From Madame Clicquot to Sandrine Garbet: How Women Are Changing the Wine Business

Recently, I've been hearing more and more often about the growing number of women winemakers, although it seems that historically this profession is strictly male. But history shows that women in the wine business are not dilettantes at all.

Consider Barbra-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin, who took over the reins of the now world-famous Veuve Clicquot Champagne House at the age of 27 when her husband died suddenly.

Madame Clicquot was not happy with the sediment that clouded the finished champagne, so she found a way to remove it: slowly turning the bottles during aging, collecting sediment at the neck, and then removing it at the degorging stage. Today, this process is known as ridling (or remuage). And this technique has become the standard for all champagne producers. Merci, madame!

A much lesser known, but no less remarkable figure in the wine world is Antonia Adelaide Ferreira, nicknamed Ferrerinha. Antonia was an influential 19th century Portuguese businesswoman who took over the family business Casa Ferreira. Widowed at the age of 33, she took over the company, expanded the vineyards, modernized production and was one of the first in the region to systematically combat phylloxera. Ferreirinha is known not only for her business acumen, but also for investing a portion of her profits in schools, hospitals, housing and support for her employees long before it became the norm.

There are many examples from the past, but let's take a look at the women who are working miracles in the vineyards today.

Looking at the numbers, the picture is still uneven, but the trend is quite clear. An American Santa Clara University study published in 2020 found that about 14% of more than 4,000 California wineries have a female head winemaker. That's not a huge number. But back in 2011, there were about 10% of them, which means that the share is growing, albeit not at an explosive rate.

In France, as of 2022, about a third (31%) of women own a wine business. Approximately half of wine graduates in this country are women.

In Argentina, there has been a real boom in women's winemaking: today, they account for about 60% of oenology specialists. This is partly due to the fact that the majority of university graduates in the country are women.

Why did those women who entered the wine industry succeed in it? This is where their specific management decisions, succession work and innovation become interesting.

An example is Susana Balbo from Argentina. She is the first female oenologist in the country and is called "Queen of Torrontes" and "Evita of Wine" (similar to Evita Perón). It was she who believed in the untapped potential of the white Torrontés grape variety and created a wine with a distinctive style from it. Over time, the variety has become Argentina's flagship grape. The Drinks Business magazine listed her as one of the 50 most influential women in the world of wine, and in 2015 named her Woman of the Year. The International Wine Challenge recognized her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Two more examples come from France. When in the late 20th century the Domaine Leflaive farm in Pouligny-Montrachet began the transition to organics and then to biodynamics, many in Burgundy were skeptical, in fact equating biodynamics with esotericism. Anne-Claude Leflaive became co-manager in 1990, converted Domaine Leflaive to biodynamics and turned it into a new benchmark for "white Burgundy". The farm's reputation grew stronger as the region went from being a niche region for enthusiasts to a global investment destination.

Sandrine Garbet came to Château d'Yquem in the 1990s with a PhD in oenology, and in 1998 became chef-winemaker of the legendary sauternes. She overhauled the approach to aging in oak, shortening the wine's average time in barrel and making its style more precise and fresh, reducing the wine's contact with air during pourings and adjusting the level of residual sugar, achieving greater concentration of flavors and clarity of balance.

Sandrine Garbet joined the team when the farm was going through a difficult period and was able not just to preserve, but to renew and strengthen its style. In 2022, she took over as head of Château Guiraud.

If we move from women oenologists to owners and managers, it is logical to move to Bordeaux. Philippine de Rothschild, an actress by first profession, inherited Château Mouton Rothschild after her father's death in 1988. She ended her stage career and focused on the family wine business. She died in 2014 and the estate passed to her three children.

Another woman, Corinne Mentzelopoulos, took over Château Margaux at the age of 27 after the death of her father in 1980. At the time, the estate was going through some bad years: questionable harvests, counterfeiting scandals, a damaged reputation. And she, together with a team of consultants and oenologists, decided to invest in infrastructure, drainage, cellar renovation, and gradually brought the château back into the club of Bordeaux icons. Her family later bought out the Agnelli family's share and became sole proprietors. At the same time, Corinne Mentzelopoulos publicly emphasized that her task was to continue her father's work and pass on the farm to the next generation in the best condition.

A contemporary example is Stéphanie de Boire-Rivoal, the third woman to head the Château Angélus estate, where she was born and raised. She has been the executive director since 2012 and recently became the majority shareholder of the estate. Under her, Angélus has not only consolidated its status in the top classification of Saint-Emilion, but also entered new areas: restaurant projects, hotel business, and the development of its own style of hospitality around the brand.

It may seem that most of the examples are coincidental. In practice, however, it turns out that women come not to destroy the family legacy, but to rethink it, innovate and build a long-term strategy.

Given that wine and winemaking are becoming more and more popular every day, we would like to pay attention to female celebrities who have suddenly become seriously involved in wine. Such examples often cause skepticism: it is quite easy to put a famous name on the label, which will sell the established image and emotions, but not the quality. However, this is not always the case.

For example, singer Kylie Minogue launched her own wine brand, Kylie Minogue Wines, in 2020 in collaboration with Benchmark Drinks, starting with a single rosé from France. Over the years, the range has expanded markedly. The Kylie range is now sold in over 30 countries and the wines regularly win professional awards. I like that Kylie doesn't try to compete with the icons of the collectible premium segment, but instead relies on a clear but quality style.

In general, the participation of female stars in wine projects attracts a new audience that previously preferred beer or cocktails.

Looking more broadly, the growing presence of women in the wine industry in some ways mirrors the growing number of female investors.

In May 2025, McKinsey analysts predicted that by 2030, women will control 40 to 45% of retail financial assets in the U.S. and Europe. At the same time, it is important that women are on average more cautious about risk, more often focused on long-term goals, and noticeably more interested in sustainable and socially relevant investments.

This statistic rhymes well with what we see in the wine world. Women winemakers and winery owners often emphasize sustainable practices, biodynamics, careful handling of brand heritage, and slow but strategic change. Anne-Claude Leflev used biodynamics not as a fashion label but as a tool to improve quality and reputation. Susana Balbo turned an undervalued variety into a national and commercial asset. Sandrine Garbet was not taken seriously by many in the early days, but decades later her decisions are largely responsible for the modern style of the world's most famous sauternes.

I am not an ardent feminist. However, I know from my own experience that it is still more difficult for women to build successful careers in male-dominated professions. I sincerely want to see the percentage of women continue to grow among winemakers and investors.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor