Three women in wine

Today we celebrate all women working in the Australian drinks industry: from the vineyards to the cellar doors, from viticulture to leading supply chain and supplier teams. There are more stories than we can possibly tell. So, this International Women's Day, Drinks Trade takes a look at just three women leading the charge in Australian winemaking.

Teresa Heuzenroeder - Senior Winemaker at Accolade Wines, Tintara

It is just over year since Teresa Heuzenroeder was announced as Senior Winemaker and Manager at Accolade Wines’ historic Tintara facility in McLaren Vale.

It was a big step away from her 26 years' long career at Yalumba and came as Accolade shifted production of Petaluma and Croser to the facility which is Accolade’s largest premium winery and state of the art winemaking facility. The much loved premium Australian brands had outgrown the capacity limits of Woodside Estate.

At the time she said she was drawn to the opportunity given the heritage of the site as a distinguished winemaking facility and especially given the opportunity the custodians of the brands: Nigel Sneyd MW (Global Wine Director), Ed Carr (Group Sparkling Winemaker) and Craig Stansborough (Group Premium Winemaker).

Her own incredible professional history notwithstanding, Ms Heuzenroeder has continued to make wine as she always has: with elegance, finesse and balance, all in synchronicity and conveying their sense of place.

Teresa has a Bachelor degree in Chemistry and Microbiology and a Bachelor of Wine Science, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Technology Management. She has worked on many research projects, including extensive work in cloning.

"It is such an honour to be working with Petaluma, a brand with significant history in Australia. It’s a unique opportunity to continue the evolution of these classic varieties from such a diverse range of distinguished vineyards and regions," she says.

Courtney Treacher- Senior Winemaker, Accolade Wines, Western Australia

Courtney Treacher was brought into the fold at Accolade in 2020, coinciding with the 185^th vintage at Margaret River's Houghton in the Swan Valley.

At the time she said, "For over 185 years Houghton has been producing wines that are unique expressions of Western Australia’s idyllic landscape. Houghton’s inaugural 2021 collection is a stellar line-up of premium wines from the 2019 vintage, a result of careful craftsmanship and a combination of new and old winemaking techniques. I am immensely proud to have created these wines, following in the footsteps of such accomplished winemakers before me." 

Ms Treacher was well-equipped for the position with broad knowledge and experience of the diverse terroirs of Western Australia. From October 2007 she had been winemaker at Moondah Brook Wines where she had the opportunity to work with fruit sourced from all of the major viticultural regions of Western Australia.

She now oversees the winemaking for Houghton, Brookland Valley, Moondah Brook, Goundrey, and Amberley Ranges.

“I enjoy being a part of a dynamic winemaking team and the challenge of crafting wines of varied styles,” she says.

“We are constantly driving to diversify and evolve our range to craft intense and inspiring wines that our consumers will continue to enjoy.”   

Ms Treacher studied a Bachelor of Science (Viticulture and Oenology) at Western Australia’s Curtin University of Technology and forged her way in the vineyards of Perth Hills and Swan Valley and then in the cellars, doing a vintage in Margaret River at Redgate Wines. 

For Ms Treacher, judging at the  Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne Royal Wine Shows are without a doubt some of her career highlights and being a scholar at the prestigious Len Evans Tutorial in 2011 was “an unforgettable and amazing experience,” she says.    

Clare Dry - Senior Winemaker, Seppelt

Seppelt Senior Winemaker, Clare Dry, announced her first vintage last year as the winery celebrated 170 years of winemaking and she celebrated her first release with the winery, the 2021 Seppelt Drumborg Vineyard Riesling.

At the time, Ms Dry paid tribute to the icons of Australian wine who have been at the helm of winemaking at Seppelt.

She said: “Names including Benno and Karl Seppelt, Charles Pierlot, Ian McKenzie, Colin Preece and most recently Adam Carnaby, have been transformational not only just for Seppelt, but the Australian wine industry in general. There is a little bit of each of them in the wines we have released today – and that’s pretty special.”

Of the Drumborg, she said: “I experimented with different techniques including whole bunch pressing, hand pick with crush to press, and different levels of solids in the ferment. The resulting wine is classic Drumborg, with tight mineral acid and a seamless palate of florals and citrus fruit with a hint of exotic spice.”

Ms Dry grew up on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, and completed a Bachelor of Oenology from the University of Adelaide,

She worked for wineries on the Mornington Peninsula and internationally in Germany before joining Wolf Blass in 2007 as a vintage winemaker. Over the next 13 years, Clare has honed her skillset, crafting wines across varieties in both red and white wine production, while also participating in extensive wine judging.

“As pioneers within the Australian wine industry, particularly with styles such as Sparkling Shiraz, it’s a privilege to help shape the Seppelt story going forward and join a winemaking fraternity I greatly admire,” she said at the time of her appointment.