Australia’s Most Comprehensive Range of Lehmann Glassware 🥂🍷🍸 Shop Today
Australia’s Most Comprehensive Range of Lehmann Glassware 🥂🍷🍸 Shop Today
Exploring how leadership, visibility and collaboration in Champagne have evolved in recent years.
When we first explored this story, women in Champagne were gaining visibility. Today, that momentum has crystallised into something far more powerful: authority.
International Women’s Day, Sunday March 8, 2026, with its theme “Give to Gain”, offers a timely lens through which to consider how leadership in Champagne has evolved. Generosity, collaboration and shared knowledge are no longer seen as soft attributes. They are strategic advantages. Nowhere is that clearer than in the growing influence of women across the region.
The story of women in Champagne has always been one of resilience and innovation. What has changed is the scale, visibility and permanence of that influence.
The blueprint was laid in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the Grandes Dames: Veuve Clicquot, Madame Pommery and Lily Bollinger. Widowed in an era that offered women little formal power, they assumed control of their Houses and transformed both style and structure within the industry.
Their legacies are well documented in our earlier articles. What matters here is not only what they achieved, but how they achieved it. Each combined commercial instinct with generosity, whether through technical innovation, architectural foresight or social responsibility. Their leadership was never isolated from community.
They proved that resilience could coexist with vision. That principle continues to shape Champagne today.
For a more detailed look at these trailblazers, explore our 2020 article, The Women of Champagne: Part One.
In the early stages of women’s leadership in Champagne, much of the conversation centred on visibility. Women were stepping forward, but often described as emerging voices. Today, the narrative has shifted.
Networks such as Les Fa’Bulleuses de Champagne and La Transmission are no longer novel initiatives. They are established platforms that foster peer support, mentorship and strategic collaboration. What began as connection has evolved into infrastructure.
The change is cultural as much as structural. Advancement is no longer framed purely as individual achievement. It is increasingly understood as collective progress. ‘Lifting others as you rise’ is no longer a slogan, but a working philosophy embedded in how many women operate across Houses, grower estates and executive leadership.
This is ‘Give to Gain’ in practice.
For further context on these networks and the broader story of women in Champagne, explore our 2020 article The Women of Champagne: Part Two.
Perhaps the most significant shift has been in technical leadership. The modern generation of female winemakers is not simply participating in the conversation around sustainability; they are leading it. Organic and biodynamic viticulture, climate adaptation strategies and terroir-driven precision are now central to Champagne’s future. As explored in our 2023 article, The Rising Tide of Female Winemakers Will Lift All of Champagne, collaboration and knowledge-sharing are central to this transformation.
Winemakers such as Sophie Larmandier of Champagne Larmandier-Bernier have long championed biodynamic practices. Today, those once considered progressive approaches are increasingly recognised as essential. Likewise, producers such as Elise Bougy are demonstrating that artisanal craftsmanship and environmental responsibility can coexist at the highest level.
Where once emphasis was placed on “female firsts”, the focus is now on technical excellence, strategic thinking and long-term stewardship. Women in Champagne are no longer defined by novelty. They are defined by competence.
Since the earlier articles, three shifts have become unmistakable:
1/ Visibility has evolved into normalisation. Women leading cellars and Champagne Houses are no longer framed as exceptions. Their presence is now understood as part of the fabric of the region.
2/ Networks have matured into structured and enduring support systems. What began as connection and shared advocacy has developed into professional infrastructure that actively shapes career progression, mentorship, and leadership pathways.
3/ Sustainability has moved from progressive ambition to economic and environmental necessity. Women are not simply participating in this transformation; many are leading its implementation at both vineyard and cellar level.
The result is a generation that is no longer seeking entry into the centre of the industry. It is already there.
In recent years, a series of significant appointments has reshaped the technical leadership of Champagne. Esteemed Houses, some with histories stretching back more than two centuries, have placed their cellars in the hands of women as recognition of expertise. These appointments signal a structural shift within the region’s most prestigious roles.
Today, women serving as Chef de Cave or equivalent head winemaker in notable Champagne Houses and major cooperatives include:
• Julie Cavil – Champagne Krug (2020)
• Séverine Frerson – Champagne Perrier-Jouët (2020; first female cellar master in the House’s 200-year history)
• Alice Tétienne – Champagne Henriot (appointed chef de cave in 2020, but in late 2024/2025, she moved into a broader role)
• Sandrine Logette-Jardin – Champagne Duval-Leroy (2005)
• Caroline Latrive – Champagne Deutz (2022)
• Elise Losfelt – Champagne Charles Heidsieck (2023)
• Isabelle Tellier – Champagne de Venoge and Chanoine Frères/Tsarine (2001)
• Carine Bailleul – Champagne Castelnau (2022)
• Nathalie Laplaige – Champagne Joseph Perrier (2017)
• Cynthia Fossier – Champagne Canard-Duchêne (2025)
• Gabrielle Malagu – Champagne Gosset (2022) and more recently Champagne Esterlin (2025)
• Stephanie Sucheyre – Champagne Gardet (2008)
• Isabelle Mary – Champagne Marie Stuart (2005)
• Caroline Fiot – Champagne Ruinart (1 January, 2026)
Champagne has always evolved through resilience and reinvention. In 2026, the influence of women within the region is no longer emerging, it is structural. The next chapter will not be defined by firsts, but by standards. And increasingly, those standards are being set by women whose leadership is measured not by symbolism, but by expertise, collaboration and long-term vision.
International Women’s Day 2026 reminds us that leadership is strongest when it is shared. The journey of women in Champagne, from the Grandes Dames to today’s technical and cultural leaders, demonstrates how resilience, expertise, and generosity combine to shape an industry. Visibility has become authority, networks have become infrastructure, and sustainability has become central to every decision.
This is the essence of ‘Give to Gain’: lifting others as you rise, mentoring the next generation, and shaping an environment where excellence is measured by lasting impact. In Champagne, that future is already being written, and it is being written by women.
Sally Hillman’s debut book is a sensory celebration of champagne, French culinary culture, and effortless entertaining.
Discover 40+ French-inspired recipes, seasonal champagne pairings, beautifully crafted maps of the Champagne region, and timeless hosting inspiration — all in one refined, accessible guide.
The essential companion and perfect gift for the modern host.
