Well deserved, and congratulations to Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen for being one of “Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2025,” selected by Wine Industry Advisor! Cheers to all the amazing recipients for their incredible achievements and career impacts.

Wine Industry Advisor

January 13, 2025

Alexandra Russell 

“Announcing Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2025”

“As has become a January tradition, Wine Industry Advisor has again chosen 10 individuals from within the wine industry who showcase leadership, innovation, determination, and inspiration — both within the industry and in society at large — as its Most Inspiring People honorees.

These individuals were selected from more than 100 nominations submitted by WIA members last November. It wasn’t easy, but the editorial team zeroed in on people who, they felt, have positively impacted the U.S. wine culture (and beyond) over the past year.

Below are our 2025 Most Inspiring People, in (mostly) alphabetical order. Thank you for the commitment, passion and motivation you inspire in our industry each day. 

Editor’s Note: One feature profile will be released per day for the next 10 business days. Links to full articles will activate as they’re published.

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January 13, 2025

Laura Ness 

“Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2025: Heidi Bridenhagen — Opening Doors for Women in Wine”

Wisconsin-born Heidi Bridenhagen’s already distinguished wine career had its genesis in a happy confluence of circumstance. While growing up, her parents, avid gardeners, owned a landscaping company and retail nursery/garden store where she worked when she wasn’t waitressing at a boat-up bar and grill.

After graduating in spring 2006 with a biochemistry degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Bridenhagen moved to the Bay Area to join her sister, who lived in Menlo Park. “I thought it would be an adventure, and that I would get to spend time with her while looking for a job in biotech.” One June day, the two went wine tasting in Sonoma. “We had not a care in the world, and we were just there to enjoy, explore and try a bunch of wines!” she says. 

At their last stop at Kendall-Jackson Estate, an employee (who happened to be the lab manager at one of the Jackson Family wineries) overheard the sisters musing about working in the wine industry. Soon, Heidi was moving to Healdsburg to begin her job as a lab technician. And so it began. 

“Heidi has emerged as a dynamic and empowering leader recognized for her collaborative spirit, winemaking acumen and commitment to opening doors for the next generation of women industry leaders,” says Miriam Pitt of J.A.M. Public Relations. “Leveraging her background in biochemistry, she combines the rigor of a scientist with the soul of an artist in her approach to winemaking.” 

Building a legacy

In 2013, at the age of 29, Bridenhagen was named just the third winemaker in the storied history of Sonoma’s MacRostie Winery and Vineyards (est. 1987). 

Her love of ag helped her relate easily to legendary winegrowers including the Duttons, Sangiacomos, Martinellis, Bacigalupis, Kent Ritchie and Bill Price, as she established one of the Sonoma Coast’s most formidable vineyard programs. She also encouraged the building of a dedicated Pinot Noir winery, switching to one-ton fermenters and completely reimagining MacRostie’s Pinot Noir program. 

A little over a decade later, she is the director of winemaking for Distinguished Vineyards, overseeing the company’s portfolio of wineries, which includes MacRostie in Sonoma County, Markham and TEXTBOOK in Napa Valley, Argyle in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Dough Wines, the company’s pioneering philanthropic partnership with the James Beard Foundation. 

Bringing others along
The Dough Wines endeavor definitely feeds her soul. 

“As a brand and as a community of food & wine lovers, we support positive changes to the culinary arts and beverages professions,” reads the website. Dough makes an annual contribution to the foundation to support its mission.

“At Dough, we are making wines with an ambitious purpose,” says Bridenhagen. “We are trying to change minds and change the industry. We are fighting for equality in the kitchen, and for greater awareness of food sustainability.” 

To further these goals, in 2022, Bridenhagen joined the Bâtonnage Women in Wine Mentorship Program. As a Level 2 Mentor, she worked one-on-one with a mentee for eight weeks, developing strategies for success, calling it “a very intensive interaction that was fun, emotional, challenging and rewarding.” The program serves to create a pragmatic, positive, inclusive course forward, wherein individuals who have traditionally been overlooked (or spoken over) achieve equal opportunities, equal representation and, especially, equal leadership positions within all sectors and tiers of the food and beverage industry. The goal is to create an inclusive space for constructive conversation (and action) surrounding all different facets of the wine industry

Already there are encouraging signs. “In 2018, only 19% of restaurants had women head chefs,” says Bridenhagen. “Today, it is close to 25%. Whether it’s gender equity or a deeper understanding of the need for a sustainable food system, the needle is moving in the right direction.”