The 2025 Virginia Women in Wine Trailblazer Awards Ceremony on March 29 honored three women who have been pivotal in the Virginia wine industry. Virginia Women in Wine (VWW) began in 2019 as a gathering space for women in the industry, formalizing in 2024 with a mission to enhance and create women-led initiatives in a largely male-dominated field. According to a recently published paper, although nearly two-thirds of staff at Virginia vineyards are women—many of whom take pride in their businesses being “woman-owned and -run”—fewer than 20% of Virginia winemakers are female-identifying.
The 2025 Virginia Women in Wine Gala
The “Trailblazer’s Bash” took place on a beautiful evening at Bluemont Vineyard in Northern Virginia. The state’s premier women in wine gathered at the gorgeous Loudoun County winery for tastings, gourmet food, and lively conversation. This gathering continued a tradition that began in 2019, when Virginia wine writer and VWW President Nancy Bauer invited a group of Virginia women in wine to a movie night including food, wine and discussion. Over the years, these informal gatherings continued until the organization officially incorporated in 2024, providing a space for collaboration, brainstorming and knowledge-sharing focused on increasing female representation in the Virginia wine industry.
This issue is of particular interest to Bauer, who has dedicated her career to researching the gender gap among winemakers, publishing papers, and spreading education and awareness.
Horton Vineyards’ third-generation winemaker, Caitlin Horton (below at top left), poured samples of her award-winning wine in anticipation of her grandmother receiving a coveted award that night. Meanwhile, Walsh Family Wine (below at top right) offered tastings of some of their finest selections.
As guests mingled, our own co-publishers, Jenny (above at bottom right on the left) and Robin (above at bottom right on the right), proudly participated in the historic event as women leaders in a respected wine country publication. Local artisans, representing woman-owned small businesses, displayed their handcrafted goods, while representatives from Williams Gap Winery and Endhardt Vineyards also shared some of their best wines (below at top right), complemented by aperitifs prepared by local chefs.
The 2025 Virginia Women in Wine Awards Ceremony
Presenting the “Trailblazers of the Year” awards was Megan Hereford, VWW’s vice president. This year the honorees were Sharon Horton, Nicki Bazaco and Debra Vascik.
Vascik, owner and winemaker at Valhalla Vineyards near Roanoke, was the first woman winemaker to officially win the Virginia Governor’s Cup in 2000. Bazaco co-founded Doukénie Winery in Hillsboro. Horton, also a true pioneer in the Virginia wine industry, founded Horton Vineyards with her late husband, Dennis Horton. She has helped introduce new grape varieties and push the boundaries of Virginia winemaking for decades. Today, she and her daughter and granddaughter continue the tradition and lead the charge.
Below at top left, Virginia wine writer and founder of the VWW Nancy Bauer (left,) along with Bluemont Vineyard’s Hailey Zurschmeide discuss the critical gender gap among male and female winemakers in Virginia. Next to them at top right, Valhalla Vineyards’ Debra Vascik (left) discussed her contributions to the industry next to Megan Hereford (right.) Hereford herself is the co-founder of women-run and -operated Daring Cider & Wine Co and just won the 2025 Cider of the Year award at the Virginia Governor’s Cup. Below at bottom right, Hereford proudly presents the third Trailblazer of the Year award to Sharon Horton.
Celebrating Women in Virginia Wine
Below at top left, Sharon Horton holds up her Trailblazer of the Year award, a well-deserved appointment from the Virginia Women who Wine. Below at top right, 2022 Governor’s Cup Award Winner, winemaker Melanie Natoli of Cana Vineyards & Winery of Middleburg (left), took a moment to enjoy the evening with Debra Vascik (right), a rare moment together for the only two women winemakers who have ever won the prestigious Governor’s Cup Award. Meanwhile, below at bottom left, podcaster, television presenter and Virginia Wine advocate Lady Jen (far left) celebrated the achievements of the award recipients with Barrel Oak Winery representatives (from second left to right) Adrianna Luca, Jen Wanek and Christina Kazermenski.
The Virginia Women Who Wine came to be as a group of like-minded women seeking to advance the position of women in the Virginia Wine Industry. As a result, the awards won on this night were well deserved and given to women who have truly broken ground and created the wine industry as we know it today. We are greatly looking forward to future recipients of this award, the growth of women winemakers in the industry, and much more. ~
R. L. JOHNSON is our co-publisher and creative director, Robin Johnson Bethke, who began her career as a professional photographer in Los Angeles before moving into graphic design and art direction when she relocated to Charlottesville in 1994. As our company’s co-founder and visionary, she enjoys all aspects of the publishing process from story conception to graphic design to photography. Her work is often seen in many of our publications.
