This story originally appeared in Wine Industry Advisor.
The wine industry has traditionally been a male-dominated industry that has followed a patriarchal line from generation to generation. But women have been working in wine throughout history. They run the business, work in the lab, are the spokesperson, marketer and consummate host at the winery. As we celebrate Mothers’ Day, we honor our mothers who are our rocks and our role models. They are the ones who have always been there for us, have cheered us on and encouraged us. In the four wineries profiled below, daughters reflect on their relationships with their mothers while working together in the wine industry.
Trombetta Family Wines
While her parents met at Hewlett Packard, Erica Stancliff grew up in wine. Her mother, Rickey Trombetta Stancliff, and her father Roger began making wine in their garage in the 1990s before Rickey began working for Paul Hobbs. With encouragement from Hobbs, Erica went to study at Fresno State and in her senior year, her mother decided to start her own label. Just before she graduated from college, Erica got a call from her mother to come home and harvest her first vintage in 2010 and then return to school. Today, Erica and Rickey run Trombetta Family Wines, producing chardonnay and pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast.
