Posts By: Joan

We are proud to have a women-led winemaking team here at Union Wine, as well as a large team of women working hard behind the scenes. This month we’d like to recognize the three women behind the barrels – bringing impressive and approachable wines to tables across the nation.

Earlier this week we joined our winemaking crew to learn a little more about their experience and paths into the wine industry.

Meredith McGough: Director of Winemaking:

Her Italian mother and free-spirited father ensured that Meredith appreciated wine and travel early and often, leading her to dive headlong into a Viticulture and Enology education at UC Davis before she was of legal drinking age. The combinations of tradition and innovation, physical and mental, art and science sustain her passion for the craft of winemaking. A native Pacific Northwesterner through and through, Meredith found a home at Union Wine Co. after several years making decidedly pinkies-up wines in the Napa Valley, a few formative vintages braving the Oregon elements with a couple of our friends in the Willamette Valley wine industry, and some time harvest-hopping and adventuring in France, Australia, and New Zealand. As Director of Winemaking, Meredith works with the rest of the team to put impressive, unpretentious wine in the can or bottle.

Meredith has recently added to her full schedule and full house (which also includes a rabbit, two cats, three chickens, and a husband) with a sweet, rambunctious Cane Corso named Juno who is turning out to be an excellent running buddy. The pup is well on her way to outweighing Meredith.

Joanna Engel: Associate Winemaker

An Ohio native with a background in Animal Science, Joanna earned a PhD focusing on Laying Hen Behavior and Welfare from the University of Melbourne in 2016. Realizing academia was not her future, she dropped everything with 2 weeks’ notice and drove cross-country to experience harvest in California. Following multiple harvests in New Zealand and Oregon, Joanna joined Union Wine Company as Enologist in 2020 drawn by the innovation and diversity of product produced.

When she’s not at the winery Joanna loves cooking, baking, and reading. She also has a rescue cat, Fitzwilliam Darcy, that she is slowly enticing out from under the bed!

Kolby Childers: Enologist II

Kolby grew up in Washington “wine country” with parents who worked in the industry for over 30 years, two of three brothers who spent their summers on bottling lines or in cellars and labs, and even her extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins, worked in the industry at some point. So, naturally, when she needed a job the summer after she graduated college in Monmouth, Oregon, she joined a harvest crew and loved every minute of it. Next, she traveled to New Zealand and then California to work harvest and was working in Walla Walla, WA when she saw the job opening at Union. She’d spent her off hours with friends drinking Underwood Bubbles while in CA and loved the wine and the unpretentiousness of the brand and company. She also loved Oregon and always wanted to move back. The job was a perfect fit.

Outside of the lab, Kolby is an animal lover and spends as much time as possible with her two cats and dog. She enjoys all that Oregon has to offer, just as she knew she would: hiking, trail running, backpacking and when the sun finally comes out in summer you can find her thoroughly enjoying it while listening to podcasts and audiobooks.

We asked each of the women the same 4 questions:

1. What is your favorite thing about working in the wine industry?

2. What do you think has made you successful in the wine industry?

3. What advice would you give to the next generation of women working in wine?

4. What are you drinking right now?/What’s your go-to wine?/What are you most excited about in wine right now?

MEREDITH:

1. What is your favorite thing about working in the wine industry?
How about two? Can I give you my two favorite things?
My first favorite thing about the wine industry is the community. When I have occasionally thought that I should be doing something more meaningful with my life, I remember that it is the people with whom I have connected through wine that make this work meaningful to me. The wine industry is comprised of down-to-earth people all over the world who manage to make the world feel very small in the nicest of ways. The Oregon wine industry in particular is collaborative and open to sharing learnings, be they from successes or failures, and this keeps us all engaged and ensures that our industry is stronger as a whole.
My second favorite thing is that working in wine is an excellent way to travel to some of the most stunning places on the planet. I do still sometimes miss my harvest-hopping days. If you’re going to have to be an adult and work, why not do it abroad, basically getting paid to work out, while working with a bunch of interesting people who share a love of food, wine, and adventure?

2. What do you think has made you successful in the wine industry?
First and foremost, I am very comfortable getting dirty. Whether it’s dust in my nose from walking a vineyard or driving a tractor, or grape solids coating my arm to the shoulder from clearing a clogged drain during harvest, I am really just not bothered by (and would even go so far as to say I embrace) these less than glamorous aspects of the job. I don’t take myself too seriously, which has allowed me to keep laughing even in difficult situations. And I welcome continued growth and learning, always striving to be humble, which feels like an absolute necessity in a job so reliant on nature. But perhaps even more so, I clean up and stand up with confidence in my experience and knowledge while admitting what I don’t know, and I have used humor to bridge gaps and call attention to the still-present sexism that can be found in our industry (hopefully) without making anyone feel attacked. I have also had several mentors who have provided constructive feedback and invaluable support along the way.

3. What advice would you give to the next generation of women working in wine?
Be an advocate for yourself AND for others. Though it is imperative, advocating for oneself is sometimes easier said than done. Finding someone who will have your back in a professional setting, and being willing to be that person for someone else is the biggest strength I have found in people who support diversity across this industry. Help ensure others’ voices are heard in meetings, speak up if someone’s contributions aren’t being recognized or their capabilities questioned, and you will find reciprocity. Never assume your question is dumb or that everyone else already knows the answer; if you have that question, chances are someone else does too. Or maybe no one else has asked because you’re ten steps ahead and they haven’t caught up with you yet! And most importantly, IT’S JUST WINE! We all start out in this field because we enjoy it, and remembering that is important, though sometimes difficult (because it is also a job, and jobs can be stressful).

4. What are you drinking right now?
I drink a lot of Vermouth & Soda or Amaro & Soda. I love the balanced bitterness and the aromatic complexity found in Vermouth & Amari, and some local and experimental producers have been fun to try. I’ve been enjoying the uptick in Oregon Gamay noir production and always order a glass of any OR Gamay on a menu. I always drink a lot of Italian red wine: I love structure and earthiness if it comes with plenty of acidity. I’m also a big fan of Sherry, which took a while to grow on me because of the negative connotations I had around my technical training to regard oxidation as a fault. But when intentional, oxidation can be delicious! And Champagne, of course! Not just for special occasions. Wow, that was more than I thought I’d come up with. I clearly like and drink a lot of wine and wine-based beverages…

JOANNA:

1. What is your favorite thing about working in the wine industry?
Everything! It’s hard work and exhausting, especially during harvest, but it’s allowed me to not only travel to new places, but to make friends all over the world. The wine industry is truly a community, especially in Oregon, where people collaborate and communicate openly and will help each other out in a heartbeat. I also can’t help but feel really proud when I see one of our wines on a shelf or a wine list, knowing that something I had a hand in is being enjoyed by others.

2. What do you think has made you successful in the wine industry?
I work hard, but I also work efficiently. Being able to think 3 steps ahead at all times can get you really far. I have a natural curiosity that often has me wondering ‘why?’ or ‘how?’. If there’s no one to ask directly about it, I will spend hours looking online and in books to figure out the answers. I’m also willing to do jobs other people might turn their noses up at. You will still see me dealing with compost, emptying drain baskets and troubleshooting wastewater around the winery.

3. What advice would you give to the next generation of women working in wine?
Don’t give up, work hard, and speak up. This is a really competitive industry job-wise, but the more you put yourself out there, the more opportunity you’ll have. It may be cliché, but women must work so much harder to get the same jobs/pay men do…there will always be someone who thinks they deserve it more, but it’s so important to be confident in your own abilities and know you deserve the good things that come your way.

4. What are you drinking right now?
Since August, I’m really loving Gin Martinis with Blue Cheese Olives. As far as wine goes anything and everything sparkling! There are so many great sparkling wines being produced in the Valley right now using all manner of methods (force carb, pet-nat, traditional) so there’s no shortage of great local wine in my glass (or can).

KOLBY:

1. What is your favorite thing about working in the wine industry?
The great balance between creativity and science, it’s truly one of a kind! I don’t consider myself a very artistic or creative person, I very much enjoy science and math and rules, but winemaking allows me to be creative while still enjoying the science. Also the amazing people you get to meet from around the world and the lifelong friends you make. I LOVE (and am so grateful) that I was able to travel the world and make friends and now that I’m in a full-time position, one of my goals is to make sure every intern gets that same “once-in-a-lifetime” experience that they will be talking about for years to come.

2. What do you think has made you successful in the wine industry?
My interest in continuing to learn, even after high school and college I still want to learn the how and why behind so many things in life. I’m able to continue to learn and make connections while also knowing what next steps will come and I think that has helped me move so quickly into the role I have now.
Also, my drive to prove people wrong! This is a male dominated industry and I’ve been told more than once that I won’t make it or I don’t “deserve” the position I have, whether it be because I am female or I’m much younger than others in my same role, but proving people wrong is great motivation to keep pushing myself and also prove to myself I deserve to be here just as much as anyone else.

3. What advice would you give to the next generation of women working in wine?
ALWAYS stick up for yourself and other women. You should never be afraid to speak your mind, thoughts, and opinions. Don’t be afraid to come off as “bossy” or “b*tchy”. A lot of jobs make it feel as if you must put down other women to work your way up but that is exactly the opposite, you should be working arm in arm.

4. What are you drinking right now?
With it currently being winter, anything warm! Mulled wine, hot tea, I always have coffee at my desk with me. As for wine, I will never be able to fully say goodbye to my Washington palate; I love a Malbec and Syrah. And, the Willamette Valley and Oregon make amazing sparkling wine, you can never go wrong with bubbles!