Teneral Cellars winery in Plymouth is an award-winning, women-owned and self-proclaimed disrupter in the industry. It’s also an oasis in the Shenandoah Valley that’s less than an hour’s drive from Sacramento, though reminiscent of a picturesque wine region in Italy.

“You’re in this gorgeous Tuscan villa surrounded by vineyards,” says Teneral Cellars founder and CEO Jill Osur while looking out across the 40-acre property, which includes a full-production winery, 26-acre vineyard, tasting room and the six-room Grand Reserve Inn. “You don’t have anything else surrounding you. It literally feels like you’ve been transported to Tuscany.”

Visitors to the Teneral Cellars tasting room are “nestled in the vineyard,” Osur says. They can choose to walk the entire 40 acres or back to the end of the property and see the villa. The venue’s wine cellar is open by appointment.

“I think people feel like it’s pretty intimate here, and it doesn’t feel big and commercial,” Osur says. “I think most people love that we’re women-owned, but then they come in and they just love the feel. They feel like it’s home.”

Five years after founding Teneral Cellars in the midst of a pandemic and two years after purchasing the Wilderotter Vineyard for $6.8 million — a staple in Amador County’s rich wine region for 20 years — Osur’s business model is truly something different, born from her negative experiences in an El Dorado County winery group.

“I think it took the crisis of COVID for me to really wake up and realize that the industry was not reflecting its largest customer, which was women,” says Osur, who has a background in political fundraising and marketing for the Special Olympics. “Almost 76 percent of all wines are purchased by women, and yet there were very few women in leadership positions and even fewer women of color in the wine industry.”

Osur says that in 2020, she posted online in support of Black Lives Matter and was asked to resign by one of the winery group’s largest investors.

“It was important for us to take a stance, and we did,” says Osur. “It was an opportunity to actually look inward and just realize that I know I was put on this earth to use my voice. My voice has always been instrumental to my success.”

 Each bottle label produced by Teneral Cellars includes the words “Open a bottle, open a conversation” and a question for thought such as, “What are you doing to inspire inclusion in your interactions?” Osur has tried to change the conversation by partnering with women-owned businesses and donating 10 percent of profits to organizations that empower women to promote gender and racial equity. Their 26 white and red wines, such as the white blend done for Women’s History Month last year called Inspire Inclusion, have won over two dozen national wine competition awards.

“I felt like I had become very tamed in this industry that’s dominated by men and very steeped in tradition; and for me, I wanted to do things a different way,” says Osur, noting Teneral Cellars broke the million-dollar mark in sales in its first full year of operation. “I wanted to lead from my heart and create a company that was inclusive and that had a diversity of voices and experiences, and that also used wine as a conduit for change.”

That philosophy is evident in who Osur chooses to work with — her partner in business and in life, Lisa Orrel, and winemaker Kira Ballotta, a Sacramento native recognized last year as one of Imbibe magazine’s “People to Watch.”

As for Teneral Cellars’ standout venue, the property can accommodate small weddings and hosts art shows and events for its quarterly wine club releases and in support of Women’s History Month. Last year the winery was a co-host of Amador County’s Pride in the Vines.

 “We brought together 10 other local wineries to participate so that we could support all members of the LGBTQ+ community and show that Amador is a safe space and a safe community for them,” Osur says. 

Osur notes that Teneral Cellars’ wines are featured at the W Hotel in San Francisco and the women-focused social club, The Jacquelyn, in downtown Sacramento. “It’s a beautiful partnership for us,” she says.
At the same time, Osur notes that the wine industry is currently at a 27-year low and struggling to reach new customers. 

“Everyone is trying to figure out how to appeal to Gen Z because they’re drinking about 20 percent less than millennials,” Osur says.

“Historically, the wine industry has gone through these, and so we know we’ll make it through to the other side. But for us, it’s about reaching more people to realize that we’re a mission-based wine company, so that every time you make a purchase, it’s with purpose.”  

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