Wine Gals

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When Australian Pam Dunsford rocked up to class at Roseworthy Agricultural College back in 1972, she was warned that no-one would employ her as a winemaker because a woman wasn’t able to do the job.

(Clearly her vocational advisor had never heard of the redoubtable winemaker and businesswoman, Mary Penfold, who co-founded Australia’s most iconic wine brand.)

Dunsford wisely ignored the ‘advice’, becoming the first woman to attend Roseworthy – the sole female in a cohort of 180 students. Years later, she headed up Chapel Hill for 19 vintages and became Australia’s first female wine-show judge.

Well, that showed them!

Today, the gender balance in oenological schools is pretty much 50-50, and students can look to a whole generation of pioneering winemakers for inspiration.

Women like Vanya Cullen, Louisa Rose, Clare Dry, Emma Wood, Sue Hodder and Shavaughn Wells who have been quietly - and consummately - putting Australian wine on the world stage for several decades.

Girly Wines?

Not on your Nelly!

Women winemakers run the gamut - from juicy, moreish Pinot Noirs crafted by Clare Dry, to towering Coonawarra Cabernets from Sue Hodder.

CellarDoor.co is a huge fan of our women winemakers. In the portfolio, you’ll find wines from Wynns, Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Squealing Pig, Saltram and more, that have been made by talented women.