Micaela Fonseca, founder of Women in Wine Portugal (WiWP), created a vitally-needed organisation to support women in the Portuguese wine industry, to assist and encourage them and give them a world platform for their talent.
Part 1 of 3 blogs spotlighting women in wine in Portugal
An architect by profession, Micaela changed careers to join her father’s sparkling winemaking business in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal, where she began producing sparkling wine by the traditional methods. “It was the first winery designed to produce sparkling wine as a core business in the region, a pioneer. Using only Portuguese native grapes, such as Avesso, the “pop star” grape from Baião, a unique and exquisite white grape, Arinto, and Vinhão.” After 10 years of making award-winning sparkling wine, Micaela decided it was time to move on. “It was time to fly other flights, to accept another mission, to share another passion, and that’s when finally I had the chance to start Women In Wine Portugal.”
Excerpts from an interview, part of a three-part series on women in wine in Portugal.
You founded Women in Wine Portugal, an organisation for women in wine industry. How does the organisation provide help to Portugeuese women in wine?
WiWP was born when I was invited to an event organized by “Kobiety i Wino”, an organization in Krakow, Poland, of women in wine. At the time, I felt I needed to bring this “concept” to Portugal, I had all the support from Monika Vescovi, the founder, and that became a goal to achieve.
I had to wait a few years to start, but great achievements start slowly and with small steps. I know everything happens for a reason and at the right time. So, at the beginning of 2020, I finally had the chance to start this special project for good! ( Not to mention the “pandemic adventure” and being a new mom during this time!)
WiWP is a community, a platform, that gathers women around the world with women in the wine industry in Portugal. We believe and defend equality, equity, inclusion, and sustainability, in business as in life. Our project is about people we believe must have fair opportunities, rights, and obligations.
Our mission and goals are to enhance the position and visibility of Portuguese women in the wine industry around the world, through our community and various platforms; share the best practices and knowledge with educational programs, (“Knowledge is your superpower”), strengthen business, trade, strategic partnerships, and promote gender equality in the industry.
Our goal is to give personal and professional support to our women, to add knowledge and create networking opportunities in a safe way.
What is WIW Portugal’s vision for the future?
WiWP is still under construction, #womeninprogress, and will be hopefully, forever, because, is the best way to understand the real needs is to tailor to them.
WiWP believes in having a good network and partners who can support us, so we are partners of with the International Wine Business program of the Católica-Lisbon Business School. We have legal support from a law firm, so we can provide all the legal support needed to invest in Portugal or worldwide. We also have a big part dedicated to wine tourism, with several partners. And will have many surprises. We will offer support, in winemaking, cork manufacture, marketing, brands, sustainability, and so on…
We are also working on partnerships with important players worldwide. I believe that really soon, we can show the world what we stand for, and that WiWP has an important voice in the industry. This project is a “personal” investment, so sometimes it is not possible to do it quicker, I need time and money to put things on track. And we will get there.
I am grateful to all the people who believe in WiWP, and have given us a chance to grow. I do believe that we have a bright future: there are so many things to do, to learn, to share – this is only the first day of the rest of our lives.
