Ah, Women

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First, I have to give credit where credit would be due if knew who to give credit for this photo.  A friend sent it to me awhile back and I always loved it.  A generalization, to be sure, but very workable and hecka funny.

We entered the first "National Women's Wine Competition" (NWWC Site ) this week and I am excited about it.  I think that it is a long time in coming and I hope it proves to be a success in the wine scene.  There is a category for women winemakers but most of the event is based on all women judges.  I think that is very compelling for a number of reasons. 

First, women are different than men, if you haven't noticed.  More specifically, our very senses (smell and taste) are different to varying degrees and it will be interesting to see how that fleshes out in, what promises to be, a very well-run event.  Many of us have had the experience where a woman has surprised us by her keen sense of smell and solved a wine riddle for all to relish.  Many times, I've heard (and said) "do you think this is corked?" etc., to our wives to get some clarity on something subtle.  As the picture indicates, they may be complicated, but they have many frequencies to evaluate complex things. 

On the flip side, I've seen a few too many cases where men get ramped up over big, showy wines that seem the end-all style for wine.  I think that there is plenty of room for big, showy wines but in some cases, wine evaluation can be comparable to the newest high-horsepower automobile (ooooh) or blockbuster Hollywood flick.  The driving reflex for this may be of limited value for wine evaluation. I'll stop before I go on my categories rant.

Another note:  there are a LOT of influential women winemakers, owners, managers, designers, etc. in our business.  I've always been aware of this -- and have worked for a few -- but it was never more acute when I was talking to Gabriel and Daisy (3 & 5 years old) about becoming a winemaker.  I was saying something about either of both of them could do it and realized that, in my own mind, I really hadn't distinguished by gender at all.  I'm proud of our industry for that and, while it's not equal by any stretch (yet), the changes have been rapid and complete.  Vive la difference!

...and a treat from this morning, snowcapped Mt. St. Helena to my left...