A native of Baltimore, Md., she met her future husband, Warren Winiarski, at St. John’s College in Annapolis where she was part of the first female cohort at the college.
The Winiarski’s purchase a prune orchard in Napa Valley in 1970. That orchard became Stag’s Leap Cellars, and the first commercial release from the new winery, the 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon, would place first among red wines at the now-famous 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting.
The Winiarski’s were supporters of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and helped establish the American Food & Wine Project in 1996. In 2021 the Winiarski Family Foundation donated $4 million to establish a permanent curator of food and wine history at the museum.
They also provided a $50 million pledge to St. John’s College, their alma mater. It was the largest gift in the history of the school and was intended to ensure affordable tuition for future students. Structured as a challenge grant, it resulted in St. John’s raising $50 million in matching funds.