1800's

Madame Clicquot:  The remarkable Madame Clicquot (1777-1866) is often considered the first businesswoman of the modern era. Née Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin, she was widowed in 1805 at the age of 27. Veuve Clicquot ( Veuve means widow in French) defied every convention of the day to take the helm of her late husband's small Champagne house. She enlisted help wisely, took astute risks and made important technological innovations (including the invention of remuage or riddling), leading the House to world renown. One of her most significant triumphs was sending a secret shipment of her Champagne to Russia in 1814 in defiance of Napoleon's blockade--a great success.

Jeanne Alexandrine Pommery was born March 18th, 1819 in Ardennes and married Alexandre Pommery in 1839. Upon Alexandre's death in 1860, his widow Louise Pommery assumed full control of the business. She purchased 120 limestone and chalk pits carved underneath 12 miles of the city of Reims.  These unique cellars allowed her to store and age hundreds of thousands of bottles in a temperature-controlled environment, (France)

Mary Penfold:  Following Dr Penfold’s death in 1870, the vineyards and winery continued to be very capably run by Mary Penfold, who had been fundamental in their establishment and development from the very beginning. The scale of Mary’s success some 35 years after the company’s small beginnings, is indicated by records showing that 107,000 gallons (close to 500,000 litres) of wine were stored at Magill in 1881. This quantity was said to represent one-third of all wine stored in South Australia at the time. By the turn of the century, the area under vine at Magill had grown to 50 ha (120 acres) and Penfolds was fast becoming a household name.
 

Dona Antonia Adelaide Ferreira:  Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira (1811–1896) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the Douro . Widowed at an early age, she was evidently shrewd in business: at a time when the Douro was in an economic slump, she bought several Quintas on the cheap and established a Douro wine empire that persists, in modified form, to this day. The sixth generation of the Ferreira family now run Vallado, with the Quinta in the hands of Guilherme Álvares Ribeiro and his wife Maria Antónia Ferreira. (Portugal)

Kate Warfield was known as “the leading vineyardist from Glen Ellen,” when she took over her late husband’s Ten Oaks Vineyard in 1877. (Sonoma)

Josephine Tychson, was 31 years old when she founded her winery, Tychson Hill Vineyard,  in 1886, after the tragic death of her husband. Her winery was located next to Freemark Abbey (Napa)

Lillie Langtry Internationally famous actress and noted Victorian beauty 4,200 acres of land in Guenoc Valley in 1888 with the goal of making the “greatest claret in the country.” (California)
 

Mary Laurie  Australia's first registered female vigneron and winemaker was Mary Laurie. Mary and husband Buxton were from Scotland and in the late 1800s became widely praised winemakers. Although a talented winemaker in her own right, Mary did not share the limelight with her husband. But when he died, aged 52, she continued to develop the family business with her eight children and make great wines. Indeed, she continued even when bedridden by a stroke, issuing instructions from her room.
 

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