Women break wine glass ceiling in France

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from The Scotsman

Some critics say wines made by women have a perceptible suppleness and subtleness about them; in France they talk about a certain finesse.  What was significant was women’s ability to describe the multitude of sensations of aroma and taste much more accurately. Women’s ability to concentrate on different sensations at the same time is a huge benefit. Their intuitive ability can add a dimension to a wine’s style while women have helped demystify and glamorise wine in a world which was, not so long ago, an impenetrable chauvinist domaine.

Your impressions of the statements and opinions expressed in this article? Is this also true of American vineyard owners who are women?

[Rebel Rose]

I'm sorry, GG, please excuse me while I run to the bathroom and barf . . .

Ah, I'm all better now.

At a lunch hosted by Chateau Faugères for the "Cercle Rive de Grands Vins de Bordeaux", president Alain Raynaud said: "Women tend to run wine estates differently. They are very good at the detail, organisation and distribution."

Brigitte Rullier-Loussert, proprietor of Château Dalem in the Fronsac appellation of Bordeaux, said that in 20 years she has noticed a lot more women coming into the industry: ". . .  In a way, it is very similar to motherhood. You create a living being, worry over him and nurture him and then he is gone."

Patricia Atkinson left a good job in England and bought a crumbling house with a small vineyard in a village east of Bordeaux.

"It is hard work and a lot of things can go wrong," she said. "I have probably been helped physically here in the vineyard because I am a woman."

One area where women have made serious inroads in recent years is in tasting and journalism. . .

Isn't that just sweet? We're mothers and cooks, and if we bat our eyes just so we'll get the help we need in the vineyard . . ."

To answer your question, I would have to say no, American women winemakers are not like that! (Thank you, God.)

Signe Zoller and Heidi Changala come to mind instantly. I know both women personally, and while they both have awesome palates, as do their male counterparts, they are also meticulous, aware, informed, mechanically adept, physically fit, highly intelligent, assertive and respected in their industry.

Whew. I feel better now.

[FaustianBargain]

I'm sorry, GG, please excuse me while I run to the bathroom and barf . . .

Ah, I'm all better now.

huh? are you saying women and men are physically 'equal'?

[herbacidal]

One area where women have made serious inroads in recent years is in tasting and journalism. The broadsheet market is full of women in prominent positions: Jane McQuitty at the Times, Jancis Robinson at the FT, Joanna Simon at the Sunday Times and Rose Murray Brown at The Scotsman.

The reason they do so well is the evidence that women are better tasters than men. About 40 per cent of all of those who pass the tough Master of Wine exams are female, although far more men take the course.

Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine and head of Sotheby’s international wine department, believes it is all down to their superior sense of taste and smell. She said: "Women are more acute and used to using their senses - they smell danger and they often smell illness."

Hmm... I have thought that there were more women wine writers than men.

But that wasn't researched or anything. Just a sense.

I wonder if anyone has done medical/scientific studies comparing the olfactory senses in men and women.

I do wonder what "smell danger" is? They smell the potentially bad parts of wine, pre-bottling and afterwards (corked/other problem)?

If so, that needs to be worded better.

[KatieLoeb]

Women, in fact, definitely have far better olfactory senses than men. This has been widely reported. In fact, pregnant women have even more finely tuned senses, and that led to an earlier discussion here about pregnant women being hired as wine tasters for some large wine conglomerate. I can't be bothered to find the original thread, but suffice to say the anecdotal evidence about pregnant women's senses of smell being very finely tuned has plenty of scientific backup. Many of the "noses" at the fragrance houses in Provence that provide the pure essences to the great perfume houses all over Europe are women. One of the industries where women can excel behind the scenes, as it were. See this for some backup.

On the purely anecdotal level I will say that the other women in the wine industry that I know/have known certainly seem to have more well developed palates than the men I've worked with.

And again, on the purely anecdotal level, the wines I've had the pleasure of tasting that were crafted by women winemakers remain amongst my favorites. Shelly Rafanelli (CA), Heidi Schrock (Austria), Merry Edwards (CA), Gina Gallo (CA) (whose influence cannot be underrated) are all stars in what used to be a "No Girl's Allowed" clubhouse. There are women winemakers emerging in every corner of the globe, including even some of the most macho outposts of Spain, Down Under and South Africa. Sooner or later I have to hope that the novelty of this will wear off and these ladies will be judged on an even playing field that they are well equipped to handle. Just try the wines and let me know if I'm wrong.

[Rebel Rose]

Sooner or later I have to hope that the novelty of this will wear off and these ladies will be judged on an even playing field that they are well equipped to handle. Just try the wines and let me know if I'm wrong.

Katie, your response is perfect (and much more gracious than mine)! While there have been some well-written articles on emerging women winemakers, and the challenges they have overcome, so many of these pieces are merely fluff, and focus solely on a woman's sensitive palate, as if that alone accounts for their success. Since I see first hand how hard these women work, and the insults, sarcasm and condescension they often endure, I'm afraid I get a burr under my saddle easily on this topic. ::sigh::

[KatieLoeb]

Sooner or later I have to hope that the novelty of this will wear off and these ladies will be judged on an even playing field that they are well equipped to handle.  Just try the wines and let me know if I'm wrong.

Katie, your response is perfect (and much more gracious than mine)! While there have been some well-written articles on emerging women winemakers, and the challenges they have overcome, so many of these pieces are merely fluff, and focus solely on a woman's sensitive palate, as if that alone accounts for their success. Since I see first hand how hard these women work, and the insults, sarcasm and condescension they often endure, I'm afraid I get a burr under my saddle easily on this topic. ::sigh::

My feeling is that anyone in the wine industry has to be nuts. It's a given considering the sheer multitude of variables that could wipe you out financially at any given nanosecond of the space-time continuum in any given vintage or harvest. So it has to be driven by passion and a desire to pass along one's "personal Palate" to the masses.

Women are undeniably more passionate than men. Women have better olfactory senses. Quod Erat Faciendum.

[Rebel Rose]

Hmm... I have thought that there were more women wine writers than men. 

I thought this thread was interesting in light of other recent threads on marketing wine to women. Does a woman's place in wine production affect the industry's perception of women as wine consumers?

[Daniel Rogov]

Lawsy, lawsy, I adore cute articles that forget to back up their information with hard data!!!!

1. That more women are categorized as super-tasters than men is beyond question and that is neither a cultural, parapsychological or metaphysical property. It is purely biological. On an overall basis, women simply have more aste buds per square centimeter on their tongues and a somewhat more heightened sense of smell than most men.

2. The above cannot at all be extrapolated to say that those women enter the wine profession are super-tasters.

3. That women as a group have been denied access to winemaking over the years is obvious to all, but then again this has been true at every upper level of every profession in the world. That women have broken into the field of wine since the 1980s is increasingly apparent and in this case that not a biological function but a result of the ongoing struggle for social equality.

4. No-one in his/her right mind will or should claim that men and women are physiologically the same.

5. Whether women are more sensitive, more intuitive or whatever during pregnancy is something that has yet to be demonstrated in other than folklore and mythology. It surely sounds nice. Whether it has any basis in reality is not known.

6. Overgeneralizing about women's talents as winemakers, wine writers or sommeliers is no less dangerous and foolish than generalizing about their abilities to clean house.

7. Any person judging a wine on the basis of whether it was made by a man or a woman, whether it was made in France, Italy, the United States or Slovania is acting foolishly. The only (!!) valid judgement of the quality/qualities of any wine should be based fully and entirely on the liquid that happens to be in the bottle.

[LindaJ]

5.  Whether women are more sensitive, more intuitive or whatever during pregnancy is something that has yet to be demonstrated in other than folklore and mythology. It surely sounds nice.  Whether it has any basis in reality is not known.

Google pregnancy and smell sensitivity and you'll find a bunch of info including medical studies that show women have a heightened sense of smell especially during the first couple trimesters of pregnancy. The "theory" (and it's just that) is that women will avoid certain foods/drinks during the first trimester when fetal development is so sensitive to toxins.

As for me, I couldn't walk into a liquor store until the first few months were over. The sheer thought of trying to taste/smell wine during those fun weeks of morning sickness still makes my stomach turn. I would have sucked as a wine taster. However, I admit a wee bit of champagne made the nausea go away once we got past week 14. I also had a massive craving for single malt scotch which I still can't explain since I never drink it.

Overall, it would be terrific to read an article about women in the wine industry that wasn't so treacley. I think intelligence, hard work, talent, and business sense are probably better predictors of success than maternal instincts.

[JohnL]

article from The Scotsman

Some critics say wines made by women have a perceptible suppleness and subtleness about them; in France they talk about a certain finesse.  What was significant was women’s ability to describe the multitude of sensations of aroma and taste much more accurately. Women’s ability to concentrate on different sensations at the same time is a huge benefit. Their intuitive ability can add a dimension to a wine’s style while women have helped demystify and glamorise wine in a world which was, not so long ago, an impenetrable chauvinist domaine.

Your impressions of the statements and opinions expressed in this article? Is this also true of American vineyard owners who are women?

←

This piece is an example of the poor journalism that infects wine writing and reporting these days.

It basically takes a bunch of half truths and canards and attempts to make a case.

And that case is about twenty years too late.

The author, Mr Lyons would do well to at least minimally research his subject--he would undoubtedly, "discover" Becky Wasserman who in 1976 was a real "pioneer."

What about May-Eliane de Lencquesaing who has run Chateau Pichon Lalande since the seventies and is nicknamed "le generale" by her peers?

These are the real "pioneers."

It is a half truth to say the wine industry is "chauvinistic." Perhaps the dearth of women in the winemaking end of things in France was due to the french inheritance laws."

He might also be able to provide a bit of supporting evidence instead of compiling a bunch of stereotypes that one time would be insulting, today they are really just sad.

"Women...are more perfectionist and accurate in their work than men."--Really!

Then there is this:

"Some critics say wines made by women have a perceptible suppleness and subtleness about them; in France they talk about a certain finesse."

What we have here is a symptom of a disease that seems to have infected wine writers, especially British wine writers. It is a practiced vagueness which when delivered with a certain literary insouciance is intended to convey real knowledge--"I know what I am talking about..."

So "some critics say wines made by women..."

Really--which critics?

"Wines made by women..."

What wines? Which women? Here is an example of a statement with no support. One sees this often in this writing. Is the writer really saying that women winemakers make "feminine wines?"

How utterly insulting (not just to women but to me a reader).

How half baked how rediculously untrue. My evidence?

Madame Lalou Bize Leroy who has been making some of the greatest Burgundies for decades. (she was a director of a negocient in 1955)

Helen Turley who makes some of the most powerful wines ever seen anywhere or Mia Klein or Heidi Peterson Barrett in California--celebrated winemakers for years--- or Delia Viader who and Ann Colgin or Marimar Torres who own major wineries and vinyards? That is not even scratching the surface! That is just California.

I would challenge any taster to make even a feeble case that these women make "feminine wines."

So where are those women making feminine wines? Who are they? what are the wines?

Wine critics and writers have been hiding behind fuzzy winespeak for far too long.

Women may be able to "smell fear."

I smell BS!

Edited November 10, 2005 by JohnL (log)

[Daniel Rogov]

Wine critics and writers have been hiding behind fuzzy winespeak for far too long.

Not all of us.......

Edited November 10, 2005 by Daniel Rogov (log)

[JohnL]

Wine critics and writers have been hiding behind fuzzy winespeak for far too long.

Not all of us.......

←

No--there are many good writers out there!

(you are one-IMOP)

For a wine critic--all I ask are tasting notes that convey a good balance of objective observations based upon experience and knowledge with subjective impressions.

For a wine writer (journalist) there is need for clear concisely communicated and well supported observations and opinion based upon those observations.

Too often today we see pieces like the one in question here and as a result, too often we end up passing around the "conventional wisdom."

ps

I enjoyed reading your tasting notes on the Priorat wines in linked via another recent thread here at eGullet I really had a good sense of what these wines are. this is more important than whether or not I "agree" with your subjective assessments. A good critic can help inform and educate --there's more to it that just "finding someone with a similar palate."