Kirsten Abels named Wine Woman of the Year 2023

The fifth winner of the annual award was announced at the Wine Theatre during Gastvrij Rotterdam.

On Monday 18 September, the professional jury of the Wine Woman of the Year election named Kirsten Abels as Wine Woman of the Year 2023. An extra festive moment because this is the fifth time the annual award has been presented. During a festive final show in the Wine Theatre during Gastvrij Rotterdam, the enthusiastic wine woman received the prestigious award. Winner Kirsten Abels is winemaker and director of BruisendWijnHuis Domein Holset. The jury chose Kirsten because of her passion for wine, her broad knowledge and the impact she is making on the Dutch wine market. After the presentation, attendees enjoyed wines from sponsor Walraven Sax from Royal Leerdam glassware.

Jury and voting

A wine woman has been nominated every quarter for the past year. The four women selected by the jury each make an important contribution to the Dutch wine world. This year, besides Kirsten Abels, Bregje van Valen, Margot Los and Simonette Lock were contenders for the title. They were judged by a jury of hospitality and wine professionals. This jury consisted of Tatjana Puklavec (winner Wine Woman of the Year 2022) Claudia van Dongen (winner Wine Woman of the Year 2021), Magda van der Rijst (winner Wine Woman of the Year 2020) Birthe van Meegeren (winner Wine Woman of the Year 2019) and Barbara Verbeek (vinologist and wine expert. After extensive deliberation, the final choice fell on Kirsten Abels. The jury: "Kirsten scored the highest scores on all core values sought by the Jury, in addition she received the most votes from the public. Her enthusiasm, her perseverance and her curiosity in addition to her enormous professional knowledge thus make her the wine woman of the year."

About Kirsten Abels

Kirsten (39) took her first wine course during her fourth year at secondary school. She has been hooked ever since: the product wine and the world around it immediately grabbed her. Full of passion and drive, she started working at highly regarded restaurants to gain practical experience. Even before obtaining her VWO diploma, she successfully completed all the basic wine courses. She then combined her Business Law studies at Tilburg University with taking the necessary wine courses. Kirsten is a professional Gastronome-Sommelier, Vinologist at the Wine Academy and has been a lecturer at the Wine Institute for 10 years, where she is still involved in the background. Her entrepreneurial adventure began with the founding of her own company in 2012, Taste by Kirsten. Since then, she has been providing wine training at The Wine Institute and advising wine importers and hospitality entrepreneurs on wine. From 2017, Kirsten has been involved in the development of BruisendWijnHuis Domein Holset, a wine estate that exclusively makes sparkling wine in the South Limburg hills. A dream come true. Under her inspired leadership, the choice is made to focus on sparkling wine production. Heading towards becoming the sparkling wine house of the Low Countries, with all vinification taking place in-house. In 2020, Kirsten becomes director and, in the meantime, co-owner. 2023 is a special year: the first real sparkling wine from our own winery is a fact. Besides being director, Kirsten is winemaker, determines the range, the company's direction and monitors the brand. Since then, 50,000 bottles of Limburg sparkling wine have been produced. In a man's world of vintners and winemakers, a woman at the helm is quite distinctive. Her perseverance, will to enterprise, hunger for even more knowledge and unflagging enthusiasm, have brought Kirsten to where she is today.

Wine Woman of the Year 2023 

The wine world is changing. In recent years, we have seen more and more powerful, energetic and driven women who dedicate themselves to the wine world in a special way. They make the wine world even more beautiful with their work, passion, knowledge or creations. According to initiators Barbara Verbeek (Wijntheater) and Clarissa Slingerland (MissPublicity), the women in the Dutch wine industry are unique. These women work hard, inspire, are creative, colourful and mostly an encouragement to other women. It is high time to put these wine women in the spotlight. In 2019, Clarissa and Barbara set up the Wine Woman of the Year Foundation; five women have now been named Wine Woman of the Year. Core values for the award include accessibility, connection, professionalism, knowledge and ambition. Meanwhile, several sponsors are involved in the Award including Walraven Sax, Gastvrij Rotterdam, Royal Leerdam and Bru table water.

Photo: Kirsten Abels amid Clarissa Slingerland, Barbara Verbeek and sponsors Walraven Sax and Royal Leerdam

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