Women Wine Critics Board

Gunman Crashes Party, Leaves with Wine

Christina Rowan of Washington DC thought quickly and calmly when a gunman crashed a backyard barbecue and held a gun to a 14-year-old girl's head.  Moments later, the gunman left with a glass of wine and a smile.  Read the whole story.

From an AP newswire published on MSNBC

WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug.

It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses.

How to Tell a Wine Geek from a Cork Dork

Recently, at a dinner with friends, one man's date turned to me and complained, "He's so boring.  All he ever talks about is wine.  All day long he talks about wine."

     I probably  looked hurt, because I was just as engrossed in our discussion of Syrah as he was.  Lorraine leaned toward me and whispered, "She's right, you know.  We're all hopeless wine geeks.  Look at us from an outsider's point of view."

Cultivating a Life

Susan Sokol Blosser's account of building a life in the Dundee Hills of Oregon speaks to me on many levels--as a woman working in the wine industry, a woman working with her husband, a woman running her own business, and a mother. Susan turns her trials into triumphs and exercises a sense of humor along the way. From the Great Goose Experiment to the day her tearful son rides his bike all the way to school by himself, this is a story that will transport you into "The Life" of owning a vineyard and winery, with a judicial salting of reality and romance.

In At Home in the Vineyard: Cultivating a Winery, an Industry, and a Life, Susan talks about their wild card decision to plant a vineyard in Oregon in the 1970's.  But it's also the story of a young, idealistic bride who has been groomed to "please" her husband and family.  Said bride is confronted with unhappy investors, disgruntled family members, distributor ennui, divorce, and disastrous vintages.  But along the way she collects some overly affectionate geese, useless peacocks, a three-legged cat, and some loyal staff members. 

By the end of the book, we see a woman who can confidently drive a vineyard tractor with her baby daughter strapped in beside her, navigate the corridors of politics, travel widely in support of her brand and her region, and take the reins as owner and CEO of her own company. 

If you dream of someday owning your own vineyard or winery, this autobiography should be part of your literary quest.  If you are a single, working mother you will resonate to young Alex' cry when he says, "Mom, why can't you stay at home and be a real mother like Wilma?"   But most of all, I was impressed by Susan Sokol Blosser's willingness to lay her heart on the table, to pour her sorrow, joy and fears into a glass.  It's one thing to critique a winegrower's wines.  Susan is offering her heart.

The Illusion of Objectivity

"Dr. Debs" at Good Wine Under $20 has written an insightful piece on the differences in wine writing between men and women . . .   Wine Writing and the Problem of Objectivity, or Is There Room for a Nigella Lawson of Wine Writing?

Here are some excerpts:

Here's what I think: wine points and the illusion of objectivity are related problems. The leading culprit for giving folks the idea that wine reviews are objective is, alas, the 100-point scale. This is not an entirely novel perspective, but I think it bears repeating.

So I began to wonder, is there room for wine writing that is unabashedly opinionated about wine, for a prose style that is flagrantly personal and marvelously evocative? Is there room for a wine writer who would do for wine writing what Nigella Lawson has done for food writing?

So I wonder, is there some reason why it's ok for a woman to rhapsodize about scrambled eggs but not sauternes? If so, what is it? Does it scream "undisciplined"? Does it smack of amateurism when we are striving for professionalism? Why do we put numbers on wine, but we don't grade other food products? Most important, can you help me figure out why we are ok with impassioned and highly-opinionated accounts of hamburgers but shy away from emphasizing the mysterious, subjective, glorious, and even alchemical properties of this elixir called wine?

To read the full article, click here. 

Are women "undisciplined" in their approach to wine?  Are they too "emotional," too "sensual"?

Men Are 'Wine Bluffs' According to UK Study

A new study in the UK News says Men 'Pretend To be Wine Buffs To Impress'.

"Almost one-in-four men try to impress friends or dates by pretending to be wine buffs, reveals a new survey.

However, most risk being exposed as buffoons according to the poll, which found knowledge of the drink is low despite soaring popularity.

The YouGov poll of 2,396 adults revealed more than two-thirds of people (69 per cent) do not feel they know enough about wine although many attempting to disguise their ignorance by pretending to be experts."

The article also says that, "Some are so sure of themselves that more than a third (35 per cent) of men refuse to let their partner choose wine in a restaurant because they do not trust their choice."

Men aren't the only ones guilty of bluffing--11% of the women surveyed admitted to bluffing about wine.

So, do tell!  Are you guilty of wine bluffing?  Did you bluff, or did you bomb?  Have you ever caught your friends or family bluffing about wine?

NYT Times Article on Wine and Pregnancy

Those of you who enjoyed Daniel Rogov's thought-provoking piece on Wine and Pregnancy, will also want to read this week's New York Times  article, The Weighty Responsibility of Drinking for Two.

(This post is closed to comments, but please feel free to leave opinions and comments in the Wine and Pregnancy discussion thread.)

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Follow up:  As of December 1, The Weighty Responsibility of Drinking for Two is on the NYT top 5 "Most Emailed" list.

Also, Daniel Rogov, author of Wine and Pregnancy, Lies that Women are Told is now working on an article about the different ways that men and women perceive and evaluate wine.  Stay tuned for another stimulating discussion sparked by an excellent wine writer.

--Mary Baker, editor, Women Wine Critics Board

Make Up or Break Up

Wine Tasting: From Both Sides Now

Contributed by Nancy Commerdinger

My husband and I were given the opportunity to represent our friends and their winery at a recent large pouring. The organizers and staff of the venue did a wonderful job accommodating those pouring and those tasting, which made for an enjoyable experience for those on both sides of the table – which is the subject here: tasting experiences from both sides of the table.

Anyone who has spent any time tasting or pouring wine has their own stories and many are legendary. But during the days leading up to the pouring I found myself wondering why I had never seen any of these experiences written down – granted, maybe some of them should never appear in print, but you get the idea.

The vast majority of folks attend these events to try new wines from a region or appellation, see old friends, meet new ones, or just share a great afternoon with people who enjoy wine. Wineries attend these events to market existing wines, launch new wines, check up on the competition, do some tasting themselves or a combination of all the above.

So, believing this would be a good time and place to start, I set off to enjoy and experience the festival as a winery representative and as a consumer. What I saw and experienced was indeed surprising.

People of course have different styles of tasting and pouring. Some tasters swirl, some spit, some ask a lot of questions, and some say nothing at all. Some pourers only respond to questions, some want to tell you how their malolactic fermentation process is unique (?), and some want to tell you their latest scores in the industry press (of COURSE they do). It’s how these two groups interact that makes for these great stories. So here are some of mine.

Taster Experience #1 – The "tone" of tasting

A gentleman approached my table, refused to make eye contact, did not respond to my greeting and tapped the top of his glass against the neck of one of the bottles we were pouring, sending forth an A-flat note. I then asked if he wanted to try said wine and he chuckled and tapped his glass against the bottle yet again. Still an A-flat. At this point I was unclear how to respond. Options from "Are you in your church’s bell choir?" to "Relax, you may go to the tasting room tomorrow and buy 100 cases," coursed through my mind as I poured into his still reverberating glass. I looked to my fellow pourers who just shrugged.

Taster Experience #2 – Tell me everything

A father and daughter team approached the table and couldn’t wait to learn about who we were, what we did, what processes we did or didn’t use, what type oak we used, whether we racked or not, what the benefits of a Bordeaux bottle were, and what were the best food pairings for our various wines. They shared that they were just getting into wine and wanted to know as much as they could, as quickly as they could. They continued on, engaging the pourers on either side of us with more questions, and left talking with each other in excited tones. I looked to my fellow pourers and we all smiled.

When the pouring was about half over, I decided to venture out and try some of the highly touted wines that I had heard about from tasters. This too was memorable.

Tasting Experience #1 – A Cabernet Baptism

I approached a table, greeted the staff and asked for a tasting of their Cabernet. The pourer answered his cell phone while reaching for a bottle and proceeded to pour the Cabernet on my wrist, in my glass, and on his table, without missing a beat on his phone call, which he continued. I looked at the other pourers and tasters as I was wiping off my arm and glass. They just shrugged.

Tasting Experience #2 – We decided we’d make something new, what do you think of it?

I was happy to see that a winery I’m a big fan of had returned to the tasting circuit. I asked their charming and engaging representative for a sample of my perennial favorite. She said that my favorite wine was also one of hers, but she asked if I’d first like to try something related to my favorite choice, and new for them. I agreed to try some and now have another favorite. I looked at the other tasters and we all smiled.

The long and the short of it is this: You can have all sorts of experiences and all kinds of fun at these events. Each makes a great memory to share at the next one, but it’s like college, very little of what you learn occurs in the classroom. I’m glad I did it and I’ll do it again. After all, I live to have new stories to share with my fellow pourers and tasters.

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Nancy Commerdinger and her husband Ted live and work in southern California, but frequently sneak away to Paso Robles to help pour wine and entertain customers at Midnight Cellars. One day when I was swamped with cellar and tasting duties at Dover Canyon, Ted waited on customers while Nancy and I rolled a delivery of barrels out of the truck. So much for sex stereotypes!

Red, White and Drunk All Over

This week we are joined by award-winning wine writer Natalie MacLean, who has just published her first book, Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. Natalie joins us below for a Q&A session about her book, and if you have any questions for Natalie, please post them here!

From the book cover:

Natalie tastes sensuous pinot noir in the ancient cellars of Burgundy while discovering the mysterious tenets of biodynamic viticulture from such colorful characters as the tiny, ferocious Lalou Bize-Leroy, part-owner of France's acclaimed Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. She pulls on sturdy boots to help with the grape harvest at California’s Bonny Doon Vineyards—and gets to the root of the anti-establishment philosophy of winemaker Randall Grahm, notorious for his experimental wine techniques, love for unfashionable grapes, and fondness for naming his wines "Cardinal Zin," "Heart Has its Rieslings," and "Big House Red" (whose grapes are grown just down the road from one of California’s state prisons).

Natalie takes a job as undercover sommelier at a five-star French restaurant, spends a day helping customers in a high-end New York wine shop, wades into a famous feud between Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, two of the world’s best-known critics and, back home, invites friends over for a casual wine tasting. Along the way she teaches us—painlessly and often hilariously—how to face a telephone directory-sized wine list without fear, what questions to ask to get exactly the wine you are looking, what those scores out of 100 really mean, and how properly to expectorate (it’s best to start out in the shower!)

At the 2003 World Food Media Awards in Australia, Natalie was named the World's Best Drink Writer. The competition received more than 1,000 entries. Natalie has also won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for her writing, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, in memory of one of America's greatest food writers. Natalie has also won an unprecedented five Bert Greene Awards for excellence in food journalism, presented by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, four awards from the American Association of Food Journalists, four from the North American Travel Writers Association and three honorable mentions at the National Magazine Awards. Natalie’s e-newsletter is read by 50,000 wine lovers in 36 countries and was twice named one of the three best food and wine newsletters at the James Beard awards.

Score! Is Wine a Spectator Sport for Men?

Contributed by Laura Ness, Appellation America

Much is currently being made about wine and women, and I hope, song, as good things come in threes.

Most wine ratings have scores—men are obsessed with scores. It’s a sports thing. But does that mean there has been some secret conspiracy to keep women from enjoying wine to the fullest possible extent? It’s not like Scotch or cigars, or all those things men seem to have an innate affinity for, and for which they construct secret dark clubs in which to ensconce themselves and enjoy their sacred pleasures.

I love the fact that wine can be enjoyed in such a mundane, down-to-earth place as my kitchen. My biggest complaint regarding wine critics, and the way tastings are done at the magazines we so highly revere, is that the wines are tasted in a vacuum. Wine is meant to be consumed with food. But this never happens at major wine competitions or trade magazines.

The wines are mass-whiffed, mass-spit and mass-diagnosed, given a letter or a number, and unceremoniously relegated to a spit bucket. It’s a bit unnerving to see what goes on behind the scenes. I’ve been at competitions where people brag about how many chardonnays they zipped through, plus jamming in a flight of pinots so they could go to lunch early. Really, when winemakers work so hard, why do we give them so little time to be appreciated?

The best results come out of competitions where people take their time to interactively discuss the wines and perhaps even fantasize about what kind of food the wine might work with. Panels that have a diverse set of palates and backgrounds serve consumers best. Different styles will be deemed acceptable, and medals awarded for well-made, pleasing wines, even if they don’t ring everyone’s chimes equally. Judgings where there are no discussions, no interactions, where a score is simply scrawled on a sheet and handed to a ticket taker to rank—these competitions do poor service both to the wineries and the general public.

Do women need different information about wine than men? Do we taste and approach wines differently? Maybe. Sometimes. It depends on so many factors.

I’ve been on many panels where I was the only feminine palate, and for the most part, I am in accord with the group. Sometimes I find something to like where others don’t, an at other times, something hits me like a nose bomb and I’m not going to like that wine no matter how my fellow judges vote.