How One Woman Is Using Bubbles to Amplify Women

Some might say that we’re living in a man’s world, but when it comes to delicious wine? The future is female—just ask Jen Pelka. After years spent in the food industry—working for everyone from Daniel Boulud to OpenTable—a chance Champagne tasting made her become laser-focused on the world of sparkling wine. Turns out, Pelka wasn’t the only woman who was infatuated with the world of Champagne.

“I remember a very specific moment when I learned about riddling, which is a step in the Champagne making process where you turn the bottles a certain way,” Pelka explains. “That basically creates a crystal clear Champagne, which was huge because it used to be really cloudy. Riddling was invented by the Widow Clicquot, who basically revolutionized the Champagne industry overnight.”

Courtesy of Une Femme

Then she uncorked a lightbulb moment: Why not open a Champagne bar? In 2017, Pelka opened a Champagne bar called the Riddler in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley enclave. From its inception, the Riddler was also a woman-centric space. Not only was the bar backed by female investors, but Pelka predicts its guests were 80 to 90 percent women on “any given night.” 

“It’s something that we heard again and again and again,” she shares. “Women, for whatever reason, love bubbles. It sort of creates this feeling and energy of empowerment and celebration—it’s such an incredible tradition—and the wines are obviously incredible.”

Fittingly, the Riddler started to highlight wines made by women, and they were a hit. “They outsold everything else,” she explains. “It was immediate: Our customers wanted to drink something made by a woman.” But while ordering women-made wine is a major draw, Pelka wondered how anyone would possibly know on their own what was actually made by a woman. And just like that, Pelka uncorked another big idea: Une Femme.

Pelka originally partnered with Gonet-Médeville to make an in-house sparkling wine for the Riddler, which unfortunately closed in 2020, and has since evolved Une Femme into her very own line of sparkling wines that amplify and celebrate women in the process. Now, with Evyn Cameron as the director of winemaking, Une Femme sources its grapes from California’s Napa, Sonoma, and Central Valley regions to create two fizzy varietals: Betty, a sparkling brut named after Betty White, and a bubbly rosé called Callie.

Courtesy of Une Femme

And while Une Femme has plenty of bottles to pop open, Pelka is adapting to modern times by offering canned sparkling wines, too. “I hear from so many women that they don’t want to open a bottle of wine—let alone a bottle of sparkling wine,” she shares. “Our cans are about a glass and a half that you can enjoy any day of the week.” Approximately the third of a typical bottle, Une Femme’s canned offerings bring an accessibility and ease to a bit of bubbly.

Though a women-owned brand that focuses on canned wine might sound zeitgeist-y, Pelka has carefully built Une Femme to have some major staying power. “Our goal is to become the number-one canned wine company in the United States,” she says. “That doesn’t mean only the biggest canned wine brand, but truly the best quality wine, the most sustainable, and the freshest.” 

Of course, it’s also important for Pelka to pay it forward. Not only does Une Femme have its signature Hall of Fame, which honors women who have broken the glass ceilings in their respective industries, but the company also puts its money where its mouth is. For every bottle sold, Une Femme gives back to women-centric charities like Bâtonnage and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation—promising a better future for women all over.

As for the future of women in wine? “I hope we just don’t have to talk about it anymore,” Pelka says. “I hope that it’s not remarkable to have a woman at the helm of something. We still have a lot of work to do, but there’s been so much progress made. We all just really need to support one another.”

Read the 2024 Wine Issue Right Here!

Get one year of Sunset—and all kinds of bonuses—for just $29.95. Subscribe now!