Past events

Anne is passionate about the role that business and its leaders can play in the world.  She has over two decades asset management experience, is a seasoned board director, and a thought leader on corporate culture and the role of business in society.  In all her roles Anne is focuses on the delivery of both financial and social returns to all stakeholders.

Anne is a Partner at Leaders’ Quest (LQ), where she is co-director of Countdown Finance – an initiative that is working in partnership with both TED Countdown and COP 26 to drive the finance sector towards Net Zero. At Leaders’ Quest she also works with corporate senior leadership teams on culture change, embedding values, and aligning profit with purpose.

Anne is a non-executive director of Man Group plc and of Summit Materials. She was previously a Non-Executive Director for John Laing plc, and of Holcim. She is a trustee of Big Society Capital, the UK’s £600 million social investment bank, and of Heron in New York. Anne previously spent 17 years with The Capital Group, a global asset management firm where she was a Senior Vice President and Director with responsibility for European-based infrastructure companies.

Anne divides her time between the US and London. With her husband Gil and their twins, Anne can be found happily walking on beaches or mountains, white water rafting in Idaho or travelling the world.

Anne will be talking to us about the role of Finance in Climate Change and how she is influencing that.

We will be tasting 6 wines (sample size)

Nathan Kendall Riesling 2017

Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2018

Calera Mt Harlan Viognier 2017

Migration Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018

Laurel Glen Counterpoint Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Decoy Sonoma County Zinfandel 2018

Price: 85 £ with wines registration on the website (NO EU Delivery)

Deadline to order wines UK Delivery : Tuesday 15th of June midnight 

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Quote: Anne W and your name

Raquel Seabra is an Executive Board Member at Sogrape since 2018, where she heads Sustainability and Public Affairs and oversees the Group’s International Distribution Units. With a broad professional and personal experience, Raquel has lived in 5 different countries and worked extensively across a dozen more.

Prior to joining Sogrape, Raquel had a successful career at the Boston Consulting Group where she reached the level of Principal. As a strategy consultant, Raquel supported global and local clients in Portugal, Spain, Angola, Brazil, the U.K and the US, working on a wide range of strategic and operational issues across several industries such as Retail, Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods, Financial Services, Insurance, Energy, Travel and Leisure and Media.

As an independent advisor, Raquel also provided pro-bono strategic guidance to Start-Ups in Portugal and to NGO's and small entrepreneurs in Argentina and Colombia. 

In parallel to her activity as a strategy consultant, Raquel contributed to published books and was one of the authors of the award winning INSEAD Case Study, "Renova Toilet Paper: Avant-garde Marketing in a Commoditized Category" published in 2010.

Raquel graduated from INSEAD (Singapore/ France) in 2009 and from Catolica Lisbon School of Business and Economics (Portugal) in 2005. She was awarded with "Prémio Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira" in 2012 and with "Prémio Primus InterPares" in 2005.

 In 2017, Raquel was named one of the “40 under 40” Portuguese leaders of the future.

Based in Porto where she lives with her husband and their three children, Raquel travels frequently to the several countries where Sogrape has a relevant presence.

We will taste wines from the Sogrape portfolio (sample size): (Liberty Wines):

• Quinta da Romeira ‘Morgado de Santa Catherina’ Bucelas Arinto 2019
• Casa Ferreirinha ‘Vinha Grande’ Douro Branco 2019
• Quinta dos Carvalhais Dão Branco Reserva 2018
• Quinta dos Carvalhais Dão Touriga Nacional 2017
• Casa Ferreirinha ‘Quinta da Leda’ Douro Tinto 2017 
• Sandeman 20-Year-Old Tawny Port 

   

Price: 85£ with wines registration on the website (100£ EU delivery)

Deadline to order wines: Monday 17th of May midday for UK Delivery

Deadline to order wines: Wednesday 12th of May for EU Delivery

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Raquel

Ever considered packing up your career and doing something for fun?!  Why not work with wine?  Everyone loves a nice glass of wine!  Working in wine must be great!  Visiting beautiful vineyards, dining in fine restaurants, having fabulous drinking experiences – what is not to love?!  Working in wine is all of these things.  It is also a business.  A business in a highly competitive and highly regulated industry subject to the winds of change of taste and trend.  Michelle Forczek has been involved in the business of wine since 1999 and will share her perspective on what it is like to consume and be consumed by wine on a daily basis.

Michelle is a Director of Top Selection Ltd and 9 Elms Wines.  Top Selection was founded in London in 2000 as a specialist importer of fine wines and spirits.  The company has scrabbled its way to Fine Wine Merchant of the UK for 3 years in a row (2018 – 2020), as chosen by true industry experts – sommeliers.  It built a reputation for sourcing innovative and exclusive products from passionate producers around the world and supplying them to some of the finest restaurants, hotels, retailers and private clients in the UK.  Michelle will share her perspective on the joys and challenges of working in the wine business and how it compares to her previous career on Wall Street, the City and management consulting. 

We will be tasting wines chosen by her that reflect her taste and history in the business: (sample size)

Kanta Riesling 2015

Nathan Kendall Chardonnay 2018

David Duband Bourgogne 2017

Capanelle Chianti Classico  Riserva 2015

Clos Le Comte Sauternes Cuvée Emilie 2017

Price: 60£ with wines registration on the website (No EU delivery)

Deadline to order wines: Tuesday 20th of April midnight

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Michelle

Susanne Thorning-Lund is a senior member of Odgers Berndtson’s global Chair & Board Practice. She has specialized in board advisory services since 2003 and has advised hundreds of companies on their Board evolution and on the succession planning of chairs, outside board directors and CEOs.

Her advisory engagements range from supporting multinational corporations to ambitious high-growth start-ups and privately owned businesses, across industries, scale and geographies. She has developed deep knowledge in guiding entrepreneurial and multi-generational family-owned companies through sustainable board succession planning. Based in London, Susanne brings a holistic view and wide expertise to her advising engagements, having assisted listed corporations in various jurisdictions; she has insights into e.g. the Japanese, the US and different European governance systems.

Before joining Odgers Berndtson’s Board Practice, Susanne specialized in tech sector recruitment. By background she is a strategy consultant, with a degree in International Economics/Modern Languages from Copenhagen Business School and an MA International Relations from the University of Kent, United Kingdom.

Supporting Odgers Berndtson’s clients on developing balanced, diverse and effective boards, Susanne is an active member of our firm’s Diversity Steering Council. She represents Odgers Berndtson externally with regards to gender and wider diversity board representation, having contributed to the Hampton Alexander and Parker Reviews. Susanne is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.

Susanne will be sharing her views with us of how to get on a Board.

We will be tasting 6 wines from South Africa

Luddite Chenin Blanc   2018

BLANKbottle 'Offspring'   2017

Restless River 'Ave Maria' Chardonnay   2017

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch    2013

Meerlust Rubicon   2016

Hamilton Russell Vineyards Ashbourne Pinotage   2017

Price: 85 £ with wines registration on the website (105£ for EU so please register online and then send us the additional 20£ on our bank account direct)

Deadline to order wines UK Delivery : Tuesday 9th of March during lunch time

Deadline to order wines EU Delivery: Tuesday 2nd of March during lunch time

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Susanne

Birgit Braunstein Winery_

Due to the 400 year history of my winery and the careful focus on cosmic constellations result in terroir wines that pass on their liveliness to the wine connoisseur - that is, very clearly defined wines, mineral, delicate, elegant with a large storage potential.

Wine as a mediator of joy and enjoyment

Great wines - terroir wines are not a fashion trend, they are not reinvented - on the contrary, they are lived. I am working on this lifelong dream with great joy and commitment.

The Leitha Mountains behind Purbach, where slate, shell limestone and crystalline quartz are the perfect basis for great wines and the Neusiedler See with its unique microclimate give the wine a special maturity and the terroir specific minerality and naturalness. The fresh, cool night air on the slopes of the Leithagebirge ensures fruitiness, finesse and liveliness of my wines.

My vines, my wines, yes the entire winery (from the cellar to the desk) are embedded in a network of relationships - woven from healthy, lively, lustful relationships between the forces of nature (earth, water, air, fire: sun and light) and the People who work with them.

The respectful treatment of people and nature has always played a central role in my winery. As a winemaker, I am a farmer and thus a landscape conservationist - I live with and from nature and therefore I see myself even more mandated to take care of them. Careful and conscious use of resources is essential for us and our environment.

The switch to biodynamic production has therefore brought me inner peace. I feel happy and deeply satisfied when I see my vineyards shining with health and vitality, when I find this vitality in my wine, when my wines convey pleasure and joy, when I notice that my family, employees, customers and wine friends are in good shape balanced relationship to each other, that I maintain the legacy sustainably and generation-conscious

My acreage is 22 hectares, the focus is on terroir-specific wines, with the main varieties Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir for the red wines and Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay for the white wines. Together with my employees we try to bring this unique variety of the Leithaberges into the wines. I am particularly pleased with the worldwide recognition of my wines, which I can personally receive at many tastings, as well as the excellent ratings from national and international wine journals.

It is also very important to me to expand boundaries, to question previous principles and methods and to break new ground. With the Sauvignon Blanc Nimue, Pinot Blanc BRIGID and the amphora wines MAGNA MATER, I have created old methods and modern insights into an unmistakable new style of vinification and brought it to success. It confirms to me that this irrepressible desire for quality and openness to new things are my recipe for success for a new generation of wines. Joining the international biodynamic association: La Renaissance des Appellations and the associated holistic view of the winery is the logical consequence of all these efforts.

My motto "live joy"

Birgit Braunstein

We will taste 6 wines from Birgit Braunstein

Welschriesling, Burgenland 2017

Chardonnay Felsenstein, Burgenland 2019

Rosé, Burgenland 2019

Pinot Vom Sonnenberg, Burgenland  – (Certified Biodynamic) 2018

Blaufränkisch Heide, Burgenland  – (Certified Biodynamic) 2018

Wildwux, Burgenland  – (Certified Biodynamic) 2016

Price:80 £ with wines registration on the website (100£ for EU now, due to Brexit, so please register online and then send us the additional 20£ on our bank account direct)

Deadline to order wines UK Delivery : Tuesday 2nd of March during lunch time

Deadline to order wines EU Delivery: Tuesday 23rd of February during lunch time

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Birgit

Bibi Basch Stephansen is a mindfulness teacher and coach, trained with a specialisation in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University.  CMRP is the oldest mindfulness teacher training department in the country and sets the national standards. Bibi’s introduction to mindfulness workshop won the Young President’s Organization European Award for best Personal Development Event.

Her path to teaching mindfulness has taken many unexpected turns, from graduating with a first class honours in French and Philosophy at UCL, to training as a multi engine pilot, to training again as a photographer. By the time her children were toddlers she was photographing people and events all over the world, and her clients included Tori Amos, Queen (the rock group!),  Chris Rea, Shirley Bassey, HRH Prince Philip, Elizabeth Murdoch, Plum Sykes, Amanda Foreman, The Richemont Group, Alfred Dunhill and Cartier.

How she came to Mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion is a story she would like to share with you. Bibi will also be talking to you about Mindfulness itself: what it is, where it comes from, what it does and whom it can help.

We will taste 6 wines of the Loire

Domaine des Cognettes Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2018

Andre Dezat et Fils Sancerre 2018

Champalou Vouvray La Cuvée des Fondraux 2017

Domaine Claude Riffault Sancerre La Noue Rouge 2018

Domaine Fabrice Gasnier Vieilles Vignes 2018

Yannick Amirault Bourgueil Le Grand Clos 2018

Price: 80£ with wines registration on the website (90£ for EU so please register online and then send us the additional 10£ on our bank account direct)

Deadline to order wines: Wednesday 27th of January during lunch time.

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Bibi

Diana was born in Napa Valley and today she commutes to make the wines for the family business, Snowden Vineyards. She has settled in Burgundy, France, living and working there since 2001. She is married to Jeremy Seysses and is the Oenologist for Domaine Dujac. She is also winemaker at Ashes and Diamonds in Napa and consults for Triennes in the south of France. She is a strong advocate of sustainability : “I find more and more inspiration and meaning in the notion of “Terroir”. The most memorable wines are living and changing. They are the result of vineyard work without chemicals, native yeast fermentation with minimal handling, and élevage in a cellar that breathes.  Beyond these simple, traditional techniques, those of us who are fortunate enough to run wineries must deepen our thoughts on “Terroir” to allow that term to encompass both ecosystem and community. We must think about balance between prosperity in our beautiful grape-growing regions and protecting the simple charm that made them famous in the first place. Climate change and all our farming choices have a genetic impact on the vine. The emotional state of our employees leaves its signature on our wines. All these complex issues are in part our responsibility. I seek to protect a healthy environment in the largest sense of the term and transmit this just savoir faire to the next generation.”

Diana is also a member of the Académie Internationale du Vin since 2019, of Porto Protocol Global Climate Change Thinking Table since 2020 and a Batonnage Mentor to aspiring female Vigneronnes/Winemakers since 2020.

We will discuss wine making in Napa, Burgundy and how sustainability is the key word of Fine wine and wine in general.

2016 Les Aureliens Blanc - Triennes

2019 Triennes Rose

2017 Morey-St-Denis - Dujac Fils et Pere

2017 Nuits-St-Georges - Dujac Fils et Pere

2015 The Ranch - Snowden

2016 Petit Verdot - Snowden

Price: 85£ with wines registration on the website (95£ for EU so please register online and then send us the additional 10£ on our bank account direct)

Deadline to order wines: Thursday 14th  of January during lunch time.

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Diana

"I am the founder of Lady Talk Matters.  I am an endurance athlete and an advocate for women’s health.  I am a passionate sports person with an extreme sense of adventure, always thinking about crazy things I would like to achieve.  I love pushing my physical and mental boundaries, it is here that I truly find out who I am and what I am capable of.  My philosophy is ‘create your own epic’, I believe in being the best you can be and not comparing yourself others. 

In September 2019, I completed what most believed was an impossible challenge; swimming 34km across the English Channel, Cycling 900km across France and then climbing Mt Blanc – all in just 4 days and 20 hours. Exactly one year later, I have defied all odds again, successfully completing the Mt Blanc Triple Crown, swimming 38Km around the perimeter of Lac Annecy, cycling the gruelling Tour Du Mont Blanc and running 170km around one of the toughest trail runs in the world, the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc – all in just 4 days, 23 hours and 40 mins.  Despite the many challenges I have faced, I believed in myself and created my own epic.

In 2017 following major surgery for endometriosis and cervical cancer I decided to create the ‘Sea To Summit Extreme’ platform to raise awareness of endometriosis and ensure women and girls attend their cervical smear tests.  Having operated in both sport and corporate environments, I have experienced first-hand the impact the taboo surrounding female reproductive health can have on the lives of women.  I am on a mission to change this for the better and ensure that the next generation is one that can talk openly and freely about women’s health, regardless of age, race of gender." Andrea Mason

We will taste the following wines:

2018 Les Vignes de Paradis “C » de Marin – Chasselas, IGP Vin des Alloborges

2016 Domaine du Pélican Arbois Savagnin Ouille

2017 Lucien Aviet & Fils Arbois caveau de Bacchus « Reserve du Caveau »

2017 Domaine de l’Idylle Savoie Mondeuse

2018 Domaine de la Borde Arbois-Pupillin « Côte de Feule » Ploussard

2018 Domaine des Cavarodes Côtes du Jura « Les Lumachelles » Trousseau

Price: 75£ with wines registration on the website (85£ for EU so please register online and then send us the additional 10£ on our bank account direct)

Extended Deadline to order wines: Monday 4th of January @ 2pm UK time

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Andrea

We met Dawn in the excellent wine club 67 Pall Mall and we enjoyed right away her energitic approach with wine making, her tremendous hard working life style and the fact that she is not afraid to take risks. When we tasted her wines, we were amazed by the purity, the elegance and the joy they procured (and many of our club members had the chance to taste some of her wines in our events) . Apparently, we are not the only one:

"In a wine trade that is often still dominated by middle aged men in pink chinos, it's massively important that we make every effort to champion 'inspirational women in wine.  I've met incredible people with incredible stories, but few can rival Dawn Jones-Cooper, owner and winemaker at Château de Monfaucon.

First up, she's a fantastic winemaker.  Her commitment to organics and biodynamic principles have helped her extract the maximum flavour out of her vines and into the bottles.  I loved the wines before I met her.  That's important to say before you start hearing about the person and the journey behind them.

Dawn is a force of nature.  I met her first in her salon in Mayfair.  That's right, you heard it, Dawn was (and still is) one of the finest hair stylists in London.  But a late night dare from husband Jay started a journey that saw her complete some of the WSET courses, and took her to Plumpton College to study as a Viticulturist and winemaker.  The couple then sold up in London to buy Château de Monfaucon, a wine estate in Entre-Deux-Mers in Bordeaux with huge potential, but in need of no small amount of TLC.

There is nothing to be done on that estate that Dawn will not have a go at herself.  Initially seen by many locals as a curiosity, this 'crazy English woman' has forged a solid reputation within her community and the wider wine world as one of the winemakers to watch.  Her very first vintage scooped medals at the prestigious Decanter Wine Awards and she's never looked back.

The best thing for us is that there's a very simple way of showing our support.  It involves a glass, a corkscrew, and buying a bottle of her brilliant wine."

Mike Turner, The Buyer, April 2020

Join us for a specail class on biodynamic wines (Dawn is an excellent teacher) and listen Dawn telling us how she embarked on this amazing journey!

We will taste 6 wines from Chateau Maufoncon.

Price: 70£ with wines registration on the website (80£ for EU so please register online and then send us the additional 10£ on our bank account direct)

Deadline to order wines: Friday 27th during lunch time.

To join without wines: 10£ to transfer to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Reference: Dawn

Soheila Sokhanvari is a British/Iranian artist, whose multimedia work cultivates a non-uniform practice and her works deal with contemporary political landscape with a focus on pre-revolutionary Iran of 1979. She is drawn to events and traumas that linger in the collective consciousness or cause mass amnesia.  In her Iranian crude oil on paper drawings, faced with political events and traumas of contemporary Iranian politics that are impossible to represent, she plays with meaning and materiality by allowing the medium to carry the political message. Crude oil as the most precious commodity of modern times implicates us all and addresses our relationship to this material be it economic, political, ecological and social. By employing crude oil, a non-art material, these drawings tell the narrative of the collective narrative through the story of the individual in relation to the mass consumer society and energy-hungry world. Where oil rich countries negotiate and battle for democracy and liberty but at a human cost.

Her miniature paintings employ the traditional technique of egg tempera on calf vellum by grinding colour pigments so in effect they are comparable to modern illuminations.

She is interested in the practice of magic realism, symbolism and allegory that allows political and social commentary through poetry, metaphor and subtext. Magic realism being the most useful tool that allows slippage in meaning that resists the totalitarian discourse of all kind. Employing calf vellum in her paintings and drawings functions as a symbolic gesture; calf representing the animal that is sacrificed in all monotheistic religions becomes the symbol of the sacrifice of the individual and the artist.

Her practice also includes using found objects from taxidermy to genuine expired passports. The concept of political, social and the individual remains the core of her concern and addresses our collective traumas and consciousness.

We will taste wines from two regions in Italy - Veneto and Sicily- both offer great value for money. 

Capitel Croce, Roberto Anselmi 2018

Mareneve, Federico Graziani 2018

Villa Mattielli, Valpolicella Ripasso 2018

Perricone, Vigna del Core, Feudo Montoni 2018

Deadline for ordering wines: Wednesday 18th of November midnight

1/ Registration with the wine selection  UK Delivery:  75£ online 

(85£ Europe, please send us an email with your delivery address, phone number and email to conact)

2/ Registration without wines 10£

Email us and transfer directly to our account

Account

The London Women and Wine Club

Natwest

Sort Code: 502101

Account: 31022634

Quote: Soheila