Wine with Leslie: Getting into the spirit of women in the drinks industry
Street artist Mister Copy continues work on a mural depicting St. Brigid which was commissioned to coincide with the return of the sacred relics of St Brigid to County Kildare after nearly a millennium. The relics will go on display at Kildare Town Parish Church in what is the 1500th anniversary of her death. Picture date: Friday January 26, 2024. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
International Women’s Day was back in March, and it was remiss of me not to mention it in this column, given how important women have been over the centuries to the development of wine culture.
For millennia in Ireland, women were the brewers — and don’t forget that St. Brigid is the patron saint of brewers, famed for her beer (sometimes magically created from her bathwater).
Champagne as we know it would not exist without the innovations of legendary women like Louise Pommery, Lily Bollinger and of course Madame (Veuve) Clicquot.
It is now so commonplace for me to feature wines made by women that I only mention it occasionally.
However, the wine world has not always been a welcome space for women and in the USA, and in the UK, there were some shocking stories that came out of the MeToo movement in 2020, in particular in relation to harassment, with one of the worst cases in the once venerable Court of Master Sommeliers.
In Ireland, we have a relatively new organisation called Wine Spirit Women which is a grassroots organisation founded to empower and educate women in the drinks industry and designed to be an inclusive space for all.
WSW has launched a mentorship programme in conjunction with Diageo which is designed to pair up experienced women in the drinks trade with women new to the industry — providing guidance, support and knowledge transfer.
Places in the mentorship programme may be filled by now but I would encourage any women reading this to join WSW as they hold regular tastings and get-togethers.
You don’t have to be in the drinks trade but an interest in the civilising culture of wine would help.
I was privileged to host a tasting for them last year and it was a lively, fun evening.
Winemaker Sonia Costa is the third generation making wine in this pretty 6-hectare estate in Salnés in coastal Galicia - the vines slope to the beach.
Peaches and lime aromas with a saline note, ripe and textured with soft apple and white pear fruits on the palate with tangy salty freshness on the finish. Benchmark Albariño.
Elena Pantaleoni is a bit of a legend in the natural wine world and this is her “love letter to low-intervention winemaking”, as Bev from L’Attitude in Cork puts it.
This is packed with bright cherry and red fruits with a sweet-sour freshness with herbal notes and attractive vibrancy.
From Maria Barrena Belzunegui in Navarra who also makes Oniric Pet-Nat which I've featured at least twice.
The wolf in sheep’s clothing on the label is the intense Graciano grape which adds depth and texture to the softer Garnacha.
This is fragrant and fruity with supple blackberry and pleasingly lush berry fruits.
Brewed in Tig Bhric’s pub in Ballyferriter near Dingle by Adrienne Heslin who was the first Irish woman to run her own brewery.
Besides this fine porter, her Béal Bán golden ale and Cúl Dorcha dark ale are also recommended as are all her seasonal beers and her hand-pumped Uncle Columb.
Rich mocha and roasted malt aromas, full-bodied and complex with coffee, chocolate and smoke notes and a dry stout crisp finish.
