This article is the second of a 2-part series featuring women leaders in the wine industry. The first article, Celebrating International Women’s Day With Eight Remarkable Women was published on March 8th, International Women’s Day, an annual event that celebrates women and raises awareness of gender inequality.

Here are nine more fabulous female winemakers to celebrate.

Kathleen Inman, Inman Family Wines, Sonoma, California.

Imagine having to create your own winery because no one would hire you to help in their cellar. That’s what Kathleen Inman had to do. And today, Inman Family Wines, located in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, produces about 50,000 bottles annually of pure, terroir-driven Pinot Noir, as well as a small amount of highly rated Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.

For Inman, equality in the wine industry would mean not having this conversation in the first place. “When every person, regardless of gender, orientation, or race, is able to rise to the highest levels in the area they desire to work in the same way that a white cis man would, I’d say that is when we’ve reached equality,” she says.

A hands-on winemaker, Inman is out there every day driving the forklift, scrubbing tanks and making the wine. The most common gender-related issue she encounters is not being recognized as the winemaker. “If I am with my husband at wine events,” says Inman, “people who are not familiar with our brand always ask Simon the technical questions and assume he is the winemaker.” It got to the point where she and her daughters made a t-shirt for him that says, “I’m not the Inman Family Winemaker, I’m just the trophy husband.”

Inman works hard mentoring women and is irked when she too often hears about well-qualified, experienced women who train men on their team only to see the men promoted ahead of them. “This type of behavior has been going on for years,” she says, “and although it would be wonderful if it changed, I am not optimistic this will happen in the next five years, but ten years give me a great deal of hope, as I believe mothers have been training their sons to understand the equality of women and ultimately that will create the gender equality we seek.

Inman is passionate, though, about women standing on their own merits, and not simply because of their gender. “Although I am a champion of women,” says Inman, “it is important for me to be judged by my products, by the health of my business, and by the way I treat my team and my customers. I want to see women get ahead because they are the best candidates for jobs, not just because we want women to be more equally represented.”

Her advice to women starting out in the industry? Never stop networking. “This is how you find opportunities and continue to learn,” she says. “Seek out mentors, and make sure the culture of the business you are in is a good fit for your personality and your work style. The wine industry feels glamorous from afar but it’s seriously hard physical work. Besides physical strength, you need emotional strength—a tough skin, generally.”

Theodora Lee, Theopolis Vineyards, Mendocino County, California

Theodora Lee, a San Francisco trial lawyer, had been passionate about wine for a long time when she enrolled in viticulture classes at UC Davis. Soon thereafter this hardworking dynamo founded her own winery and today, her award-winning Pinot Noir, Petite Syrah, and Symphony (a rare white variety) consistently win top accolades.

“Being a woman in the wine business has had its challenges,” says Lee. “Industry leaders often don’t take us seriously as winery owners.” One of her biggest obstacles is finding distributors and brokers to get her wines in high end restaurants and wine bars. “Despite a string of Gold Medals and 90 Plus Point wines,” she says, “I still have distributors and brokers questioning the marketability of my brand.” Fortunately, her experience and connections as a lawyer, along with a lot of hard work, grit and pavement-pounding, have helped her place the wines at several high-end restaurants.

Furthermore, as a black woman, Lee deals with what she calls a double-edged sword and is never sure if the challenges she faces are based on sexism or racism. “I not only face the problem of systemic racism,” she says, “but the belittling fist that sexism and misogyny have wrapped around my throat.”

Lee says that wine companies, like every major company in America, need to revisit their anti-discrimination and harassment policies. “We need to build cultural bridges,” she says, “and have a candid conversation about gender and race. We must confront passive sexism and racism, educate everyone about black and women’s history and create diverse and inclusive environments.”

And while the recent outpouring of support for black winemakers, winery owners and wine professionals has been tremendous, Lee hopes “it can be sustained, and is not just a moment, but a momentum.”

As one of the few African American women who owns her own vineyard, Lee is paying it forward with the creation of a fund to encourage future vintners. The Theopolis Vineyards Diversity Fund for the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis awards scholarships of up to $10,000, mostly to students from underrepresented backgrounds and those with financial barriers preventing them from enter the industry.

“I hope to inspire others to become vintners,” says Lee. “It is important that young folks know that they too can pursue careers in viticulture, vineyard management and even own their own vineyard, and thrive in the wine industry. As my father taught me, one must lift as one climbs so I hope this fund will help diversify the wine industry.”

Her advice to a young woman interested in the wine business? “Pursue your passion, educate yourself, work extremely hard, be persistent and be very patient,” she says. “Never give up, keep climbing and success is yours for the taking.”

Patricia Ortiz, Tapiz, Zolo, and Wapisa Wineries, Mendoza, Argentina

For Ortiz, confronting gender issues in the workplace meant learning to have patience and perseverance in situations where male colleagues often wouldn’t listen to her. She says it took time to convince them that she wasn’t the competition.

Ortiz has seen big changes since she entered the wine business 20 years ago, but she says it’s still a man’s industry. “Today there are many more women in the industry,” she says, “but unfortunately not many in decision-making positions. I´m the first female President of the Wine Chamber Association in Argentina, Bodegas de Argentina, and we also have a woman leading Wines of Argentina, the promotion agency for the wines. This is something that 20 years ago was impossible.”

As the mother of five, Ortiz is sensitive to work-life balance issues. “We have a special program for parents, with more flexibility for the first 2 years,” she says. “We encourage fathers to take the same responsibilities, such as when a child is sick or there’s an early pick up for school, to point out that it´s not just the working mother’s responsibility.”

Her advice to a young woman starting out at a winery? “Get in touch with other women in the industry,” she says. “If your local chamber has no women, be the first and ensure your position is equal; get involved in activities and put your perspective out there to slowly convince that you are more of a solution than a threat.”

Elizabeth Bourcier, Bionic Wines, Walla Walla, Washington

Bourcier studied winemaking and viticulture at Walla Walla Community College and California Polytechnic State University. Today she is head winemaker for Bionic Wine’s Walla Walla Valley brands, including Cayuse Vineyards, Horsepower Vineyards, Hors Catégorie Vineyard and No Girls. In 2019, Bourcier was named among Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 Tastemakers in 2019, in which she was praised for helping to create “more than 60 wines that have scored 95 points or above.”

Entering the wine business at a very young age, Bourcier says she wasn’t always taken seriously. “However, I have been fortunate to work alongside men and women who have supported my work and inspired me to reach higher every step of the way,” she says. “The adversities and prejudices I’ve faced have only made me more resilient and driven. I’ve learned the importance of staying true to yourself, being humble, and moving forward through hard work.”

Bourcier hopes to see more women in leadership roles in the cellar and at the executive level too. “I’ve found that women often have more enhanced and discerning palates than their male peers,” she says, “however, we are not always taken as seriously in the tasting setting.”

And like Ortiz, Bourcier is an advocate for work-life balance. “I would like to see more appreciation and open mindedness for mothers in the wine industry,” she says. “Being in the business of alcohol and meeting the demands of the workplace with children is not easy. We need more open conversations about ways to allow mothers to prosper in wine.”

Her advice to women starting out in the wine industry? To get exposed to different growing regions by traveling or working a harvest in another country, and to start out doing the dirty work in the cellar like cleaning the tanks. But most importantly, she says, “Speak up for what you believe in and what feels right to you, and stay humble.”

Naoko Dalla Valle and Maya Dalla Valle, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Napa Valley, California

Since founding Dalla Valle Vineyards in 1986, Naoko has been the guiding force behind Dalla Valle, quietly earning the winery a stellar reputation for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Naoko, in the vineyard almost daily, was joined in 2017 by her daughter Maya, a gifted winemaker who learned her craft working at some of the world’s most iconic wineries.

Naoko, at times, has felt that she was not being taken seriously. She says that women have more voice today, but there’s still room for improvement. “I was fortunate,” she says, “being an owner has more weight but I know there have been unfortunate incidents in the wine industry and my heart aches for those who have experienced them.”

Maya hopes that gender equality will soon become a topic that is discussed as a part of history and not a continuing issue. “I follow a generation of strong female leaders in the industry,” says Maya, “who have paved the way for women today to have greater equality and weight in the industry. I think gender perceptions are something that expand beyond the scope of wine and it's our responsibility to make ourselves heard and respected as not only women in wine, but equitable players in the business.”

Like many of the women I spoke with, Naoko is sympathetic to the challenges women face while raising a family. “I try to be accommodating to the family situation,” she says, “where women generally bear more responsibility and burden than men.”

Mercedes García Rupérez, Bodegas Montecillo, Rioja, Spain.

Armed with a master’s degree in Viticulture and Oenology from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and a degree in Oenology from the University of La Rioja, Garcia Rupérez joined the winery in 2008. During her time, she has helped modernize this 150+ year-old winery, while keeping it true to its roots, and maintaining a deep respect for the land.

Garcia Rupérez says she hopes we reach a point where women no longer have any stories to share about times when they felt less valued. “When I was studying,” she says, “things were more or less equal, but in the jobs I've had, men used to hold the senior roles where they had the final say. In fact, in a recruitment process that I was involved in years ago for another winery, they actually stopped the process twice as they wanted men for the role and the final candidates were women.”

Today, she says more and more companies value diversity in the workplace, and her advice to women starting out is to remain true to themselves. “Women have a certain style of leadership, a way of doing business and interacting with others that is different to that of men,” she says. “It doesn't make any sense to copy masculine behaviors, it is too tiring to play a role as someone else all day, and it's not sustainable in the long term. Hiding these feminine traits under a masculinized shield doesn't seem the way to give the best of yourself.”

Roberta, Alessandra and Maddalena Stelzer, Maso Martis, Trentodoc, Italy

Antonio and Roberta Stelzer founded Maso Martis in 1990 in the mountainous terrain of the Dolomite Mountains 450 meters above the sea. As one of 63 wineries of the Trentodoc appellation, they are dedicated to producing classic method sparkling wine. Sisters Alessandra and Maddalena Stelzer have recently joined their parents at the winery, with a plan to lead the company into the future.

“When I started over 30 years ago, female producers were a rarity,” says Roberta. “At the meetings and at the winery, they expected to see a man: a father or a brother.” Although she was treated respectfully, no one asked for her opinion. “Over the years, my role has been acknowledged more and more,” says Roberta, “and I have committed to the promotion of the region in different ways. Today I am a member of the Board of Directors of Trentodoc.”

Her daughter Alessandra began working in the wine business in 2016, after studying in Milan. “During the first years,” she says, “I sometimes had to face discriminatory behaviors, like being treated with superiority and arrogance, including being catcalled by men. As I have grown professionally, I have strengthened my character and now it's difficult for anyone to put me in an unpleasant situation.”

Looking to the future, both mother and daughters hope that a person’s professional capacity, and not belonging to one gender or the other, is what counts in the end. Their advice to women? “Be brave, follow your instinct and work with passion, perseverance and determination.”