The Ladies of The Vine 2026

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- OMG!!! I love Wine and Women, and to have the honor of being one of the only men allowed into the room at each year's ‘Ladies of the Vine’ event, the brainchild of Woodlands Wine & Food Week Founder Constance McDerby, held at The Club at Carlton Woods, it brings together four women dedicated to the wine industry. Some say the wine industry is dying, but the energy given off by these ladies in no way gives that impression, in fact, with new entries into the winemaking world, the profession continues to impress as each year the panelists tell their stories and progression in their wine journeys. This is the 22nd Anniversary of ‘Wine & Food Week,’ and Constance and her team at Food & Vine Time Productions, are total professionals in planning out and organizing all the behind the scenes stuff that needs to get done each year to make Ladies ofthe Vine so special, and incredibly everything goes off without a hitch. In many cases the work they do each year takes many moons to cultivate and bring Food & Vine Time’s grapes to fruition.

Ladies of the Vine is a special spin-off event from the rest of Wine & Food Week, especially designed for achieved ladies to give knowledge and hope for other females to go into the wine industry, even if that means leaving your corporate job, taking classes, and jumping in with the vines, labs, and all the other requirements, including parenting, to make it in the wine world; and succeed. To be invited as a panelist, you’ve proved a point, won some competitions, and are confident enough to speak and answer questions in front of a room of confident and discerning women, then deal with Monique Studak, the yearly MC, who if she doesn’t make you laugh, is off her game. That, plus Monique’s personality is so infectious, and more than likely is filled with as many bubbles as the panelist wines that they opine on. She moderated the panel discussion with the precision of a commanding general, and really didn’t have to crack down on the chatterboxes as in years past. Studak’s brand, ‘Thirst for Knowledge,’ is backed by many years at different wineries such as Messina Hof in Bryan, plus numerous travels across the planet, tasting and training trainers in wine knowledge.

This year’s panelists were California wine experts Kim Stare Wallace from Dry Creek Vineyards; and Violet Grgrich from Grgrich Hills Estate, and Texas Vintners Janet Miertschin from Portree Cellars; and Stephanie Franklin from Franklin Vines.

Dry Creek Vineyard’s Kim Stare Wallace from Sonoma County, California, coming from a multi-generational wine family, has the juice of the vines flowing in her blood. Her father David Stare, pioneered Dry Creek Vineyard following Prohibition, and Kim started as a teen in the office, then cellar, and the bottling line, learning the business from her parents’ perspective on aspects of the business on her parents numerous sales trips, business dinners, and wine tastings. Following college in San Francisco, she initially worked in fashion, before eventually returning to the family business in the late 1980s as Marketing Director, embracing the family nautical past including the sailing theme into the labels of the Dry Creek bottles themselves. By the mid-90s she was Vice President and involved in decisions affecting the quality of the product and winery operations, eventually taking on the role of President in 2011. Kim has been featured on the cover of Wine Spectator, having won many awards, and has been through the thick and thin of the wine industry all the while raising two children.

Wallace issued directions to the winery, “You go north in Sonoma, you hit Dry Creek Road, you take a left, and you will come across this fabulous family-owned multi-generational winery.”

The Dry Creek Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2024 was paired with the first course, Boucheron Goat Cheese Salad, which included seasonal spring greens, fresh citrus and citrus vinaigrette. It was the perfect wine for drilling into the goat cheese with its minerally acidic overtones that brought to life the citrus, and imparted the good nature of the cream; and it was served as the perfect opening dish.

Another Californian, Violet Grgich, of Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, is extremely proud of her Croatian and family’s winemaking heritage. She embraced a musical education in college, but planned for the future with biology, chemistry, and enology (study of winemaking) classes; before returning to the vineyard and into the family business. Violet’s father Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, was a world-renowned wine maker, and he demanded of his daughter to know the business inside and out. Mike Grgich was the winemaker of the Château Montelana, the 1973 Chardonnay, that won the 1976 Judgement of Paris wine competition, putting Napa Valley on the winemaking map for all time.

“My dad insisted that in order to lead the winery,” said Grgich. “I needed to work at every single position, starting at the bottom.”

Violet exceeded her father’s expectations and has since embraced regenerative farming principles which include earning a Regenerative Organic Certification. Violet is also a mother and many times had her children-in-tow at events during her career.

The Grgich Hills Estate Paris ‘76 Chardonnay 2023 was paired with the second course, Lobster Escargot, with its tender chunks of meat, beset with herb & garlic butter, shaved black truffles, pea tendrils, and sourdough breadcrumbs. The vanilla and creamy buttery texture of the wine doubled with enjoyment of the lobster with its own butter influence, and a few drops of the Chardonnay on the dish itself served as a vehicle to culinary ecstasy in sopping up the remaining juices.

For the members of the panel, two Texas winemakers, their story is more recent, but just as exciting. dealing with start-up concerns in troubling times.

Portree Cellars’ Janet Miertschin, from Hye, Texas, near the LBJ Ranch, is about as rustic as it gets, in the rich lands of the Texas Hill County that now rival California's fertile areas. She has a background in mechanical engineering (TAMU) and worked in the petrochemical business prior to falling into the wine industry. Janet's love of wine, along with her husband Mark, and their travels across The World, resulted in buying about 30 acres of land, and planting vines since 2019, which by 2020, along with the encouragement of the Kerrville Hills Winery Incubator Program bloomed her intrigue with the profession. Miertschin received her Texas Tech Winemakers Certificate Program in 2022, and hasn’t looked back. She has won awards from San Francisco, to Austin, to the Houston Livestock Stock Wine Competition. Janet joined the Texas Wine Growers, and is now Vice-President of the organization, which reinforces her drive to advocate on behalf of Texas agriculture and winemaking.

The Portree Cellars 2020 Aglianico was paired with the third course, Tournedos Rachel, an Auguste Escoffier inspired dish, consisting of a prime beef tenderloin medallions, topped with a marinated artichoke heart, accompanied by dauphinose potatoes topped with asparagus. The sauce was a combination of marrow butter bordelaise reduction which was absolutely heavenly. Texas has that warm climate that complements the Aglianco grape, allowing for the bold tannins and high acidity to really bring out the sweetness of the meat. And of course in Texas it goes with smoked meats from those Barbeques. Bravo I say to Janet and the culinary team.

Franklin Vines’ Stephanie Franklin, is a natural at the game, self-motivated, she took her concern from an idea during the pandemic, which decimated her corporate career, and within a few years produced her inaugural vintage just four years ago. Her legacy of growing grapes on historic familial Freedmen’s land in East Texas, was perfectly suited for the Tannant grape, and has reached her to accoladed heights she never imagined. Stephanie cut her teeth with hands-on winemaking and harvest internships in Napa Valley and Texas, all the while educating herself with multiple WSET Level certifications, to the point of being asked to judge wines for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition. She has also won awards from the San Francisco Wine Competition to the Houston Livestock Show, and has also been honored by the City of Houston, as well as Good Morning America.

The Franklin Vines 2022 Texas Tannat was paired with the dessert course, Fondant Au Chocolat, a lava cake of dark chocolate fudge, a dollop of chocolate cremeux, and whip cream topped with sugar spiced hazelnuts. Both the wine and cacao are high in natural tannins, and the dry and full-bodied Tannat grape embraces well with the higher percentage dark chocolates, and well as the nuts, bringing to an end a remarkable meal. My Congratulations go out to the Food & Vine Time Productions team for such an incredible event.

Each year, the Ladies of the Vine is one of the highlights of Wine &Food Week, and gives props to the ladies that make the wine industry work. Set in an elegant luncheon at The Club at Carlton Woods it highlights a stellar panel of ladies that are forever changing the wine world.

Wine & Food Week is presented by H-E-B. Sponsored by: Bayway Cadillac of The Woodlands, Aruba Tourism, The Only Facial, LaCroix, Visit the Woodlands, Trinchero Family Estates, Riboli Family Wines, Duckhorn Wine, Dry Creek Vineyard, Michael David Winery, SpeedPro Imaging The Woodlands, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel, Renewal by Anderson, Texas Renaissance Festival, Women Driving Business, Fit & Fabulous with Sarah Cain, Chareau Aloe Liquer, Satoma Tequila, Brother’s Bond Bourbon, The Whistle Pig, El Tesoro Tequila, Lyre & Thief, Montanya Rum, Glendalough Distillery, Woodlands Online, PaperCity Magazine, Hello Woodlands, KSTAR Country Radio, Community Impact, YELP, Infiniti Graphics, Genesis Photography, Video, Kelley Sweet Photography, Minor Details, Photography by Melissa Chapman, and SRG Photography with more announcements to follow.

Food & Vine Time Productions, producer of Wine & Food Week, has raised over $2 million dollars through various channels since its inception in 2002 for local charities and deserving non-profits.

Alcohol Disclaimer: This column is intended for entertainment purposes only. Please drink responsibly, not just for yourself, but for others around you.

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net

The Woodlands Wine & Food Week: wineandfoodweek.com

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