Carol Shelton is an American winemaker and entrepreneur. She has been called the most awarded winemaker in America and was the San Francisco Chronicle's Winemaker of the Year in 2005.[1][2][3]
Personal life and education
When she was a Freshman she took a tour of Sebastiani Winery. The smell of the wine cellar at Sebastiani triggered her interest in winemaking and she decided to study Enology and received her degree in 1978.[1][3][4] She was one of the first women to graduate with a degree in Enology.[2] She worked on the Aroma Wheel project under Ann C. Noble and researched yeast strains and wine.[1][2][4]
Career
After graduation, she started working at Robert Mondavi Winery. She then worked in Australia for Saltrams Wines.[1] At Mondavi, and other wineries, she wasn't allowed to work in the cellars with the men winemakers.[5][2] She almost went back to being a poet. In 1980, she started doing lab work with Andre Tchelistcheff at Buena Vista Winery, whom she credited with re-instating her interest in being a winemaker.[5] The following year she worked for Sonoma Vineyards. In 1991 she became winemaker at Windsor Vineyards. It was at Windsor where she developed a strong interest in Zinfandel wine.[1] She worked at Windsor for nineteen years.[4] Shelton left Windsor after not feeling recognized and acknowledging that the "Management was pretty male dominated and not supportive," of her work. The winery was awarded the Golden Winery Award in 1996 from the California State Fair, and despite being the winemaker for the winery, she was not acknowledged for the award.[4] During her tenure at Windsor she made 45 different wines.[3] In 2000, Shelton and her husband, Mitch Mackenzie, started Shelton-Mackenzie Wine Company. The company manages a wine label and a consulting firm called Vincare. Shelton served on the board of Zinfandel Advocate Producers from 1994 to 1998.[1]
