LAST NOVEMBER, I stopped in at the Matheson, a farm-to-table restaurant in the heart of Healdsburg. I had headed north to Sonoma County from my home in Los Angeles—one of several trips in a quest to meet the women changing California wine. I already knew there were far more than I could possibly feature in this article, and when I told the bartender at the rooftop lounge about my mission, he added another local name to my list.
Isabelle Simi, I learned, took over her family’s Healdsburg winery in 1904, after her father and uncle suddenly died. At the time, women were rarely seen working in vineyards—let alone running them. Her ascent paved the way for pioneers like Mary Ann Graf, who became head winemaker in 1973, and Zelma Long, the winery’s president in the 1980s.
Today, Simi remains a famously women-led company—but it’s no longer the only one. Celebrated wineries, including Far Niente, Schramsberg, and Duckhorn, have recently promoted women to leadership positions, while newer female-founded ventures like Sonoma County’s Ashanta and Martha Stoumen continue to innovate and expand.
Only 14 per cent of California wineries have a woman at the helm, but this lack of gender representation hasn’t stopped women from claiming their place in the industry. Meet seven women pushing traditional boundaries and raising the standards of what we drink, how it’s made—and who is calling the shots.
