Events - Event View
This is the "Event Detail" view, showing all available information for this event.
If the event has passed, click the "Event Report" button to read a report and view photos that were uploaded.
DAL: Women Adding Color to the Wine Industry, a Wine Panel
Women Adding Color to the Wine Industry, a Wine Panel
What do a former musician, the first recognized Native American to make wine for her tribe, a former United States Marine, and the 2015 Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition have in common? Besides being rising stars in the wine industry, they are joining our April event and will share their interesting stories with us. We are very fortunate to have these four successful women who are advancing in, and adding color to, the wine industry join us.
Join us Tuesday, April 13 at 6 pm CDT to hear their stories and taste their wine.
Our panel
Priyanka French, Signorello Estate (California)
Priyanka was born and raised in Mumbai, India. She has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Food Science and Technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) at the University of Mumbai. In 2011, she earned a Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis.
During her wine studies, she worked with Tonnellerie Demptos (a cooperage) to develop and execute a detailed market survey and research on the wine and spirits in her home country.
She was a harvest intern with the Louis M. Martini branch of E. & J. Gallo Winery and completed internships at Hospices de Beaune (Bourgogne, France), Louis Royer (Jarnac, France) and Saint Clair Family Estate Limited (Marlborough, New Zealand).
During the 2013 harvest she was vintage winemaker at Framingham Wines in Renwick, New Zealand, and completed an internship at Stags Leap Winery in Napa. In 2014, she joined Dalla Valle Vineyards as cellar master/enologist where she remained until 2019, when she joined Signorello Estate as winemaker. Priyanka is also overseeing the rebuilding of the winery that was destroyed in the October 2017 fires.
Tara Gomez, Kitá Wines (California)
Tara, a member of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, graduated from California State University Fresno with a Bachelor of Science in Enology. She gained hands on experience as an enologist at Fess Parker Winery and the Enologist/Lab Manager at J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines.
In 2010, her tribe purchased a vineyard and hired Tara as the winemaker. She is the first Native American winemaker to be recognized by the California State Legislature, and her tribe is the first Native American tribe to have a Native American winemaker, vineyard and winery run solely by the tribe.
Cheramie Law, Salt and Pepper Wine (Texas)
Former United States Marine, Black woman vintner and co-founder of Salt and Pepper Wine, Cheramie is on a mission to share the beauty of Texas wine with the world. Raised in Sherman, Texas, and with a successful career as a Data Management Specialist in the railway industry, Cheramie has been advocating for Texas wine since 2014. What began as a first date to Fredericksburg with now-partner Todd Aho for wine tasting, has forged into a partnership in wine and life. This partnership is celebrated with the launch of the Cheramie Wine brand.
Her vision is simple: “My hope is to inspire those who don’t see themselves represented in the wine industry and to show them there’s a seat at the table for them. So pull up a chair and raise your glass, because wine doesn’t have to be so serious. We’re here to have some fun!”
Shalini Sekhar, Ottavino Wines (California)
A former musician, Shalini turned from her Master’s Degree in Flute and Piccolo Performance to a career in wine. After completing her studies at Fresno State University in Enology and Viticulture, she began her journey into winemaking marrying the same combination of art and science that fueled her passion in music.
Shalini worked harvests in the cellar and laboratory at Stags Leap Wine Cellars and William Selyem. What followed was a series of steps in to the custom crush world where she began working with small clients to execute their visions for their boutique brands beginning with Copain Custom Crush (now Punchdown Cellars), then Bluxome Street Winery, and finally ROAR wines, where she made wine for Waits-Mast Family Cellars, Furthermore Pinot Noir, Neely Wine and several smaller brands.
She has her own company, Ottavino, which provides customized, all-inclusive winemaking services from picking decisions through processing, fermentation, blending, and bottling for clients as small as one ton to as large as 30 plus tons. She continues to make wine for Waits-Mast Family Cellars in San Francisco and Neely Wine in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Shalini was recently included in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2019 Winemakers to Watch. In 2015 she was awarded Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition for her work with Furthermore Pinot Noir. When Shalini is not at the winery or in the vineyard, she is busy studying for her WSET Diploma and chasing after her two small children.
The process
We'll provide wine tasting kits with a small pour of the four wines we will taste. The tasting kits need to be picked up at one of three locations. You will pick a location when you register, Colleyville 76034, Dallas 75208 or Plano 75093. Wine pick-up details will be given to registrants. We’ll also provide tasting sheets with the wine details.
For those who live outside the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and would like to participate, please select the Zoom only registration option so we can send you the Zoom link. If you have problems selecting this option, email president_dallas@womenforwinesense.org.
The Zoom link and wine pick-up details will be sent to registered attendees.
Don't miss out. Join us Tuesday, April 13 at 6 pm as we celebrate these women who are advancing in and adding color to the wine industry.
Reservations: No reservations will be accepted after Saturday, April 10, 2020. Payment is required in advance by credit card or check and is non-refundable. If paying by check, your payment should be payable to “WWS” and sent to WWS c/o Tamara Mattison, 12240 Pecan Forest, Dallas, TX 75230-2495. Payment must be received by the date of the event.
Do not send checks to the address listed on the website.
By registering, you hereby authorize and grant Women For WineSense (WWS), the right to record all participants via screenshots, including chat room content, film, and/or video, along with editing the recorded conference into a photo gallery/short film/webinar (which may include other recordings and material). You also authorize and grant WWS the use for any reason of the name and likeness, voice, or other information concerning participants; and screen or place the recording/materials online, including social media.
Please note if you are a non-member registering for this event and paying with a credit card, you will be charged a small fee for the credit card transaction. This fee will appear as a separate line item on your credit card statement.