According to a survey in California, one of the world’s largest and most diverse wine regions, only 14% of the state’s winemakers are women. In Australia, it’s 17%. In Italy and France, it’s less than 30%.
Interestingly, things are changing fast. In France, in 2025, about 60% of oenology graduates were women.
Carole Bryon is a key force driving that change.
She first opened Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden in 2018. A fabulous little wine bar, it sought to feature female winemakers. Within three years, thanks to a lot of hard work and Carole’s ceaseless networking, the whole wine list was supplied by female producers. “I want us to represent the half of humanity that isn’t really represented in wine,” she told me.
It’s working. Lady of the Grapes quickly became a go-to spot in Covent Garden for interesting wines and delightful nibbles.
It was exactly what Carole set out to do.
She moved to London in 2013, and, even while she maintained a full-time role in advertising — more on that later — she started to pursue the dream of the prefect little wine bar that would later manifest itself as Lady of the Grapes.
She began by building her base of knowledge, enrolling in a WSET Level 1 course, and, like many of us, quickly realising that Level 1 was too basic. Level 2 followed, then Level 3. As her technical education continued, her interest grew. As she launched Lady of the Grapes, she kept studying, completing her Level 4 Diploma even as she was making her wine bar dream into a reality.
That dream started in France. Carole grew up in a small village between Paris and Normandy, part of what she described as, “a very foodie family.” Her father was French and her mother “French Pied-Noir from a Spanish family.” Her childhood, she said, “Felt very Mediterranean.” There was more couscous and paella than Camembert and Calvados.
There were also regular visits to her grandmother in Béziers in the Languedoc region, where, as she grew a bit older, she discovered local wines from Minervois and Corbières, just at the moment that winemakers in the area were breaking free from the historical commune system and fashioning lovely wines influenced by specific, local terroir.
While attending art school in Paris, she began hosting wine tasting dinners in her tiny flat in the 20th arrondissement. After earning her Masters, she brought her passion for creativity and visual expression to the world of advertising. “From school, I decided I wanted to be an Art Director,” she told me. “I loved painting and drawing, but I also love advertisements, especially on TV, as routes for creative expression.”
She was talent-spotted during a university competition by a senior executive at Sudler & Hennessey, later part of Y&R, who chaired the jury, and spent the next ten years in ad agencies supporting healthcare companies. “I was working with a lot of doctors and scientists to turn complex things into ideas that people could understand. It felt very interesting.”
But the passion for wine eventually overcame her passion for advertising, and in 2016, she made the leap, spending two years buying and selling wines for The Grocery’s Wine Vault in Shoreditch. Yet, even as she learned the trade, “My goal was always to open a wine bar. I always thought that the relationship between wine and food was essential.”
After opening in 2018, Lady of the Grapes survived COVID by delivering wine to customers and offering takeaway crepes. As lock downs receded, and a new normal started to emerge, Carole started to see fresh opportunities.
She was discovering interesting female winemakers, but many didn’t have UK importers. So she helped match winemakers with importers and, eventually, started her own importing business.
She also had dreams of a bigger space where she could develop a more ambitious food offering. “I wanted to be able to match wine, ingredients, seasons, and ideas,” she told me. Then she met Chef Matyáš Plzák, who was then cooking at Frog, the Michelin-starred place in Covent Garden from Adam Handling. “We realised we had a shared vision. And he was eager to have his own kitchen and create his own dishes.”
They started looking for a place. And early on, they saw the Menier Chocolate Factory near Borough Market. “We made our first visit two years ago,” Carole said. “I loved Borough Market, so we tried, but we didn’t get it the first time. Then we did, but it’s a listed building, so everything took longer than we expected.”
Finally, in June, Carole and Matyáš launched a second Lady of the Grapes, the fullest expression of their dreams and aspirations.
The space is stunning. The main restaurant is on the ground floor, and there are huge windows and high ceilings that give it tremendous brightness and energy. It’s a gigantic space for a London restaurant, and there is room to breathe. Matyáš cooks in an open kitchen that consumes one side of the restaurant and is visible from across the dining room. A lovely wine display covers another wall.
Downstairs, there is gorgeous, comfortable speak-easy bar which Carole has named “Forbidden Fruit.” It’s darker, a place for a quiet conversation or a moment of solo reflection at the pleasant bar. In the future, Carole is planning jazz nights. It’s that sort of vibe.
The food has strong French influences, but Matyáš and his team are creative, and the dishes are exploratory and delicious. In the restaurant, the oft-changing menu offers substantial French fare, all for sharing, from oysters and courgette flowers to poached trout and duck aux olives. The downstairs bar runs more towards nibbles, with a range of delightful toasties, cheese, and charcuterie.
As Carole and I chatted, we enjoyed a series of dishes that included a perfectly cooked monkfish with Bouillabaisse sauce and an excellent pork chop with boudin noir and white peach.
Every dish was perfectly complimented with wines from Carole’s list. And the larger space means a bigger selection. “I get excited about helping people find something new,” Carole told me.
Which gave me an opening to ask about her views on so-called “natural” wines. “I picked natural and organic wines from a deep conviction,” she said. “When you choose, you are voting — indicating what you think is important. I acted from a place that I could be proud of.”
The problem, as I have observed before, is that “natural” has become a difficult term. People say they prefer “natural wines,” but what does that mean?
“Natural just means nothing adding and nothing removed in the wine or in the fields,” Carole said. “I think the size of the domaine matters, too. It can’t be industrial.”
I wondered what Carole would do for someone like me, given my preference for more classic styles. “Not all natural wines smell like feet,” she said. “I want to help people try something new. To push their curiosity. I want to help with discovery. And I want our customers to feel that they can share their passions, to ask questions, to challenge us to be challenged.”
Since I first met Carole a few weeks ago, I have returned to Lady of the Grapes several times — it’s virtually across the street from my office, and it has rapidly become my first-choice place to meet colleagues for a glass of wine after work. As a result, I have now worked through most of Carole’s by-the-glass selections, and can report that none smell like feet. She has done a brilliant job of finding delightful wines that will suit any preference.
And her passion for wine in undiminished. She sees tremendous potential in regions like the Loire Valley. “It’s huge, and it’s still not as famous as Bordeaux. It covers lots of kinds of kinds of terroir, and there are still some less expensive producers that allow more accessibility.” She is also excited about cool climate wines from Austria and from emerging countries, especially in Eastern Europe.
But she sees threats, too. “Climate change is a big problem. The more famous wine regions have strict rules, but they need room to evolve — to add grapes to their blends.” She sees promise closer to London, too. “English sparkling is getting better. They are making interesting use of hybrids and producing some good wines.”
By the end of our lunch, I am fully bought into Carole’s vision and ambition. She is magnetic. You feel her energy from the moment you meet her. And she has clearly assembled a capable team who love wine and food as much as she does. On my subsequent visits, the service is consistently excellent, which, for a fairly new place is a bit miraculous.
Lady of the Grapes is entirely successful. And its mission to promote female winemakers is clearly working. Carole is making a difference, and in a world full of cynicism and negativity, that may be the kindest compliment of all.
Restaurant Details: Lady of the Grapes
Quick hit: Super French cooking made to match with Carole’s outstanding wine selection.
Details: Booking advised. Borough.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 53 Southwark St, SE1 1RU.
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Really enjoyed learning more about Lady of the Grapes, I didn’t realize the entire wine list was female producers! Delighted to hear none of the natural wines smell like feet 😆
“English sparkling is getting better”
Great article but I can’t work out if this is modesty or damning with faint praise!