Notes from the First Wine Salon Session

A couple of weeks ago something rather special happened. Eight guests gathered around the table. We shared bottles from all over the world and listened to the stories of the remarkable women who made them. In fact, these women joined the wine salon. Not in person. Through their words.

As I've mentioned before, I'm writing a book about how to host wine tastings, and exploring wine through the lens of art, culture, and people. These Wine Salon Sessions are a way for me to test and refine the ideas I'm putting into it. On this occasion, instead of guiding the group through each wine, I handed over the role: each wine was introduced by a guest reading from the perspective of the woman who made it. Her story, her philosophy, her voice. The results were moving, funny, illuminating and at times genuinely surprising.

Here's who was at the table...

Paula Fandiño, Chief Winemaker

Pouring her sparkling Mar de Frades Albariño Brut Nature NV & Still Albariño from Rías Baixas, Spain

Paula grew up in Galicia, where Albariño is everywhere. She didn't set out to become a winemaker, she studied agricultural engineering, worked briefly in the meat industry, and realised quickly it wasn't for her. She preferred working with the land.

What followed was a quiet revolution. Paula became the first winemaker to produce a sparkling Albariño using the traditional method, spending twelve years perfecting it. People thought it was a bit crazy at the time. Now others are doing it too. We tasted both the Brut Nature and the still Albariño side by side, a rare chance to see just how far this grape can stretch.

"It's the queen variety in my opinion. It's got sparkle, freshness and elegance. It is an expressive variety, and a good reflection of the terroir in which it grows."

Barbe-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin (aka Madame Clicquot Showing her fabulous Veuve Clicquot Rosé Brut NV, Champagne, France 

Widowed at 27, she took over her husband's Champagne house at a time when women weren't permitted to run businesses. She didn't just keep it afloat. She transformed it. She developed the riddling table, which gave us the clear, bright Champagne we know today. She created the first blended rosé Champagne by adding still red wine to white, a method still used now. And during the Napoleonic Wars, she sent her wine to Russia through a blockade, turning a calculated risk into a defining moment for the house.

"The world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow."

Virginia Willcock, Chief Winemaker and Australia's Winemaker of the Year brought Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2022, Margaret River, Australia 

Virginia didn't come into wine formally. Her father and a few friends had a small vineyard outside Perth, and that's where her fascination began. She's led Vasse Felix for nearly two decades, and her focus has always been the same: not to make a style, but to capture a place.

Margaret River sits between ocean and forest, and Virginia wants you to feel that in the glass. She's moved away from heavy oak and extraction, working instead toward precision and restraint letting the site do the talking.

"When I smell the forest, smell the ocean, smell the beautiful dirt, I want to see some of that come through in the wine."

Judith Beck, Biodynamic Winemaker shared her natural wine Zweigelt 2023, Burgenland, Austria 

Judith grew up around wine, worked in France, Italy and Chile, and returned home to Burgenland determined to do things differently. She converted her family estate to biodynamic farming in 2007, working with composts, herbal preparations, and a deep focus on soil health. This matters particularly in Burgenland, a region that spent years rebuilding its reputation after a major wine scandal in the 1980s shook trust across the industry. For Judith's generation, honesty in the vineyard isn't a philosophy. It's a point of principle.

"Looking closely, paying attention, being present in what you're doing. If you're paying attention, the vineyard tells you what it needs."

Gabriella Anca Rallo, Co-founder of Donnafugata brought her iconic Contrada Marchesa Etna Rosso 2020, Sicily, Italy 

Gabriella co-founded Donnafugata with her husband in 1983, at a time when it was unusual for a woman to be involved in Sicilian viticulture at all. But what set her apart wasn't just determination — it was imagination. The name Donnafugata comes from Il Gattopardo, the great Sicilian novel, in which it is the place where a queen flees to take refuge. Gabriella built an entire world around that image: the woman on every label with her hair blowing in the wind, the names of the wines, the feel of the brand. It was storytelling before anyone in wine was really doing it. Today her children and granddaughter carry it forward.

"Wine women are an important resource for this still a bit too masculine world. Handing down our passion to future generations."

Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa's first black female winemaker poured the latest vintage of Aslina 'Umsasane' 2022, Stellenbosch, South Africa 

Ntsiki grew up in Mahlabathini, a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal, far from any vineyard. After finishing school, she spent a year working as a domestic worker while hoping for a scholarship. When one came — not for chemical engineering as she'd planned, but for winemaking at Stellenbosch — she didn't hesitate. That decision changed everything.

Her label, Aslina, is named after her grandmother, who raised her. The wine we tasted, Umsasane, takes its name from the Zulu word for the acacia tree — a symbol of shelter, protection and comfort. It was also her grandmother's nickname.

"We are breaking the ground, cracking the ceiling and moving forward. It's the change I want to see. And I need to be part of it."

It was an evening that reminded us why wine is never just about what's in the glass. The human stories behind the bottles, relatable, inspiring, and at times genuinely surprising, leave a lasting impression long after the last drop.

The Wine Salon Sessions are hosted at Linden House in Hammersmith, a historic riverside venue that combines a private members club, sailing club and event space, with large windows looking out onto the Thames. It's a beautiful setting, and getting it right on the night takes a team effort.

A huge thank you to my dear friend Juliane Waters, who helped create the atmosphere and captured the images and video of the evening. And to Megan Thomas, whom I first met through the Women in Wine London mentorship group, and who has stepped in to assist me across the series. It makes an enormous difference.

The full story of what goes into the preparation will be in the book, but suffice to say it begins weeks out. Wine selection, menu planning, food shopping, tasting sheets, name cards, and then the layer that I consider non-negotiable: the décor. Candles, flowers, vases, the details that make a room feel considered rather than just set up.

For this first session there was no strict decorative theme, but I found myself drawn to all-glass candlesticks and vases throughout. A glass ceiling reference, perhaps. The flowers came mainly from my own garden, which felt right for a spring evening. Something about bringing nature and the seasons to the table, which I think women respond to in a particular way.

The next Wine Salon Session is Wine & Literature, on Tuesday 28 April at Linden House, Hammersmith. We'll be exploring the wines of 1920s Paris through Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.

Spaces are limited. Book your spot here: WineSalonSessions.eventbrite.co.uk