Shining a light on women and the contribution they make to the wine world is really important to us here at North South Wines. Not just on International Women’s Day, but always!

Indeed, anyone who knows us will already be aware of the fact that we have the truly inspirational award-winning and industry renowned Kim Wilson leading the business as Founder and Managing Director. She, along with her team, has built North South Wines up to the £27million turnover business it is now. Her determination, courage and collaborative leadership style is an inspiration to us all.

Wine pairing with a difference for International Women’s Day

So, for International Women’s Day 2022, we’ve decided to take wine pairing to a whole new level!

We bring you ten of our most loved wines, teaming them up with some of the women behind them.

What could be better than to raise a glass to these gorgeous wines in honour of the fabulous women who contributed to making them happen?

Not much in our book – so grab a bottle and enjoy on this International Women’s Day!

1. Glorioso Reserva and Almudena Alberca

Glorioso Rioja is a deep cherry red colour and has an intense flavour. It comes from Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos and winemaker Almudena Alberca – Spain’s only female Master of Wine winemaker.

In a short space of time, Almudena has repositioned the winery, modernising its range and launching eight new products.


2. Pictus VI and Emma Borg

Pictus VI is the product of Painted Wolf Wines in South Africa. It’s an elegant, rich wine with a broad mouthfeel and tight, fresh finish.

Painted Wolf is co-founded and owned by Emma Borg who, along with her winemaker husband Jeremy, set out to create a company and a wine brand with a fresh and different approach: Thought provoking, fun, high quality, and distinct with conservation at the core.

As well as making exceptional wines, Painted Wolf has to date donated over 3 million rand (around £146,000) to African Wild Dog conversation, and another 800k rand to other special social upliftment projects.


3. District Rose and Heidi Scheid

A wonderfully expressive yet superb value range from Monterey. District 7 Rose is new to the Scheid range. Don’t just take our word for it! The Chardonnay was awarded 93 points by Decanter last year and was the top scoring white wine in Decanters California whites under £30.

Not at all bad for a price tag of just £14.99!

For International Womens’ Day, we’re putting District 7 Rose together with Heidi Scheid, daughter of founder Al Scheid and Executive Vice President. She is an integral member of this family team. All round cool lady, and most recently awarded 2020 Wine Enthusiast Wine Stars Person of the Year, Heidi took on the Executive Vice President role in 2017 and has overseen the company’s quick evolution into an estate vineyard and winery.


4. The Mentors Orchestra and Izele Van Blerk

Meet Izele Van Blerk – winemaker of the highly lauded The Mentors range at KWV, where she perfects her skill at crafting limited production wines which focus on terroir and climate, made from classic and less known varieties.

We’ve paired Izele up with Orchestra, which showcases the unique individual attributes of the different varietals, but together delivers a complexity beyond the sum of the components.


5. Mirabeau and Jeany Cronk

Jeany Cronk is the beauty, style and creative talent behind Mirabeau. And together with her husband Stephen she has established the no 1. Provencial Rose brand in the UK in just over ten years.

Ámazing!


6. Noble One and Julie Mortlock

Julie Mortlock, Senior Executive Winemaker at De Bortoli Wines Bilbul Estate is responsible for bringing the iconic and multi trophy winning Noble One Botrytis Semillon to avid fans across the globe. We love it for its brilliant pale gold colour and it’s intense nose with spicy cinnamon over yellow peaches and French nougat aromas. Take a sip and you may pick up a hint of burnt sugar syrup too!


7. Yarra Valley and Leanne De Bortoli

Introducing Melba Amphora – a new addition to the De Bortoli range. We have paired it up with Leanne De Bortoli, Yarra Valley Estate Manager and third-gener. Together with winemaker husband Steve Webber, she established De Bortoli’s Yarra Valley operation and the company hasn’t looked back since.


8. Yarra Valley Pinot Noir and Sarah Fagan

Sarah Fagan, Winemaker at De Bortoli Wines Yarra Valley Estate, has been working her magic as winemaker at De Bortoli since 2000. She works alongside Steve Webber in Yarra and he describes her as someone who was “imaginative with great attention to detail and a very good palate.” It certainly shows in the Yarra Valley wines she has crafted.


9. Vallformosa VFMS Classic Cava and Marta Vidal

In 2017 at the age of just 33, Marta Vidal assumed the role of CEO of Vallformosa, following a career in finance. She’s helped turn the business into a professional, modern and transparent company focussed on quality and traceability which has contributed to the company’s many awards. At Vallformosa 35% of the team are women and 43% of the team in management are women too. What a testiment to Women in Wine!

We’ve paired Vidal up with Valformosa ‘Organic’, which offers aromas of green apple and pear.

It really is a knock-out of a sparkling.


10. “Queen of the Hive’ and Ashleigh Seymour

Delightfully soft and mellow palate that show layers of strawberries and poached rhubarb, Queen of the Hive by Paxton wines is an easy drinking variety that suits the modern wine lover. We’re pairing this one up with Paxton’s new winemaker Ashleigh Seymour – a real ‘Queen of the Vine’ in the making. And she’s looking to get a little experimental with wine style and emerging grape varieties.

We can’t wait to find out what she has in store!