At just 34 years old, Priyanka Dhar French is a fierce champion of diversity in the wine industry; she’s not only one of the youngest female winemakers to take the helm at a Napa Valley winery, but also one of just a handful of Indian winemakers in California.

French grew up in Mumbai and acquired her Bachelor of Technology in Food Science from the University of Mumbai and went on to work for several companies, including Nestle. But a field trip during her senior year to India’s wine country nagged at her for years until finally, she moved to California to pursue a Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology from University of California, Davis and was the first Indian national to do so at the prestigious university.

She cut her teeth in wine regions all over the world, from the iconic Louis M. Martini Winery in Napa Valley to Hospices de Beaune in Burgundy, Cognac, and New Zealand before returning to California where she worked at Stags’ Leap Winery and then the preeminent Dalle Valle. There, French spent five years working in both the cellar and vineyard, learning first-hand from three of Napa Valley’s greatest winemaking talents: Andy Erickson, Michel Rolland, and Steve Matthiasson.

Her experience in estate winemaking and crafting luxury Cabernet Sauvignon led her to Signorello Estate, where she joined as winemaker in early 2019 and was tasked with helping to not only rebuild the winery, but also fine tune winemaking and take the vaunted brand to the next level. She is passionate about sustainability and regenerative farming and is applying those principles to the Estate.

French is one of the industry’s leaders working for more diversity in wine. She serves on the board of Wine Unify, which provides scholarship programs for WSET certifications to people of color and is a Board Member and an initiator in the Batonnage Forum’s Mentorship program that supports women in the wine industry. She’s an active participant in multiple committees with the Napa Valley Vintners, most recently nominated to new young leadership cohort aimed at furthering the prestigious Napa brand. French was recently announced as the Chair for 2023 Premiere Napa Valley to be held February 2023.