FEMALE-LED WINERIES
So vineyard-hopping might not pair well with your back-to-school life or Dry January but it’s nice inspiration for future trips! Departures has curated a lovely list of top regions to explore where female vintners are resurrecting ancient grapes, experimenting with new blends and running luxe guest houses.
In Argentina’s prized Uco Valley, classic full-bodied Malbecs can be savored during nightly communal tastings at Cavas Wine Lodge, a romantic Relais & Chateaux, villa boutique hotel co-owned by Cecilia Diaz Chuit, replete with a 3,000-bottle wine cellar. Entre Cielos by Cecile Adam is a modern, 16-room luxury boutique hotel with its own wine label, Marantal, and Latin America’s first six-stage circuit hammam spa. I mean, who doesn’t love some elaborate Turkish-inspired bathing with a glass of vino in hand?
Willamette Valley, Oregon is renowned for delicious pinot noir and there are several female-led vineyards and properties to consider including the Atticus Hotel, owned by entrepreneur Erin Stephenson that offers a luxe bunkhouse suite perfect for girlfriend getaways. The Tamar Valley in Tasmania isn’t exactly next door, but has thankfully been relatively unaffected by the most recent bushfires and could be a fantastic place to support while also savoring exceptional sparklings (the terroir is apparently very similar to that of Champagne.)
The Douro Valley in Portugal is the birthplace of Port and the country’s leading wine-making region, as well as an affordable option to visit in one of the oldest demarcated wine regions in the world. And then there’s Canada, the friendly neighbor with the good exchange rate that’s a great choice for foodies and oenophiles alike, specifically in British Columbia’s verdant Okanagan Valley. Here you can check out one of The Paisley Notebook’s pop-up moveable feasts created by self-described “feminist food geek” Aman Dosanj. She curates locally-sourced, wine-paired dinners held in unexpected, magical pastures and fields while proceeds often support local women’s charities.