University of Minnesota

Minnesota Medical Foundation
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WineFest No. 15

Honorary Winemasters

Celebrating ‘Women in Wine’

WineFest No. 15 will celebrate ‘Women in Wine,’ showcasing legends and leaders in the wine industry, including:

Karen Culler
Ladera

Ladera’s winemaker, Karen Culler, started her winemaking career as a child, making homemade wine with her father and grandfather in Ohio. Her job was to destem the clusters by hand. Many vintages later, after graduating from Ohio State University, she moved to Seattle. There, armed with her Ohio winemaking experience, she went to work for Columbia Winery. That’s where she learned two important things: 1) there were machines to destem the grapes from the clusters, and 2) outside of Ohio, people could get paid for making wine.

To learn more, she left Colombia to go to University of California—Davis to get her Master’s Degree in Viticulture and Enology. Graduating in 1984, she started an internship at Robert Mondavi Winery in their Research Department. When Robert Mondavi purchased Vichon Winery, Karen moved to Vichon as assistant winemaker in 1986 and became winemarker in 1989. At Vichon, Karen experienced the vineyards of Napa Valley, northern and central-coast California, and the south of France. In 1997, she realized she was most interested in her own backyard, Napa and Sonoma, and started her own label, Culler Wines.

When Pat and Anne Stotesbery were ready to make their first wine from Ladera’s Lone Canyon Vineyard, Karen was recommended to them—a meeting that turned into a relationship based on their matching goals and winemaking philosophy.

Margaret L. Duckhorn
Duckhorn Wine Company

Margaret Duckhorn is cofounder and vice president of industry relations for Duckhorn Wine Company. Together with Dan Duckhorn, Margaret has spent over 25 years building Duckhorn Vineyards’ reputation for quality and excellence. Known for her commitment to the wine industry and her sense of philanthropy, Margaret is a respected member of the Napa Valley wine community.

Born in New York, Margaret was raised in a military family and traveled widely in her youth. Studying at the University of Maryland campus in Munich, Germany, Margaret first became interested in wine after being exposed to the Mosel region’s distinctive wines. Returning to the United States, Margaret received her B.S., R.N., and P.H.N. degrees from the University of California, San Francisco in 1963. After graduation she worked as a public health nurse for the city of Berkeley before starting a family in the mid-sixties.

In 1976, Margaret and Dan established Duckhorn Vineyards. From the first vintage, Margaret took an active role in the day-to-day operations of the winery, hand sorting the fruit and working alongside the winemaker during blending. Later, Margaret began specializing in marketing and international public relations, becoming a strong voice for Duckhorn Vineyards and a champion for the Napa Valley winegrowing appellation.

Margaret continues to be an advocate for the Napa Valley wine industry, working both locally and globally to protect and promote the region. She was one of the original members of Women for WineSense and is a past Board Member of the American Institute of Wine & Food, past president of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, and immediate past chairman of the board of Wine Institute.

Kate MacMurray
MacMurray Ranch

Kate is the daughter of actor Fred MacMurray and June Haver, one of Hollywood’s best loved couples and most respected actors. She is a screenwriter, whose career, until recently was in film production in Los Angeles.

When Kate received a phone call from the Gallo family inviting her to participate in the creation of a special wine to be named “MacMurray Ranch,” she went to the winery, met the winemakers, and learned about the passion they had for the Russian River Valley grapes, especially the Pinot Noir grape. Kate has since moved back to live in a cabin her father built, and to work full-time on the wines of MacMurray Ranch.

Kate speaks with authenticity about MacMurray Ranch wines. For her, the wines honor her father and her family who loved the land and enjoyed its bounty for over 50 years.

Kate says, “When I taste these wines, I have a chance to share what the ranch means to me with people who have never had the opportunity to see its beauty and know its history. Through the wine, we all become part of the MacMurray Ranch family and share in its legacy of beauty, elegance and timelessness.”

Betty O’Shaughnessy Woolls
O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery

Betty O’Shaughnessy’s rich journey began in a small southern Minnesota farming community. Betty excelled in school and graduated first in her class, venturing to Minneapolis where she attended the University of Minnesota graduating with a degree in mathematics and education.

As a tourist, she came to Napa Valley and fell in love with the beauty of the land, the vineyards, and the climate. In 1990, fortune brought her to Oakville, and a parcel of land, complete with vineyards, and a home. It was there that Betty could re-connect with her deep-rooted appreciation of the soil and the bounties it brings.

University of California—Davis provided the information she needed to transition from Minnesota cornfields to acres of grape vines. Over the next few years, additional vineyards on Howell Mountain and Mt. Veeder were added and this became Betty’s legacy—O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery. The new century brought a cave, grapes crushed in to wine, and a design for a winery structure. The project was completed in time for the 2003 harvest.

But O’Shaughnessy Winery is only a fraction of what Betty has contributed to the community over the years. In 1996, she and her family established the O’Shaughnessy Foundation with the mission of educating patients, families, professionals, and the public concerning the nature of depression and manic-depressive illness as medical diseases, and to foster support, self-help, research towards treatment, and elimination of the disease.

Allison Steltzner
Steltzner Vineyards

Being born and raised around the winery gives Allison Steltzner a great insight into the Steltzner Vineyards. Allison handles Steltzner’s national sales and marketing and is the general manager.

Steltzner Vineyards is nestled in the heart of the Stags Leap District, Napa Valley and the Steltzner family has been farming this land since 1965, with a commitment to crafting exceptional wines that reflect the unique region. Founded by Richard and Christine Steltzner over 40 years ago, today they are joined by their children Justin, Laura and Allison in the management and operations of the vineyards and winery.

A 2002 graduate of California State University, Chico, Allison majored in business administration with minor in marketing. She works along side our distributors and travels the country as the ambassador of all things Steltzner. When in Napa you can find her cooking with friends or on the slopes in Tahoe.

Sandy Walheim
Francis Ford Coppola Presents

As the daughter of Navy submarine captain, Sandy Walheim had the opportunity to travel around the United States from a very early age. She settled in California to attend college, earning a degree in Fermentation Science from the University of California—Davis. Although Sandy was passionate about applied science, the allure of “wine country living” is what led her to a career in winemaking.

While in school, Sandy worked for Domaine Chandon, pressing grapes that would be turned into sparkling wine. After graduation, Sandy took a position at a boutique winery in Santa Cruz. Here, she learned every aspect of the business from crushing fruit to fermentation, barrel selection, and bottling. Because this small winery produced only limited-production single-vineyard wines, Sandy also gained experience using innovative and unconventional winemaking techniques.

After five years, Sandy moved to Napa Valley where she worked for such wine giants as Robert Mondavi Winery, Cain Cellars, and Beringer. She returned to school for a degree in management and a short time later went to work for Simi Winery in Sonoma. Not only was she directly responsible for winemaking, she was a part of the winery’s conversion to estate-bottled wines.

Sandy’s tenure at Simi also provided in-depth study of Sonoma appellations, which she now applies to her work at Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Sandy joined the Coppola team in Geyserville in July 2006 and enjoys overcoming the challenges the winemaking team faces with each vintage.