Marketing Wine to Women

[Rebel Rose]

According to this article by Christian Miller of Full Glass Research, women's tastes in wine do not really differ that much from men's. But subscribers to the Wine Advocate are 4-1 male, and 2-1 male for the Wine Spectator. According to Miller, men also rated the buying influence of these publications higher.

On the other hand, there are "women's" wine websites, newsletters, and even a magazine, and they don't seem to attract the same competitive posting on their related forums as the men's forums do . . . so maybe women just prefer not to discuss wine online as much. But I wonder, might some publications and reviewers skew toward their male readership because their feedback comes primarily from a metro-centric, competitive, male audience?

If a young woman just getting seriously into wine asked you for a reference to wine publications, which writers and publications would you recommend?

(Personally I love the Wine Advocate, and don't care for the Wine Spectator, but then I'm kind of a wine tomboy.)

[DTBarton]

Agree that I prefer the Wine Advocate to the Wine Spectator. I like the absence of advertising, for one thing. I also found that when I was starting to buy wine more seriously, I agreed with Parker's reviews more than WS's. I have friends who like Tanzer's publications as well. Tanzer is not as big a fan of big, extracted wines as Parker. I'm just used to Parker's writing and have found his recommendations to work well for me. Any credible publication will work as long as you learn their lingo and what it means.

As far as the gender thing, from my experience, for whatever reason, I've met many women with good wine palates who enjoy tasting and pairing with food, but very few who go in for the research/buying part of things. Granted most of these women have husbands or boyfriends who do the buying so it might just be a matter of convenience.

[JohnL]

According to this article by Christian Miller of Full Glass Research, women's tastes in wine do not really differ that much from men's.  But subscribers to the Wine Advocate are 4-1 male, and 2-1 male for the Wine Spectator.  According to Miller, men also rated the buying influence of these publications higher. 

On the other hand, there are "women's" wine websites, newsletters, and even a magazine, and they don't seem to attract the same competitive posting on their related forums as the men's forums do . . . so maybe women just prefer not to discuss wine online as much.  But I wonder, might some publications and reviewers skew toward their male readership because their feedback comes primarily from a metro-centric, competitive, male audience?

If a young woman just getting seriously into wine asked you for a reference to wine publications, which writers and publications would you recommend?

(Personally I love the Wine Advocate, and don't care for the Wine Spectator, but then I'm kind of a wine tomboy.)

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"metro centric, competitive?"

Perhaps men and women are just "different."

(generalities are fun!)

Men seem to enjoy toys!

Both men and women enjoy music passionately.

Most stereo component enthusiasts are men.

Most subscribers to stereo magazines are men.

Men and women appreciate fine automobiles.

Most car enthusiasts are men.

Most subscribers to car magazines are...you guessed it!

see a pattern developing here?

Women and men are equally competitive.

That competitiveness often manifests itself differently.

So women can and do appreciate wine as do men--their

passions are expressed and pursued differently.

I am a little confused though.

The Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator are very different

publications. I would not compare them head to head.

If one is simply looking at their respective wine reviews--I suppose one could

make some direct comparisons.

Frankly, I believe, too much is made of various critics' real and imagined

"preferences."

"So and so only likes....wines."

Often a small fact/truth is extrapolated out to form a much larger and broader

truth or conclusion. In the end, that larger "truth" is often very shaky at best.

[Rebel Rose]

Music and cars--what an excellent analogy. You're totally right, John. I never thought of it that way . . .

As for comparing the WA and WS, they are different, but similar in their focus on 100 pt. scores. I just found Miller's statistics on readership for both interesting.

I guess men are different.

[jsolomon]

Umm, RR, has anyone given you the honey and eggs talk?

[JohnL]

Music and cars--what an excellent analogy.  You're totally right, John.  I never thought of it that way . . .

As for comparing the WA and WS, they are different, but similar in their focus on 100 pt. scores.  I just found Miller's statistics on readership for both interesting. 

I guess men are different. 

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I once had an interesting chat with a salesman at a very

high end audiophile store here in NY.

he said that he hated when women looking to buy a stereo came in with

their boyfriends.

He said the male immediately took over and dominated the sales process-- even though it was the woman who was

shopping, making it difficult for the salesman to determine what kind of stereo the woman

would appreciate the most.

He also noted that though women were often very savvy about music and had well developed tastes--it was the guys who were more into the equipment--often quoting magazine reviews and stats.

He said women were less into the equipment and more into just enjoying listening to music and therefore were in their way, better customers.

[Rebel Rose]

The latest buzz is about the upcoming National Women's Wine Competition to be held in Santa Rosa in March.

The only national wine competition judged entirely by women, open to entries from all licensed, bonded wineries in the U.S., with a sub-category for U.S. women winemakers. Wines will be judged in categories encompassing popular wine grape varietals (true vinifera and native varietals) as well as fruit wines.

Fees from competition entries will benefit Women for Winesense. The judges are all professional wine women, and the winners will be designated "Wine Women Want."

And today, I received a press release for an international women's wine competition to be held in Monaco . . . The "Femmes et Vins du Monde Concours International" at the Hotel de Paris.

Looks like the ladies are getting assertive!

[Busboy]

The latest buzz is about the upcoming National Women's Wine Competition to be held in Santa Rosa in March. 

The only national wine competition judged entirely by women, open to entries from all licensed, bonded wineries in the U.S., with a sub-category for U.S. women winemakers. Wines will be judged in categories encompassing popular wine grape varietals (true vinifera and native varietals) as well as fruit wines.

Fees from competition entries will benefit Women for Winesense. The judges are all professional wine women, and the winners will be designated "Wine Women Want."

And today, I received a press release for an international women's wine competition to be held in Monaco . . . The "Femmes et Vins du Monde Concours International" at the Hotel de Paris.

Looks like the ladies are getting assertive!

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Yeah -- red wine makes my wife assertive, too. That's why I try to keep on the Chardonnay.