International Women’s Day: Meet Winemaker Lilian Carter

A young Lilian Carter knew the wine industry was a path for her after seeing women driving tractors, working in laboratories and running wineries.

At the beginning of 2024, The Flying Winemaker’s oenologist and CEO Eddie McDougall had a simple challenge for the team: “Ok, let’s win some awards this year!”

They certainly delivered.

The Flying Winemaker Prosecco NV, made by Lilian Carter in Victoria’s King Valley, took home Best Prosecco at the 2024 Australian Sparkling Wine Show.

For Lilian, it was a particularly special achievement — and a fitting moment to celebrate the talent of women working across the Australian wine industry.

Lilian Carter: A Career Built on Getting On With It

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women in wine while also asking bigger questions about the industry.

Women now represent more than a third of the world’s Masters of Wine, but questions around representation, pay gaps, work-life balance and opportunities remain part of the conversation.

For Lilian, however, her approach has always been refreshingly straightforward: work hard and get on with it.

She believes that attitude applies regardless of gender.

As a mother in a blended family of six, with young children aged three and six, Lilian also knows first-hand that work-life balance can be challenging.

Winemaking comes with particularly intense periods. Vintage can mean long, demanding days when family life has to take a back seat. And when vintage ends, the industry's supposed “down season” often fills quickly with bottling, travel and everything else that needs doing.

From Rutherglen to the World of Wine

Lilian grew up in Rutherglen, around 300 kilometres from Melbourne, surrounded by people working in wine.

Importantly, she saw women everywhere.

Women were driving harvesters, working in wineries, leading industry associations and companies, pulling hoses and promoting fine wine in five-star hotels. Seeing those career paths early on helped Lilian realise that wine could be her own future.

She went on to complete a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, Oenology, at the University of Adelaide, at the renowned wine school now known as Roseworthy. She also completed the Advanced Wine Assessment Course at the Australian Wine Research Institute.

Her career has taken her well beyond Australia, with winemaking experience in France, South Africa, China and New Zealand.

She has also travelled internationally to conduct high-end wine tastings, meeting plenty of inspiring mentors — both women and men — along the way.

What Lilian Loves Most About Winemaking

For all the travel, awards and technical knowledge that come with a career in wine, Lilian's favourite part of the job is surprisingly simple:

Being outside.

More specifically, being in the vineyard.

That connection with the vines, the seasons and the landscape remains at the heart of why she loves winemaking.

And perhaps that is what makes Lilian’s story so compelling. Her career hasn't been built around a single defining moment, but through years of hands-on experience, international exposure, hard work and simply showing up.

Celebrating Women in Wine — Lilian Style

So, how will Lilian be spending International Women’s Day?

With family and friends, a day at the beach, Australian-style — and, naturally, a couple of bottles of wine.

But don't expect her to completely switch off.

Her business phone won't be going silent.

Cheers to Lilian, to the women shaping the wine industry, and to the many more still finding their way into the vineyard.