… When your next article for the 50 Most Powerful Men in Wine comes out, I expect to see a silhouette of a hunky dude in cut-off jean shorts and no shirt. It’s only fair, right?
ii agree. just a couple tweaks would make this a much more credible piece .one image. one list. better reading format.
Drinks Business is a UK publication. They are still in the dark ages when it comes to women.
Wake up and smell the Rosé, Brits!
Your replacement image shows how truly clueless, old-fashioned and misogynistic you are at TBD. Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad you let her out of the wineglass before she suffocated, but this isn’t much of an improvement. Why would you use a silhouette of a curvy Bond-girl in a miniskirt to illustrate powerful women? If this was the Top 50 Men, would you have shown a silhouette of a muscular guy in a Speedo? I doubt it. Shame on you. Hire a few women designers, for god sakes. (And if you already have female designers on staff, replace them).
What a wonderful way for others in the industry to learn about these amazing women and what they’re doing. I’m sure that Lucy Shaw was thrilled to be covering the subject and I was excited to read about it and learn about these fabulous, dynamic women.
I disagree with the others who commented that women shouldn’t have their own spotlight. In other industries, maybe that’s true, but wine has traditionally been so male-dominated that I think it’s wonderful to highlight this shift and to show that women are making big strides in the wine world. If the list were integrated, men in more prestigious positions (for example Michel Rolland instead of his sister) would overshadow these women. I think this is a great piece.
…Except for the art, of course, which is trashy, insulting, and totally inappropriate. What the hell? Stick a picture of a wine bottle or vineyard in there and let’s be done with this. I know there aren’t a ton of women in this industry, but can you (meaning The Drinks Business) have a little decorum and professionalism? Unreal.
Elizabeth Schneider, Wine for Normal People
I was so angered by both the original “mud flap,” “stripper-under-glass,” “James Bond” illustration, as well as its more respectable sister second invocation, that I wrote a blog post about it.
Now that the illustration has been replaced with a gender-neutral bunch of grapes, I can just be outraged at the strange, myopic, ahistoric introduction; the misogynist need to print these professional’s ages at the tops of their bios; and the blind need to create a “pink ghetto” of women wine professionals.
Why don’t you put pictures of the women in the WINE INDUSTRY that you are writing about? It would be logic if you are going to write an article about them.
I’m utterly amazed by this episode, ie, it’s the 21st century and equality and respect of the sexes has been around for quite some time. What on earth are they thinking of at the Drinks Business???