Wine Tributaries
by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner

     One of our early women pioneers was Isabel Simi. As a teenager, she inherited the historic Simi Winery on Healdsburg Avenue prior to Prohibition and established one of  the first tasting rooms. Still a fixture on the local wine scene into the late 1970s, visitors could still see her and visit with her in the tasting room, even though she had sold the winery.

     The first woman winemaker around, Mary Ann Graf, was also part of the Simi story. She gained recognition nationally and internationally through her winemaking back in 1974. Graf left Simi and started Vinquiry, along with Marty Bannister, in 1979,  establishing a business which does chemical, microbiological and sensory analysis of wines.

     Another of the pioneers in winemaking has been Zelma Long. She also shares a part of the Simi story. Noted for her fine winemaking skills, she has risen to prominence as one of the premiere figures in the wine industry for the past two decades, winning national and international awards for her endeavors. Although she ascended to become President of Simi and more recently took over similar leadership duties for both Simi and Domaine Chandon, she continues to make wine for her own label and continues to lead in our local wine industry.

     The 1970s through early 1980s was a period where more opportunities seemed to abound for women and other local women winemakers also had their start during this period. For example, winemaker Margaret Davenport got her start in the lab at Simi, but made the move to winemaking in the early 1980s with Wente Brothers and returned to take a winemaking position at the prestigious Clos Du Bois Winery in 1987.  Over at Windsor Vineyards, Carol Schelton started producing award-winners back in 1981. A typical day at the Harvest Fair includes many of  her fine wines which reap numerous  awards, often topping the field of entries.

     Although Milla Handley has her Handley Cellars winery in Mendocino County, which she established in 1983, she grows some grapes in the Dry Creek Valley. During a visit to last year’s Harvest Fair Awards night, we saw her pour her award-winning Sauvignon Blanc for the crowd, enjoying the last stop it would make from the time it had been grapes on the vines until it was a bottle of her wine.

     Other Dry Creek Valley connections come in the way of more recent additions to the local winemaking fold in the 1990s.  Juliana Iantosca, the current winemaker at Lambert Bridge Winery started her work as a winemaker in the Sierrra foothills at Stevenot back in 1979, moved to William Wheeler and then joined Lambert Bridge in 1993.

      An even more recent addition to the local winemaking scene is Kristi Koford, who joined Alderbrook back in July of 1997. She has already made her mark with numerous award-winning wines and focuses much of her efforts on wine and food pairings with Alderbrook’s chef, highlighting the marriage of food and wine.

     Then, there are those women who have followed in the footsteps of the family tradition. Rashell (Shelly) Rafanelli is now Assistant Winemaker at A. Rafanelli Winery, becoming the third generation to make wine along the West Dry Creek Road location. Her mom Patty Rafanelli is a longtime veteran of the wine production and promotion for the family’s business.

     While Gina Gallo’s roots are not quite as humble, she has also joined the ranks of women  who have put their mark on local winemaking, and she represents a third generation from winemaking giants who influenced the whole industry, and she is among the new generation of women who will lead our local wine industry into the next millennium.

     We have not come up with an exhaustive list of women who have shaped the wines we drink locally, yet we need to acknowledge that women have been involved in vineyard ownership and management since the industry began. Many of our favorite local wineries are quick to point out the women who have been the backbone of their family operations. Plus, there are numerous women who work in cellars, run bottling lines, manage tasting rooms, do marketing and public relations, lead wine associations, and other assorted duties that have built the industry. The Healdsburg Tribune had Millie Howie, a wine writer who has written about wine for over two decades, and who continues to write for numerous publications. All of these women have contributed to the bounty of our county’s agriculture by making the wine industry thrive.

     Next time, some of these local women in wine will tell us how they see our local wine industry. One thing is for certain: if James Brown were around town, he would be singing a different tune.

© 1999 by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner. All Rights Reserved. Wine Tributaries is hosted by Wines on the Internet.