Women Leaders in Wine & Spirits

BODEGAS BORSAO Campo de Borja, Spain Marta Chicote

BROVO SPIRITS USA Mhairi Voelsgen

BROWN ESTATE / HOUSE OF BROWN Napa Valley, CA Deneen Brown and Coral Brown Brown siblings Deneen and Coral, are second-generation Napa Valley growers and first-generation winemakers. Deneen is a visionary — she was and remains the driving force behind the family’s winemaking enterprise. Coral oversees production for House of Brown and collaborates with David on production for Brown Estate.

BUJANDA IRRIBARRIA VIÑA BUJANDA Rioja, Spain Pilar Martínez Viña Bujanda is owned by the brother and- sister team Carlos and Pilar Martínez- Bujanda Irribarria, whose family has been making wine since 1889. The estate was established in 2009 in the small village of Oyon near Logroño. Carlos and Pilar are the fifth generation to be involved in the family wine business. Their commitment to producing estate wines, reflective of their terroir, has ensured Familia Martínez-Bujanda’s continued success.

Marta Chicote has been the winemaker at Bodegas Borsao for 22 years. She serves on the board of Directors of the Campo de Borja DO and acquired her Masters of enology in 2004. “I fell in love with Garnacha; it expresses very much the terroir,” says Marta. “Throughout my professional career, the expression of wine in the nose fascinated me…I love listening to the wine, knowing what it wants to express.”

Mhairi was inspired to create her own products and put her energy into building her own company and brand. To achieve that vision, she enrolled in distillery school and decided she would need to differentiate her brand by carving out a sustainable niche. Mhairi narrowed her initial focus to single flavor liqueurs. Brovo Spirits was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Semi finalist in the Outstanding Beer, Wine, or Spirits Supplier category, and in 2018 earned an Alchemist Award from the American Distilling Institute.

BURCH FAMILY WINES Western Australia, Australia Amy Burch Amy’s passion for all things Howard Park is immediately evident when you visit the Margaret River winery and cellar door. Her marketing skills, along with her vision, enthusiasm and attention to detail, have been the foundation on which she and Jeff built up the business. Amy’s eye for design is particularly evident in the construction of the winery and cellar door at the Leston vineyard. Built along Feng Shui principles, the Margaret River building achieved recognition for design excellence, standing as a modern Australian winery landmark.

CATENA ZAPATA Mendoza, Argentina Laura Catena

CATENA ZAPATA Mendoza, Argentina Belén Iácono

CANTINA NICOSIA Sicily, Italy Maria Carella

A fourth-generation vintner, physician, and author, Laura Catena is the managing director of Catena Zapata. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biology and received her M.D. from Stanford University. In 1995, she founded the Catena Institute of Wine with the mission to elevate Argentine wine through vineyard study and research. Laura continues to further her family’s mission with passion projects, including Domaine Nico, a collection of high-altitude Pinot Noir, and La Marchigiana, a natural wine range.

Belén began working with the Catena family in 2005. She currently oversees the family’s vineyards located in Tupungato, including Adrianna Vineyard, the most studied and awarded vineyard in South America. A fierce advocate of the expression of terroir in wines, Belén meticulously studies each parcel to make wines of place that are able to age. She is also part of the winery’s sustainability team, and is responsible for their certifications.

Family owned and operated, Cantina Nicosia was founded in 1898, and is currently under the leadership of the fifth generation. It was one of the original wineries to settle on Mount Etna and they currently own 85 hectares there, farming all of their own grapes. Their state-of-the-art winery in the town of Trecastagni covers more than 20,000 square feet, including an ultra-modern bottling line. Maria Carella, one of the few female enologists in Sicily, has been with the winery since 2008 and produces all of the wines.

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WOMEN LEADERS IN WINE & SPIRITS