The Wine Buzz - Women and Wine

The Wine Buzz - Women and Wine By Maria Rosales

As I researched the history of women and wine, I came across various websites that started as a sisterhood of women who love wine. For a very good reason these websites exist-- women have a natural attraction to wines. According to The Wine Institute, women purchase 57% of the wine consumed in the United States. In addition, this purchase is not influenced by the accolades that the wines hold, rather it is simple that women have a greater interest in the wine, whether it is the label, the winemaker’s story or the shape of the bottle.

The passion for wines has led to a surge in women winemakers who are creating wines that women love. In the 19th century, pioneers in winemaking include women such as Josephine Tychson and Kate Warefield. Today, we have women working together in various coops to produce wines that have an overall feminine influence. In Australia, a group of women winemakers are producing wines that have fewer calories and fit the palate profile of most women wine consumers between the ages of 27-45.

The female palate yes. While individual senses of taste vary, women in general have a more developed palate. Meaning, women’s taste receptors are more sensitive and are able to pick up nuances of different flavors. One of the reasons most women start drinking the sweeter style wines is because our palates tend to favor sweetness. It is a human tendency to prefer sweets over salty foods. Learning to appreciate dryer more complex wines takes time for the palate to develop and appreciate. The aroma of wine is one of the most important aspects of wine. And the sense of smell is another sense that is more developed in women. Taste, after all, is about eighty percent of what we smell. That is why we swirl, smell and swish the wine to truly appreciate the taste and flavors of wine.

In the end, even Bacchus, the ancient god of wine, would agree that both women and wine improve with age. The development of both wine and women follow a similar path; from youthful and vibrant to mature and complex; from a natural attraction to sweeter young fruit forward wines to the ultimate attraction to dry, bold and complex wines. The relationship of women and wine is centuries old, but in reality it is just beginning to flourish.