Many of the biggest names in wine have historically been men. This is true of conventional winemaking and even the realm of critics, it is unfortunately also the case even in the wilder world of natural wine. Names like Jules Chauvet and Marcel Lapierre of France are credited with being the godfathers of the natural wine’s modern renaissance, with icons like Dario Princic, Ismael Gozalo, and Milan Nestarec some of the most important names in their respective countries.
But more and more women are becoming part of the face of wine—and here, we celebrate our favorite women winemakers who not only craft unique and beautiful bottles of natural wine, but are also passionate advocates of the natural wine movement today:
5 Women Winemakers to Watch:
Maylis Bernard of Zeroine
Though she grew up in Jura helping her grandfather in his Chateau-Chalon vineyard, becoming one of wine region’s most exciting rising stars wasn’t always in the cards for Maylis Bernard. In fact: she spent 16 years managing IT projects before her love of natural wine had her boldly deciding to return to the world of wine.
Drawing on the expertise of Jura winemaking legends Jean-Francois Ganevat (who happens to be her partner) and help from his sister Anne Ganevat, Maylis started Zeroine as an exclusive negociant label with the goal of creating zero-zero wines made with absolutely no additives—putting “zero” and “heroine” together. In only a few years, she acquired small plots of land in La Combe de Rotalier and transitioned Zeroine into a biodynamic micro estate combining the fruits of her passionate labor (see: soil plowing, plant-based preparations) and high-quality negociant grapes.
Uncompromising in her own tastes and creativity, Maylis only makes cuvees she loves. Zeroine embraces traditional technique and native grapes, but takes risks by steering clear of anything but minimal intervention. Her whites can be captivating, and her reds playful—but regardless of style, each and every one of Zeroine’s wines is a raw, honest, and joyful work of love!
Our favorite Zeroine wines
Zeroine’s GaCha 2019 boldly combines Gamay with Chardonnay for one of the most chuggable reds on the entire (Super)Natural websites. Though if you’d like to see what Zeroine can do with a single type of grape, the L18 Gaga presents us with one of the wildest takes on Gamay we’ve ever encountered!
Stephanie Tscheppe-Eselböck of Gut Oggau
You do not really know natural wine until you know Gut Oggau, one of the wineries pushing the boundaries of low-intervention winemaking from its home in Austria. Founded in 2007, it began when Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck bought an old, abandoned 17th century vineyard in Burgenland and decided to discover its existing vines’ natural potential.
Eduard comes from a family of conventional winemakers, while Stephanie comes from a line of restaurateurs. Her family owns and operates the two Michelin-starred Taubenkobel, and she herself previously worked in Paris’s L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Together, they’ve created a Demeter-certified biodynamic winery where every single bottle comes alive with a distinct personality—something the couple has capitalized on by creating a portrait for each bottle, and overall a three-generation family of wines that have become some of the world’s most recognizable.
But in the same way Gut Oggau explores what natural wine can be, it also questions the limits of what a winery can do. Stephanie’s creativity has steered the winery into some of the most unexpected directions—including a collaboration of chairs with furniture designer Fritz Hansen, leather bags by SAGAN, and even their own everyday fashion collection called “From my heart” curated and designed with artists. It is an entirely new way for people to connect with wine.
“We humans are uniquely creative creatures,” Stephanie says to Karakterre. “Our purpose is to connect with the higher beings, with creativity, it would be a shame not to dare to break free from conventions once in a while.”
Our favorite Gut Oggau wines
She’s an icon, a legend, and the moment: Theodora (Weiss) 2021 is a structured-yet-playful favorite from Gut Oggau here at (Super)Natural with a refreshing lift. Though when we’re in the mood for something a little more adventurous, Blaufrankisch-Roesler blend Josephine (Rot) 2018 never fails to rock our worlds.
Sylvie Augereau
Natural wine would not be enjoying its modern renaissance today without Sylvie Augereau. An acclaimed wine journalist and an advocate of natural wine, she has traveled across France and published multiple books shedding light on the beautiful wines of small producers and growers. She took it a step further when she founded the world’s oldest and largest natural wine festival ‘La Dive Bouteille’ in 2000, uniting over 250 producers to showcase their bottles in the Loire Valley.
In 2014, she became a champion of natural wine in every sense of the word by becoming a winemaker herself. A vineyard she’d been eyeing near La Dive’s usual site had gone up for sale, and since she purchased those 1.4 hectares, she’s cared for its vines of Chenin Blanc, Cabernet, Grolleau, and Pineau d’Aunis by hand and on foot, no machines allowed. In fact, she even talks to her vines and plays music in the vineyard!
Sylvie Augereau’s wines are a labor of love: only 3,000 bottles are produced in a year. Each bottle is all biodynamic in the vineyard and natural in the cellar. She sometimes even uses ancestral methods such as aging in clay amphorae and Qvevri! The result: an authentic expression of the Loire Valley with a unique sense of place, vibrant and full of energy!
Our favorite Sylvie Augereau wines
Sylvie Augereau’s Peaux 2019 is a team favorite at (Super)Natural. Super aromatic, it’s also extremely versatile with food: it’ll go with both a rustic roast chicken and a delicate fine dining dish. For Asian dishes, however, we’re also big fans of the more tropical Pulpes 2018.
Maria & Sepp Muster
There are few natural wines as highly-sought and highly-coveted as those by Austrian winemaking power couple Maria & Sepp Muster, but it was a long road getting there—in fact, the couple was blown completely off-course when Sepp had a serious accident, and the couple found themselves traveling.
It was in India that the couple would first encounter biodynamic agriculture, which would eventually become the keystone to their winemaking today. “The unfamiliar approach made us both realize for the first time what it truly means to be a farmer,” describes Maria. “It means not only working physically, but also observing nature and trying to become one with it.”
When they returned to their hometown in southern Styria, Maria and Sepp took over the 10-hectare Muster family winery working with biodynamic methods with no advice and no experience in it, and persisted even with neighbors and colleagues’ naysaying. When their first wines—already meditative, with great tension and minerality—were produced with minimal intervention, the couple persisted as wine critics and retailers rejected their distinctively soulful style so removed from the bombastic, mass-produced bottles in vogue.
With the support of a few other winemaking families in Styria, they would prevail—and as natural wine began to enjoy its renaissance, the Musters’ philosophy of natural interactions, of more and more of less is less, would begin to enjoy demand.
“If you like our wines, you like them,” writes Maria to Schluck. “For us, it's not about liking or disliking. Not about good or bad. It's a lifelong process, where one step leads to the next. It's also very much about life, about being alive.”
Our favorite Maria & Sepp Muster wines
You’ve likely had Sauvignon Blanc before, but we bet you’ve never had any quite like Maria & Sepp Muster’s before. Their light and refreshing Sauvignon vom Opok 2019 has this laser-focused minerality (a hit at a dinner table!). And if you want to try something wilder made of Sauvignon Blanc, Grafin 2018 is cloudy, funky, complex, and full-bodied from 2-4 weeks of skin contact and oak barrel ageing for a whopping two years. Insanity.
Judith Beck
No (Super)Natural special on women in wine would be complete without one of our favorite (and bestelling) winemakers: Judith Beck of Burgenland Austria. With both her parents and her grandparents working the winery before it, she is someone who was born into the wine world.
However, that isn’t to say that she hasn’t paved her own path. After studying winemaking and learning the ropes in France, Italy, and Chile, she was quickly handed over responsibility of the cellar by her father—and not long later, Judith converted the entire 13.5-hectare estate to biodynamic as a reflection of her deep respect for her vines. She does, after all, literally live amongst them by Lake Neusiedl.
That love follows its way into the cellar, with Judith only allowing minimal intervention with no fining or filtering. And as a result, each bottle tastes like a true expression of the multitude of terroirs they come from. Judith Beck’s wines are rustic but refined, balanced but bold—but most notably, they are all so approachable (and affordable!) for their wonderful quality.
Our favorite Judith Beck wines
We love busting out Judith Beck’s Bambule! Pet Nat M whenever we have guests over at our cellar—it’s a tropical fruit bomb and a ridiculously aromatic orange sparkling. For those a little newer to natural wine, the lightness and playfulness of Koreaa 2020 (and its teensy bit of skin contact) is definitely a hit!
Where to shop natural wine in Metro Manila
If you’re out to enjoy vino proudly made by women winemakers, (Super)Natural is the best place to shop natural wine in Metro Manila overall. We’re the biggest importer and distributor of natural, organic, and biodynamic wines in the Philippines, and we’re happy to carry bottles by iconic women-led wineries like Gut Oggau, Judith Beck, Maria & Sepp Muster, Sylvie Augereau, and Zeroine.
Shop natural wine at (Super)Natural! Same-day delivery available weekdays in Metro Manila for orders placed before 2 PM.
