Wisdom From The Women Leading the Wine & Spirits Industries, with Katie Nelson Of Chateau Ste Michelle

An interview with Kelly Reeves

Make more wines that pair with diverse foods and cultures. It is important that our wines and wine styles appeal to as many people as possible, to be successful. We make so many different Rieslings that pair well with Asian and Mexican foods.

Less than 20% of winemakers and distillers are women. Traditionally, women were excluded from these industries. This number is slowly rising as more women choose to study this profession and enter the wine and spirits fields. What is it like for those women who work in this male dominated industry? What are some of the challenges that these women face? Is there hope for better representation, and better wages, for women in the wine and spirits industry? As a part of our series about women leading the wine and spirits industries, we had the pleasure of interviewing Katie Nelson.

Katie Nelson, Vice President of Winemaking at Chateau Ste. Michelle, brings nearly 30 years of experience in the industry with an evolving wine philosophy focused on the art of winemaking. Her interest…