In celebration of Women’s History Month, Beverage Wholesaler sat down with Nicole Hitchcock, founder and estate director of J Vineyards & Winery, to shed some light on the difficulties women have in climbing up the ranks in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
The beverage alcohol industry boasts a plethora of powerful women leaders who push the boundaries of innovation and don’t shy away from their ideas. And Nicole is one of them. As the estate director at J Vineayrds, she rose up the ranks of the wine industry – earning personal acclaim as Wine Enthusiast’s Winemaker of the Year in 2023 – and now oversees a majority female team across J Vineyard’s operations. Nicole is passionate about supporting diversity in wine, taking high-profile leadership positions in efforts like Women Behind the Wine and J’s Shifting the Lens culinary series.
Beverage Wholesaler (BW): What sparked your desire to get into the beverage industry?
Nicole Hitchcock (NH): Food and wine were an integral part of my upbringing. My father instilled in me the power of good food and wine to bring people together – no matter their background – to create a rich social experience (not just a culinary one). So, when it came time for a first job, I immediately gravitated toward the food and beverage space. Experiencing the interplay between food and wine is what initially sparked my fascination with this industry.
BW: What was your very first job in the industry?
NH: I started out by working at restaurants in Carmel, where I grew up, that are well-known for their culinary and wine programs. I was immediately drawn to the worldwide appeal and diversity of wine, and this sparked my desire to pursue a degree in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis.
BW: How difficult was it for you to climb up the ranks and eventually become the Estate Director? What advice would you give to other women who are just getting their feet wet in the beverage alcohol industry and looking to climb the ranks?
NH: It was difficult to picture myself overseeing a winery when there weren’t many examples of females in that position. The women who were out there were much older and more experienced; it was hard to envision what my path would look like. Fortunately, I was able to find great mentors willing to support me along the way, many of whom were men.
My advice to anyone attempting to break a glass ceiling would be to seek out people who’ve done it before. Not only can they help advise, but even when you’re not in the room they’ll sing your praises and propel you ahead. Now I feel the responsibility to pay it forward. There’s so much talent coming into the industry, across all genders and different backgrounds. I see it as my duty to support that and make the industry even more diverse. Our team at J Vineyards is female driven, it’s exciting!
BW: How important is diversity in the beverage industry?
NH: Over the last few decades, the industry has started to move in the right direction to provide more equality in opportunity and recognition for women. However, there’s still more work to be done.
Wine is multidimensional. It’s more than something we consume with a meal; it’s a way of bringing people together, telling stories and forming culture and identity. While we can respect and learn from the traditions of our industry, we’ll only get more creative and exciting by pushing the boundaries. As a leader in the wine industry, I want to foster this growth and expand the bounds of what is typically “accepted” in the wine world.
BW: In what ways are you supporting diversity at J Vineyards?
NH: J Vineyards has a longstanding commitment to spotlighting underrepresented voices and talent. For the past few years, we’ve hosted the Shifting the Lens series – an innovative culinary program that invites chefs from different cultures and backgrounds to challenge the common conception of food and wine pairing. The chefs come to the winery in Healdsburg for a residency, and I work closely with them to create unique wine pairings with their dishes that speak to their own heritage and identity.
Most recently, we released a collaboration with visual artist Alexandra Grant and her design initiative, grantlove, to create a brand-new sparkling wine, called LOVE Wine, which provides a platform for underrepresented women artists and aids grantLOVE’s mission to support arts non-profits.
grantLOVE is an LA-based arts platform that gives space and visibility to those not typically spotlit in the arts, namely women and women of color. It’s been a pleasure working with Alexandra to tap some exciting artistic talent to tell this story of women’s empowerment, giving up and coming female creatives the freedom to design the label of each new LOVE bottling.
BW: Can you explain what Women Behind the Wine is and what you do for that group?
NH: Women Behind the Wine is an initiative that both supports women looking to break into the food and beverage industries and celebrates the achievements of women in these spaces. I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by other incredible women who share the same goals of championing a more inclusive, diverse industry.
