WOMEN IN WINE
My signature events series, developed specifically with women’s networks and groups in mind.
While there are lots of very successful female winemakers, sommeliers and industry experts these days, it hasn’t always been like this.
At one point – not too long ago - menstruating women were banned from wine cellars in case they ‘turned’ the wine! And female sommeliers have spoken out about the sexism and patronising behaviour they’ve had to deal with, right up until the present day. But real progress has been made in recent decades.
Women such as Jancis Robinson, the foremost wine journalist, Claudia Harris, the first female master sommelier or Vanya Cullen, one of Australia’s leading biodynamic makers – have broken down some of the barriers facing women in the wine sector.
Women now compete on a much more level playing field with their male counterparts in the world of wine. In this presentation we will talk about leading women in wine, inequality in the wine world and why sommeliers still pour to the man before the woman! This event is perfect for women’s networks, D&I groups or any corporate looking to champion gender equality in the workplace.
"The women’s movement is gaining impetus with every passing year and Women in Wine is my contribution to this vital effort."
Society expects men to ‘know about wine’. Many sommeliers (80% of whom are male) naturally give the wine list to the man, and ask the man to taste the wine first.
For my ‘women in wine’ events, we taste wines made by female producers – from Laura Catena’s Argentinian Malbec’s to Anne-Claude Leflaive - Domaine Leflaive all of which is organic, vegan, vegetarian and minimal intervention.
We discuss how women buy, consume, share and taste wine – as well as looking at the different styles and techniques that female producers use to produce their wines and these wine makers are among the world’s very best. We also explore how the next generation of young female wine producers and entrepreneurs will evolve their wine-making styles and what female-produced wines we can expect to be hitting the shelves over the next few years.
