Ep. 1076 Iris Rideau | Voices With Cynthia Chaplin

Welcome to Episode 1076 Cynthia Chaplin interviews Iris Rideau, in this installment of Voices, on the Italian Wine Podcast.

More about today’s guest:

Iris Duplantier Rideau was born in the Crescent City section of New Orleans in 1936. She learned how to “pass for white” from her light-skinned grandmother. To escape the blatant racism of the South, Rideau convinced her mother to move to Los Angeles when Rideau was 12 years old. Forced to drop out of school when she became pregnant at 15, Rideau enrolled in night classes, determined not to spend her life working in dead-end jobs available to women of color. On her own, she landed a front-office job at an insurance agency. In 1967, Rideau founded her own insurance business, becoming the first minority/woman-owned firm to specialize in federally funded programs. She assisted LA’s Mayor Tom Bradley in developing the city’s first Affirmative Action Program. In the 1970s, she founded Rideau Securities and Investment Firm that specialized in pension planning for municipalities, ultimately leading to her illustrious career as California’s state director for a national pension planning company. She was awarded the city’s Deferred Compensation Plan contract, resulting in $500 million under management by the time Rideau retired in 1999. Rideau left Los Angeles to build her dream home in the Santa Ynez Valley. Nearby, she discovered an abandoned Santa Barbara Historic Monument adobe house built in 1884 sitting on 22 acres of property. Combining her love of entertaining with her business savvy— (though nothing in the winery world!)—Rideau boldly purchased the property and restored the old house. She planted the vineyards to imported Rhone vines from the south of France, built the winery, and created the award-winning Rideau Winery, one of California’s top wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley. Rideau has always given back to her communities, first Los Angeles, then the Santa Ynez Valley. As a woman-owned winery, she hired female winemakers, assistant winemakers, and tasting room staff —something unheard of in the 1990s. During her lifetime, Iris Rideau has proved that her belief in a higher power and her confidence in herself have guided her successful life’s journey—shattering those glass ceilings one by one. Rideau’s memoir, From WHITE to BLACK: One Life Between Two Worlds chronicling the events in her extraordinary life will be published on Juneteenth (June 19, 2022) in hardcover, softbound and e-book formats.

To learn more visit:

Website: Iris Rideau Website

Instagram: Iris Rideau

Facebook: Iris Rideau

About today’s Host:

Cynthia Chaplin is a VIA certified Italian Wine Ambassador, a professional sommelier with FIS and the WSA, a member of Le Donne del Vino, and a Professor of Italian wine and culture. Born in the USA, she’s lived in Europe since 1990. Italian wine, in particular rosé, is her passion. She works with embassies, corporations and private clients, creating and presenting tastings, events, seminars and in-depth courses. Cynthia is a wine writer, a judge at international wine and sake competitions, she consults with restaurants and enotecas developing comprehensive wine lists and food pairings, and she advises clients who want to curate an Italian wine collection. She currently works for Vinitaly International in Verona as a Project Manager, Educator, and the host of VOICES Series on The Italian Wine Podcast, focusing on diversity and inclusion in the global wine industry.

To learn more visit:

Facebook: Italian Wines in English

Instagram: kiss_my_glassx

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-chaplin-190647179/

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Until next time, Cin Cin!