LUMEN Summer 2019 - Flipbook - Page 39
WINE
Heard it on
the grapevine
Lou’s secrets to finding
a long-term home among
the vines.
STORY BY ALANA GRIMALDI
A
lthough she’s best known as Chief
Winemaker at Barossa Valley’s famed
Yalumba, Louisa Rose’s close friends
simply call her Lou.
Graduating as one of only two women from the
University of Adelaide’s winemaking degree
in 1992, the industry heavyweight has gone on
to become one of the world’s most respected
winemakers in an industry that has long been
dominated by men.
But Lou remains optimistic that the tides are
turning and hopes to inspire future generations
of women in winemaking.
“I don’t want to pretend it’s all perfect, we’ve
still got a lot of work to do but I think it’s
changing,” she said.
Beyond gender equality, Lou recognises the
need for cultural diversity in the industry.
“If the people making the wine are all the same
and we’re making wine for ourselves, then
there’s an awful lot of the world that we’re not
thinking about. I think it’s the way of the future
for successful businesses.”
Lou has had a long and illustrious career in wine.
Among an impressive registry of accolades, she
was named Australia’s Best Winemaker by The
Age in 2014; Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet
Traveller in 2008; and was awarded the Women
in Wine Award in 2004.
Born and raised in the Yarra Valley, Lou spent
her teenage years toiling on her parent’s small
vineyard when “there were only a handful” of
them in the now thriving region.
Sceptical of the viability of a career in wine, she
first completed a Bachelor of Science before
her passion and interest swayed her to take a
risk on winemaking.
She undertook a Bachelor of Applied Science
in winemaking at the University of Adelaide's
Roseworthy campus.
Lou then undertook a fate-sealing placement as
a cellar hand at Yalumba, entering the industry
at a pivotal moment in Australian wine history.
“Some of the opportunities I had to grow and
take on new responsibilities were a credit to the
expansion happening to the industry locally and
around the world,” said Lou.
More than 25 years later, she now holds the
esteemed role of Chief Winemaker and
custodian of Australia’s most historic familyowned winery’s proud lineage of tradition and
innovation.Lou actions messages of change
through her roles as: Chair of the Australian
Wine Research Institute, Chair of the
University of Adelaide's Alumni Council and
as Grand Master of the winemaking fraternity
Barons of Barossa. “I have been, and probably
still am, asked to go on committees and boards
as the token woman, to achieve the required
gender balance. It worried me for a while but
now I figure that I'm also qualified anyway... I
don't take umbrage as to why I've been asked
but I hope that I can make a difference.”
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2019
37
