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Nancie Oxley
Vice President and Winemaker, St. Julian Winery I
t’s not only farmers in Southwest Michigan who have had their eyes on the sky this summer. Nancie Oxley, vice president and winemaker at St. Julian Winery, has too. “Some days I think the farmers and winemakers are better meteorologists than the meteorologists themselves, because you're constantly watching the weather,” says the 40-year-old Oxley. The first professional commercial female winemaker in Michigan, Oxley has been with St. Julian for 19 years. Starting as a lab manager and enologist, she quickly moved up the ranks, being promoted to head winemaker in 2010. In 2017, she was named vice president at St. Julian. As the award-winning winemaker approaches her 19th harvest with the growers that supply the
Brian Powers
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46 | ENCORE AUGUST 2019