Corkheads: Breaking through a wine glass ceiling

When you think of women and wine, what do you imagine? Bubble gum labels like Pink Umbrella and Working Girl? Tasting groups marrying Mary Kay with Chardonnay?

It's this lowbrow marketing that probably propelled a male industry colleague of mine to recently quip — in response to this weekend's Women For WineSense Grand Event — "Women and wine? What's the big deal?"

Well, I'm here to tell him. The big deal is that only 15 years ago, a salesman walked into Handley Cellars and asked founder and winemaker Milla Handley where the winemaker was.

The big deal is that a woman like Mary Hall of Harlan Estate is actually considered a trailblazer for breaking into vineyard management 20 years ago.

If you believe the research coming out of UC Davis, genetically speaking, women are better tasters than men.



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