Even before I joined the world of wine in my mid thirties, I was aware that I was two things that wine writers are traditionally not: young (it’s all relative) and female.
Neither of those things created an issue until 2020, when I became pregnant with my son. The question I received time and time again was, “How will you be able to do your job?” reinforcing yet again the general lack of understanding that evaluating wine and drinking it are two very different endeavours. That said, I did choose to avoid large tastings, long winemaker lunches took on a different perspective and lugging large wine boxes around also took a back seat. But with the support of editors and associates, I did indeed manage to be a pregnant wine writer.
The fact is that the world of wine is predominantly male, and women who choose to have children have to carry the literal load of child bearing, so it’s reasonable to assume this would stand in the way of a career that revolves around alcohol. That’s particularly true now that the globally accepted advice is for women to completely avoid alcohol during pregnancy.
However, increasingly women are finding a way of combining motherhood, family life and a successful role in the wine sector.
I was recently chatting with Lauren Swift, a young, female winemaker and mother of two. Based in Hawke’s Bay, Lauren started her brand Swift Wines in 2016 with a single varietal: syrah. At the time, this was a side project, as Lauren was a full-time winemaker at Hawke’s Bay winery Ash Ridge until the winery sold at the end of 2021. Three-months’ pregnant with her first child, Lauren found herself unemployed and unsure what to do next as her future plans at Ash Ridge disappeared in front of her eyes. Bravely she decided that rather than seek full-time employment elsewhere she would dedicate herself 100% to Swift.
That decision has most definitely paid off as Swift has blossomed and grown. What started as that one syrah has grown into nine varietals and Lauren and husband Henry have taken over a winemaking facility and opened a cellar door on the site of the old Stonecroft winery, a deal they signed when Lauren was pregnant with her second child.
Lauren is the first to admit that while making wine is her passion it isn’t necessarily the most ‘family friendly’ industry, particularly for young mothers and specifically at harvest. Harvest is a most sacred time of year when time off or flexibility just isn’t an option. The call can come that harvest is happening that same day or, in a lot of cases, that night. Harvesting in the cool of the night helps to protect the freshness in the grapes, so winemaking teams work in shifts 24/7, as when the grapes are ready they’re ready and grapes have no care whether you have a teething or sick baby at home. Where wine brands have female leadership, Lauren thinks there is a greater understanding of the additional burdens and responsibilities borne by winemakers who are also mothers. While working for such a brand is very attractive for females in the industry, not all wineries are large enough to have a leadership team and the boutique nature of most New Zealand wineries doesn’t lend itself to extensive hierarchy.
Lauren is quick to point out that while she is a young mother building her own brand, she isn’t doing it alone. She and Henry are a true partnership continually balancing Henry’s full-time job, two sons, their relationship, Swift Wines and three delightful dachshunds – one of whom has been immortalised on the bottle of the Swift Marceline Sparkling Wine.
The opening of the new cellar door means Henry takes on solo parenting at the weekend while Lauren hosts guests and pours wine at the cellar door, and evenings are spent planning their future at the kitchen table once the boys are in bed. Is it easy? No. Would more hours in the day be helpful? Most definitely. Are they taking too much on? Potentially… In hindsight, Lauren thinks she must have been insane to take on their new winemaking facility and the cellar door when they already have much on their hands. But she knows that when a great opportunity comes up, you just have to jump on it and figure out how to make it work.
Any working mother I know, including myself, can most definitely relate. ■
