7th March 2021 | Cork Talk | 9 minute read
We’re shining the spotlight on women who are leading the way in the wine world this International Women’s Day. From the female-led Champagne House, to innovation in winemaking and being at the forefront of movements such as organics and lower alcohol wine, we take a look at some of the female producers who are changing the industry.
Caroline Latrive is the Cellar Master running the show at Champagne Ayala. With a 160 year history of being one of the big players in the iconic Champagne region, Ayala has always been admired in the wine world for its visionary approach and was one of the first Champagne Houses to launch the drier, low dosage (low sugar) style of Champagne we all adore.
In true Ayala style, Caroline is a visionary. Having studied biochemistry and completed a Masters in ‘Oenology and Champagne’ (the study of winemaking and science of producing sparkling wine), Caroline spent 12 years gaining experience at Champagne Bollinger and other prestigious Champagne Houses, before joining Ayala in 2007. She was promoted to Cellar Master in 2012 – becoming the youngest woman to be elevated to this position and, at that time, one of only two female Cellar Masters in the region.
With meticulous precision and a wealth of knowledge in her field, Caroline has developed an impressive palate for tasting. Under her leadership, the Chardonnay element of their blend has been fine-tuned to perfection, and has come to define Ayala’s pure, fresh and elegant style. This comes through in their Champagne Ayala Brut Majeur NV with its smooth and refreshing palate of citrus, white fruit and honey – nuances that come from the Chardonnay.
Caroline has been a pivotal part in changing the face of winemaking in Champagne, promoting equality between men and women in an industry that has long been dominated by men. She extends her support to women in the food industry too through her partnership with SquareMeal to create the Ayala SquareMeal Female Chef of the Year award – an annual celebration of the UK’s top female chefs. In a hugely competitive food and drinks industry, Caroline’s ethos is not only to master her craft, but also to support and empower those around her.
Jess Hardy is a sixth generation winemaker based in South Australia’s adventurous and innovative McLaren Vale region. At the helm of the progressive Loom Wine, Jess handcrafts their boutique, small batch wines, as well as experimenting with new and exciting blends for the 5OS Project – a collective of creatives and winemakers that produce some of our most loved Aussie wines here at VW.
A direct descendant of Thomas Hardy, who founded the world-famous Hardys Wines in Adelaide back in 1853, Jess comes from wine royalty – and it shows. Being surrounded by wine her whole life and working in vineyards from a very young age, Jess has an intuitive understanding of winemaking that’s hard to come by, and has won an impressive array of gold medals and accolades for her work. Most recently, this has included trophies at the Barossa Wine Show and achieving third place in The Adelaide Review Top 100 wines.
Alongside getting her hands (and feet!) dirty in crafting wines for Loom, Jess collaborates with numerous growers, winemakers and retailers both on site and off site across South Australia on their wines and ranges, sharing her insight and expertise with others in the industry. For Jess, it’s all about creating an environment, both in and outside of Loom Wine, where talent and innovation can thrive.
If you fancy trying one of Jess’ creations, the Loom SV McLaren Vale Shiraz 2015 is everything you’d look for in a McLaren Vale Shiraz. Bright, juicy and complex, yet somehow elegant all at the same time, you’ll find pronounced black fruit flavours and enticing aromas of chocolate and mocha, with smooth oak tannins and a strikingly long finish. It’s a fine example of Jess’ work.
Meet the winemaker revolutionising the winemaking scene in one of the world’s most historic and traditional regions, Nicola Allison of Château du Seuil. Located in Graves, on the Left Bank of the prestigious Bordeaux region, Château du Seuil is renowned for producing pure, expressive wines through passion for quality winemaking and adopting a completely organic approach to viticulture.
Nicola’s story is an unusual one for a Bordeaux winemaker. Welsh-born Nicola actually started her career training to be a doctor, before relocating to New Zealand with her husband Sean to experience a different culture and way of life. After 12 years of living in beautiful New Zealand and enjoying kiwi wines, Nicola saw an opportunity to turn her interest in wine into a career, and it involved relocating once again. This time to France to take over her family’s winemaking estate in Bordeaux.
Nicola feels passionately about producing wines that are the truest and purest expression of the famous French terroir they came from. And, with her background in medicine, she could see that removing pesticides and fungicides from their winemaking would not only allow pure flavours to come through in the wine, but also create a clean environment for her family to live in.
By ridding the vineyard of chemicals, she would also be protecting her children from any potentially unhealthy substances in the vineyard. With this realisation, Nicola transformed Château du Seuil into a completely organic winemaking estate, leading the way in the organic winemaking movement in France.
Although these wines may be crafted using methods which are not traditional in Bordeaux, there is no doubt that Château du Seuil wines are authentically Bordeaux in every other way – in flavour, style and character. Nicola talks us through the range, and how each blend they produce is shaped by the limestone and gravel soils of the district their vines grow in.
It’s a strong range, and one that’s a huge hit with our very own Wine Advisor team. The most coveted in the range amongst the VW lot being the Château du Seuil Cerons 2018, a gorgeous late harvest dessert wine made from old vine Sémillon. With a silky smooth texture, apricot sweetness and a racy lemon acidity, this organic blend is a real work of art.
Beth Forrest comes from a very prestigious winemaking family heralding from the iconic and world-renowned wine region of Marlborough, New Zealand. Her parents, doctors John and Bridget Forrest, have been building Forrest Wines fierce but friendly reputation since 1988, and in recent years have been handing over the reins to their high-flying daughter, Beth.
Having travelled the world working in the very best vineyards across Europe and further afield, Beth returned home in 2013 to focus on her native country’s styles, techniques and geographical and viticultural make-up, before officially joining the family business in 2015. Today, Beth is tasked with the challenge of continuing the Forrest’s innovative approach to winemaking, very much following in the footsteps of her self-proclaimed “mad scientist” parents. Achieving excellence through innovation has kept the Forrest family in such high regard for so many years within the industry, and Beth is proudly flying that flag today.
We recently caught up with her dad, Dr John Forrest, to hear all about the latest and fascinating wine trends the family have been working on over in New Zealand.
We love Beth’s wines, and are particularly enjoying her lower alcohol wines, such as the Mountain View Sauvignon Blanc. At 9.5% ABV, it is low in both alcohol content and calories, but truly exquisite in flavour. If red is more your thing, then make sure you try Beth’s Mountain View Pinot Noir, which is another beauty at just 9.5% ABV. The Forrest family have mastered producing low ABV bottles without sacrificing any of the unique qualities we expect from Malborough. Check out our full range of Forrest wines which include Cabernet Sauvignon, Reisling, Chenin Blanc and others of excellent quality.
And with Beth that concludes our line-up. Here’s to all the other fantastic women achieving great things in the industry. From everyone at Virgin Wines, chin chin to you on International Women’s Day!
For more information on International Women’s Day 2021, please visit: www.internationalwomensday.com
