Wine is still an 'old boys club' with women under-represented in key roles

By Erin Smith

Published: 10 June, 2016

Harpers columnist Guy Woodward used his column in this month's magazine to challenge the wine industry to be more inclusive and encouraging of female career development in all areas of the wine trade because ultimately it is good for business.

The wine trade still has the image of being primarily a man's world. "The default image of winemakers and even retailers at the top end of the market follows the same 'old boys club' mould, and it all filters down from there. It doesn't help, of course, when many of the commentators around fine wine are from a different era, when such an approach was considered perfectly adequate," said Guy Woodward.

Woodward was quick to point out that having less women in all aspects of the business simply doesn't make sense.

"This is not a wine trade campaign for women's rights. It is simply common sense. Women make up a sizeable part of the wine-buying public, so why not have more women serving them? I don't understand why, when women make up 50% of the buying public, you wouldn't want to engage them on their own terms, have female staff on hand, and talk to them in a way women like to be talked to," said Woodward.

Woodward's question comes at an interesting time for the wine trade as, he highlights, arguably one the most powerful CEOs, at the head of the largest business in the trade, Conviviality Retail, is a woman. Many of the most prominent national wine columnists are now women, which are responsible for many thousands of cases of wine being shifted weekly to the public.

While there are shining stars, like Diana Hunter, Victoria Moore and Fiona Beckett, in specific segments of the trade it still seems to be predominately male.

"It's not necessarily a case of women being under-represented in the wine world. It's more that, with the exception of some high profile buyers and the odd member of the management team, women are represented in all the predictable areas - marketing, PR - and not in consumer-facing roles. Retail - both the on- and off-trade - is still very male-dominated," pointed out Woodward.

The on-trade in particular has gone through an enormous shift. In the early 1990s women outnumbered men, with three women for every two men working in the on-trade, in contrast to today the number of female sommeliers is relatively low in comparison with their male counterparts. This is visible as much on the restaurant floor as it is on the shop floor.

"In independent retailers in particular, most shop floor staff (and those at the end of the phone) tend to be men, and most of the communication that goes around the market is male and nerdy as a result. It's mostly the same in restaurants - female sommeliers are still rare," said Woodward.

In today's world the trade is still trying to tackle connecting online with digital consumers, when they want to connect and in the right way. This should be as true with consumers in offline channels and includes selling to women in a way they want to be sold to.

Woodward said: "All the research shows that women are engaged by different aspects of wine to those that trigger male attention. This comes out in particular at events, where younger consumers - women in particular - appreciate a relaxed, informal, convivial approach. Yet too often you see some frightfully dull old boy in red trousers waffling on about tannins and oak management."

Ultimately, not having women in many aspects of the business is hurting the overall trade according to Woodward. He said: "Time has moved on, but the trade hasn't moved with it. As a consequence, it's losing out on potential customers, who feel better accommodated by the craft beer or spirits world."

Do you agree? We would love to hear from you.

To read Guy's full column, subscribers can click: Why are women still under-represented in the wine trade?

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