Secrets of Northern Italy: Piedmont Now Booking for May 2024!

Dreaming of a women only Italian wine and food vacation in a less touristy part of Italy where you get to experience the hidden gems only locals know about, even though you don’t speak Italian?

Want a getaway where you don’t have to plan a single thing, just show up with your suitcase and sense of adventure?

Excited for a women only tour in italy where you get to make new friends, drink great wine, try new delicious food, and immerse yourself in italian culture?

Join us in Northern Italy, in Piedmont, on our Secrets of Northern Italy: Piedmont and discover what makes this picturesque UNESCO World Heritage area so special! We are now booking for May 2024 - only 12 spots for 12 amazing women are available! Book your spot now!

Click here to view the whole incredible tour experience! We can’t wait to have you!!

Exploring Bainbridge Vineyards: A Woman Owned Winery + Vineyard

It was the 10th sunny photo of a glass of Rosé on Instagram that did it.

I found myself on an unusually warm PacNW Sunday afternoon driving across the Agate Point bridge heading for Bainbridge Vineyards. As I crested the hill on Day Road, I could see the “Pizza Pop-Up” sign above the winery sign, and I started dancing in my seat. I had been to the tasting garden at Bainbridge Vineyards only once before, last summer, on a cool, overcast afternoon with my Mom. As she patiently sat knitting across from me, I sampled my way through the fun and interesting tasting menu. I enjoyed all of the wines, and definitely fell head over heels for the Madeleine Angevine, an aromatic Loire Valley white I had not previously tasted. It was awesome. But this time, I had pizza and pink on my mind….

Driving past fields bursting with summer color, the dirt road to the winery ended just in front of the tasting room. I could see the pizza pop-up – One Two Kai Kitchen & Catering- under the white tent to the right of the main tasting area. I ordered the “Ferry Boat” pizza- a delicious combination with apples, mozzarella, caramelized orange marmalade, gorgonzola, rosemary, lemon zest, with a kabocha squash sauce. (I know, crazy right?! It.Was.So.Good.) While the pizza baked, I headed for the tasting area.

While the Spring Tasting Flight – Madeleine Angevine, Müller-Thurgau, Ferryboat White Blend and Pinot Noir - looked dazzling, it was the new 2021 Emerge Rosé that I had my eye on. A “blend of Old World varietals” (per the tasting menu), it had exactly the flavor and acid profile I was looking for on that hot afternoon – strawberry, raspberry, and cranberry with mouth-watering acidity.

I chose a comfortable seat under an umbrella, and sat enjoying my glass of Rosé while my pizza cooked. Birds were chirping, there was a light breeze, and bursts of laughter came from a group next to me. It was the perfect environment to sip my Rosé and relax. The patio is cheerful, spacious and pretty, with small clusters of tables, chairs and colorful umbrellas spread out around the winery building. You can even choose to take your tastings into the meadow above if you wish! Flowering plants wave in the breeze, and flowers and greenery spill from pots around the tasting area. There are jugs of water on offer, and interesting signage around talking about the history of the property. Beautiful, functional and educational. My kind of place.

“We are both farmer and winemaker at Bainbridge Vineyards.” - Betsey Wittick

The history of Bainbridge Vineyards dates back to 1977, and the Suyematsu Bentryn farmland to 1928. The farmland originally belonged to the Japanese-American farmer Akio Suyematsu, and is today the longest continuous use of agriculture in Kitsap County. It was purchased by Gerard and Jo Ann Bentryn in 1977 for Bainbridge Vineyards. After falling in love with the cooler climate wines of the Loire Valley in France, the Mosel in Germany, and wine regions in Austria, the Bentryns decided to plant varietals that were suited to similar bioregions- unusual varietals to find outside of Europe such as Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Madeleine Angevine, Siegerrebe, Müller-Thurgau, Zweigelt, Regent, Garanoir, and Dunkefelder. Gerard Bentryn was instrumental in establishing the Puget Sound AVA in 1995.

When the Bentryns retired, Betsey Wittick, a longtime friend and employee who had been making wine on Bainbridge Island since 1988, reopened the vineyard and winery in 2013 under cooperative ownership. In 2014, the vineyards were granted organic certification, and Bainbridge Vineyards is now the first B-Corp certified winery in Washington state. The property on Day Road continues to be a working farm property, home to 5 farms that share the land, and the estate vineyards lie within 8 of these 40 acres today. This biodiversity is important to the quality of the wines, and the property is a certified wildlife sanctuary. The vineyard and winery are now woman-led.

It is my absolute pleasure to be able to share the story of Bainbridge Vineyards with you, as it is a women led business and also happens to be in my neck of the woods. If you visit the Pacific Northwest, do make visiting Bainbridge Vineyards a special priority on your itinerary. It’s definitely worth the time- and try to catch the pizza pop-up if you can! Cheers!

Sisters Changing the Game: The McBride Sisters

“Break the Rules. Drink the Wine.”- Robin & Andréa McBride

Robin McBride, left, and Andréa McBride John learned from winemakers and grapegrowers as they started their company as a boutique import firm. (Courtesy McBride Sisters Collection)

Sisters Robin and Andréa McBride grew up half a world away from one another between Monterey, CA and Marlborough, New Zealand. Both had a passion for all things wine, and once united in 1999, they decided to break into the industry by creating an import company to bring their favorite New Zealand small wineries into the US. By 2005, they shifted gears and launched the McBride Sisters brand as two forward-thinking, strong women in an industry defined by tradition and gender. It is their mission to transform the industry, lead by example, and cultivate community. With talented women winemakers- both their Head and their Assistant Winemakers are women- their projects are truly collaborative. Robin and Andréa constantly lift up other women, celebrate other women, support BIPOC women and women in business. The McBride Sisters Collection has several lines: the McBride Sisters Collection, which encourages people to “break the rules, and drink the wine”, the Black Girls Magic Collection, which celebrates the sisters’ culture and story inspired by the magic and resilience of Black women, and the SheCAN collection, which are canned wines and spritzers. Their brand marketing is truly supportive of the beauty of each person’s unique spirit.

In 2019, the sisters created the “The McBride Sisters SHE CAN Fund” to “promote the professional advancement of women in the wine industry in a concerted effort to help close the gender and race gap. In the first year, the fund awarded scholarships of nearly $40,000 to empower women to strive for change and to create opportunities for themselves and others, where there had not been before.” As noted by Robin, “We know first-hand how hard it can be for women to break though in traditionally male-dominated industries and want to open as many doors as possible for the next generation of women leaders.”

McBride Sisters now not only the largest Black-owned wine company in the United States, it is also one of the most inclusive, sustainable, accessible and socially aware. The women behind the brand are inspiring agents of change, and leaders for a brighter future for all of us.

https://www.mcbridesisters.com/Trade