But an impromptu lunch while on vacation in California’s Napa Valley opened her eyes to the multi-layered lives of women winemakers. “These women are part CEO, they’re part farmers, they’re part analogists, a lot of them are scientists with advanced degrees – and they’re moms,” Brenner says with obvious admiration. Many had also experienced divorce and she found courage in their ability to put their lives back together.

But the book was just the beginning. Brenner, a marketing and business development specialist, wanted the women behind the wine to be individually recognized as creative entrepreneurial artists. “I understood branding. The labels were being branded but the artists weren’t,” says Brenner.

She discovered that in order to promote specific vintners a maze of federal and state laws required her to own a winery. “Ignorance is bliss,” she says, laughing, suggesting that if she’d known the complexities of wine distribution she might never have attempted it.

Two years, lots of mistakes and one huge home equity loan later, Brenner’s Women of the Vine Cellars is offering seven new wines created by six top women winemakers from Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles, including a syrah by Heidi Peterson Barrett, formerly the creative force behind Screaming Eagle Vineyards and referred to as the “first lady of wine” by wine expert, Robert Parker.

Brenner sees her winery as an art gallery for women winemakers. “Their art is dirt,” she says. “That magic little thing is in the person. It’s in their palate and in their skill and in their experience.” She is honored to be ambassador and champion to these extraordinary women.

The women of the Vine Cellars "Signature Series" and Brenner's secondary label, Country Roads, will be available in retail stores and restaurants in our backyard (NY, NJ, and CT) beginning in March. You can also request your local wine store to order them.

The Women of the Vine label (as well as Brenner's secondary label, Country Roads) will be available in retail stores and restaurants in our backyard (NY, NJ and CT) beginning in March. You can also request your local wine store to order them. Brenner’s next book will focus on organic wines.
The Women of the Vine website is: www.womenofthevine. com