Meet the Winemaker: International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day, we wanted to highlight four incredible female winemakers from Oregon who are working to #BreakTheBias in the winemaking industry.

Kate Norris

Kate is the co-founder, winemaker, strategist and more of the award-winning Division Wines, established in Portland, Oregon in 2020. She has also created a unique urban winery and wine bar, promoting public interest in the urban wine movement. In 2015 Kate released her first solo wines with Division Winemaking under the label Gamine. These included a 2014 Petillant Grenache and 2014 Syrah, unusual varieties for the area.

Having started her wine training in France, Kate is now one of the youngest winemakers in Oregon, successfully running a unique and growing company.

Kelley Fox

There is a lady called Kelley Fox who is a very interesting winemaker who has been making wine in Oregon for over 20 years. Kelley is creative and spiritual, using biodynamic practices and with great respect for the wine making process, insisting she doesn't make the wine, but accompanies it.

Kelley's wines have gained a the highest possible three-star rating from the New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia.

Maggie Harrison

Another Oregon wine-maker of interest is Maggie Harrison at Antica Terra, who uprooted her family from California to Oregon having been so bowled over by the land of Antica Terra she made this decision in under half a minute! Unusually, Maggie describes herself as a first-generation winemaker, as most often we hear about winemakers with generations of learning to build on. But Maggie's wines are elegant and refined, so she is clearly doing it right!

Lynne Penner Ash

Lynne Penner Ash makes great wine in Oregon, as the first female winemaker to be hired in the region, she now has her own winery - Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, where Lynne leads and all-female winemaking team!