Kaysie Rogers of Santa Rosa is a Floor Sommelier at SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg. A newly minted Master Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and a WSET Diploma holder, Rogers passed the Master Sommelier exam one week after receiving her Wine Studies Grant, which she used to cover exam fees. She is also an active mentor to fellow sommeliers: she founded a 30-plus-member tasting group in Palm Beach and remains involved with the Napa tasting group.

In her application, Rogers wrote: “Being a woman in wine, to me, is both an act of rebellion and of radical self-acceptance. I want my role in the future of wine to be about making the path wider and less daunting for the women who come after me.”

Madison Michael of San Francisco is the General Manager and Wine Director of GiGi’s, a female- and Asian-owned Vietnamese wine bar. CMS Certified and preparing for her WSET Level 3 exam, Michael was recently selected for the 2026 Court of Master Sommeliers Women’s Sommelier Symposium cohort and will use grant funds toward the WSET Diploma or CMS Advanced Sommelier program. At GiGi’s, she has built education into the culture of the restaurant and has mentored women in the industry through the Bâtonnage Forum’s Mentorship Program.

“When I think about shaping a more inclusive future for wine, I think about becoming the kind of source others can draw from,” said Michael. “Because being the source is not about being the center … it’s about making sure what flows through you reaches someone else.”