Introduction
We recently had the opportunity to ask Delia and Alan Viader, of VIADER Vineyards and Winery, some questions about family, wine, and how a young woman from Argentina could establish a thriving winery with three children in tow. One of those children, Alan, is stepping into a leading role now. As part of his ascension, he is looking back and paying tribute to family with the upcoming release of their latest wine Homenaje. Family owned wine businesses are fairly common in California, but historically it was the patriarch of the family who called the shots. Delia helped to change that for a new generation of female winemakers and winery owners. Find out how she did it and the advice she has for the next generation.
Interview With Delia and Alan Viader
California Winery Advisor: You started your career as a vineyard and winery owner at a time when very few women worked in the industry. Can you tell us about how you got started and the unique challenges you faced as a woman in the industry?
Delia Viader: In the early 80’s, indeed there were so few women in the industry, I can think of one or two women winemakers. At 25 years of age with no experience in wine, I was a single parent with three children between the ages of 1 ½ and 6 years old who had recently relocated my family from Europe to the US. I was certainly not the person you might expect to be pursuing the idea of planting and building my own vineyard and winery project from the ground up!
Getting into the winegrowing/winemaking industry was a total circuitous happening. I was born in Argentina and spent most of my formative years in Europe, with much of that time in France.
I wasn’t born and raised in the US and perhaps because of that, I was oblivious, in a way, to the existence of any specific gender “glass ceiling.” It just never occurred to me that I couldn’t or shouldn’t have the chance to do something because I was female. My upbringing was totally gender neutral and my father was my most fervent supporter, but he never treated me with any sort of kid gloves.
When I told him I wanted to counter the Howell Mountain proposal, I had to convince him like I would have had to ‘convince’ any other investor. He was very clear I needed to present a well-thought-out plan and strategy first.
Once my father approved my business plan and repayment schedule, my kids and I laid down roots in the Napa Valley and I set out to learn from the masters of the industry. I hired consultants, who at the time were considered the best in their field, David Abreu, an expert on hillside vineyard development; Dany Schuster, an expert in organic farming from New Zealand; and Tony Soter, a winemaking consultant from Napa’s Spottswoode Winery.
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