This biography is shared with permission from Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser, author of Message in the Bottle: A Guide to Tasting Wine. The content is based on a presentation by Ron Merlino, entitled “Prohibition, Suffrage, and Early Women Winemakers in 19th and 20th Century America.”
Born: 1841, Australia
Died: 21 January 1914
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Eliza Ann Shaw
Eliza Shaw Hood, Ellen Stuart, and Kate Warfield all hailed from Glen Ellen. All three lived and worked near one another, and all three took over the wineries owned by their respective husbands in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
Eliza Shaw Hood and her husband William Hood settled the area of Glen Ellen in 1848. Previously, William Hood had come from Scotland and was a carpenter by trade. He made a fortune during the urban boom of San Francisco following the Gold Rush. In 1851 he purchased a 30 square mile tract of land called Rancho Guiluco on which stood a mountain that is named after him (Mt. Hood).
Unfortunately, William was committed to a local asylum in later years, and Eliza took over the winery in 1877. That date makes her the first and earliest known woman to run a winery in California. At the time the estate vineyard was planted entirely to the Mission grape. Eliza hired Auguste Drioton, a French viticultural expert who had previously published a book on the handling of phylloxera. With his help, she grafted the vineyard over to a wide variety of vitis vinifera.
The Eliza Hood Cabernets, Rieslings, and Semillons became widely acclaimed and her brandy was successful as well. Over time, production increased to over 100,000 gallons of wine and 5,000 gallons of brandy. In 1897 she too sold her winery to the Italian Swiss Colony and then moved to San Francisco where she lived until 1918.
The success of these three women is remarkable. However, there’s more to their story. Together, they brought a legal petition to the Sonoma County Superior Court in the early 1880s. In the petition they argued for the right to operate their wineries as “sole traders,” a legal designation necessary to run a commercial business in the state of California. At the time, the sole trader status was rarely granted to women. However, by sheer force of will, courage, and intellect they won their case and gained the right to operate as female proprietors of their estates.
While it’s far from a thrilling plot line, this singular achievement set the stage for women in the industry who would follow in the coming decades. The Sonoma Trio were not only true pioneers for women’s rights, they also paved the way for women winemakers in America.