Vinodea Wine made by Goddesses

The son takes over the winery. The daughter? May smile into the camera as a wine queen with a crown in her hair. That was true for a long time in Germany. But for a few years now, more and more female winegrowers have been making a name for themselves, producing first-class, creative and innovative wines. Still: "You have to look for the women," says Madlaina Sladecek. And because she was tired of having to look for women's wines on the shelves, she opened her own wine shop - one that only sells products from women winemakers.

In keeping with her concept - to make women more visible - every bottle at Vinodea comes with a picture of the female producer. In addition, women winegrowers regularly come to the shop to present their wines and taste them together with interested customers. Around 40 female winegrowers are now represented at Vinodea, most of them from Austria. Because regular exchange with them is essential to owner Madlaina Sladecek.

She knows all her female winegrowers personally. The pioneers, such as Heidi Schröck, already made wines under their own names in the 1980s. Many women still have inhibitions about putting their name on the bottle - something that is common practice among men, says Madlaina Sladecek. Nevertheless, a lot has happened in the past five years. More and more female producers, especially young ones, question old role models. Many are experimenting with lesser-known grape varieties, such as Furmint, an old Hungarian variety also known as "Riesling of the East".

Actually, Swiss-born Madlaina Sladecek wanted to make wine herself when she came to Vienna - the only metropolis in the world where wine is grown. But she soon realised that without family connections and financial support, it would be difficult. That's how she came up with the idea of the wine shop. Because, as she also learned during the preparatory courses and trial internships she completed: women still lack visibility in the wine industry. They still have to listen to stupid sayings and paternalistic advice.

Are there differences between female and male wines? The approach of women is usually more intuitive, says Madlaina Sladecek. The vine is like a child that needs to be taken care of and listened to - she often hears this image when talking to female winegrowers. In the end, however, it always depends on the individual person who makes the wine. The location and the soil in which the vines grow.

Her dream: that wine shops like hers will no longer exist in ten years. Because women's and men's wines will be on the shelves on an equal footing. Because daughters will take over wineries as much as sons will become wine kings.