Tucked into an industrial looking building flanked by vineyards and other wine-making companies in Livermore ,the interior of the tasting room of Wood Family Vineyards couldn’t seem more out of character.
Walls painted a warm red, a large banquet table filling the room and there’s founder Rhonda Wood holding court behind the bar, wine glass filled to tasting level in hand, all at the crack of 10 a.m.
“Yeah, and I like to have fun,” said Wood with the laugh to punctuate the declaration.
And yet, for the quick laughter and the large photo of Wood riding a wine barrel bronco style, Wood has for two decades been a very serious winemaker, growing her brand from a small home vineyard to an award-winning wine selection. Her husband is the company’s financial officer and her son is helping to run the business. There are plenty of Woods in the Wood Family operation — and of course plenty of fun.
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“Wine tasting should be fun and not so serious,” Wood said. “Although wine, it can be serious.”
Wood is also a member of a different family; women wine makers of Livermore Valley. The state average for women working in the wine industry is somewhere around fifteen percent. In Livermore, the number is about double. Across the street from Wood is winemaker Rosie Fierro. Just down the road is Aaliyah Nitoto, founder of the Free Range Flower Winery which crafts wine from flowers.
“It’s interesting because I see the growth in the wine industry with women,” Wood said. “I’ve seen it huge over the years.”
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When Wood broke into the male dominated wine business back in the early 2000s, there were far fewer women winemakers. She dropped into the industry from a different career; she was a commercial airline pilot.
“I started flying when I was 16,” said Wood. “It was easier than driving a car.”
Back when Wood was flying commercially, women were forced to take leave of absences if they became pregnant. Wood was on her pregnancy leave and had read something about how beer was good for breast milk. So in her downtime she started making beer which segued into making wine. She planted eighteen grapevines at her home in Fremont, and waited.
While she waited for the vines to mature, she spotted a piece of rural land in Livermore that came with a vineyard. She and her husband bought it, built a house, raised kids and launched Wood’s foray into the wine business. She’s been at it for more than twenty years.
“I like to experiment, I like to try new things,” Wood said. “I’m out there in the vineyards all the time.”
Though a woman in what was then a male-dominated industry, she said she never experienced any push back - in fact was welcomed by Livermore’s cozy wine-making community.
“It’s just always been supportive,” she said, trotting out a comparison to the airline industry. “If you could fly an airplane you could fly an airplane, you get that respect.”
Just down the road from Wood’s home, winemaker Jessica Carroll recently cut the ribbon on her new tasting room for her JMC Cellars winery. Like Wood, Carroll dropped in from another industry — as a transportation engineer - before she was lured over by the wine bug.
“I started and I’ve never really looked back,” Carroll said standing behind her bar.
Carroll initially began working behind the counter of other Livermore’s tasting rooms, before making her way into the cellar to learn the craft of making wine. She calls it the perfect combination of art and science.
She spent more than a decade working at Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars. When the company shuttered, she took a leap of faith and took over the tasting room — creating her own boutique winery operated completely by women.
“I’m a complete wine nerd and geek,” laughed Carroll, “and get a chance to explore that in the cellar and the tasting room with customers.”
Carroll’s repertoire includes standard varietals, but also off-the-beaten path grapes like teroldego and peloursin.
“I get excited finding a grape I’ve never heard of actually,” Carroll said.
She even created her own labels using her photography skills. Her startling blue labels bear imprints of different flowers created in the photo darkroom.
With the rise of women winemakers in Livermore, Carroll and sister winemakers banded together to create a Women’s Wine Collective of Livermore Valley as a support group and resource. They occasionally get together and taste wines and talk shop. Carroll partially attributes the rise in female winemakers to the Livermore’s welcoming and laid-back vibe.
As she stood behind the counter sipping her own wine, surrounded by the new touches she’s added to the tasting room — Carroll felt truly in her element.
“I feel very fortunate to get to work in something I’m so passionate about,” she said.
