WINE SCANDAL
Houston wine experts weigh in on Master Sommelier harassment allegations.
A New York Times report last week revealing that some of the country’s most admired wine servers and educators have been accused of being sexual predators surely proved jarring to anyone who believed the fine-wine realm would be somehow above the vulgar fray.
But the Times’ revelations, which focused on the crème-dela-crème global wine education and service hierarchy called the Court of Master Sommeliers, came as no surprise to at least three respected local sommeliers, Vanessa Treviño Boyd, Julie Dalton and Lindsay Thomas, though none of them said they had experienced problems with their employers or colleagues in Houston.
Both Dalton, a floor sommelier at Mastro’s Steakhouse, and Thomas, the River Oaks Country Club director of wine and beverage, have Advanced Sommelier status through the court. That’s one rung below the prized Master Sommelier designation.
“I knew the article was being written,” Thomas said, “and I admit I didn’t have the courage to come forward. But I’m so grateful for the women who did, and I’m sorry I didn’t stand in solidarity sooner. They are agents for change, and I aspire to their level of bravery.”
Of the 155 Master Sommeliers in the U.S., 131 are men. But currently there are believed to be more women than men navigating the expensive and time-consuming path to earning MS status, and Dalton remains among them.
Addressing the near-reverence with which Master Somms are held by those hoping to attain the same status, Dalton said: “Just because we are interested in your journey and because we think you are a brilliant teacher, that does not mean we are hitting on you. It does not mean that our interest in your life as a sommelier and mentor gives you permission to assume we want to have sex with you. Stop flattering yourselves!”
Why does she intend to stay on the MS track?
“It’s more about the exam to me, proving tomyself I can pass it,” she said. “And I’m still an optimist about the court’s future. With everything that’s happened since 2018 (when an unprecedented cheating scandal erupted, nullifying the results of the test and forcing the 23 candidates who had passed to retake it), things can’t get any worse. It has to change, and I believe it will.”
Thomas, for her part, said she’s no longer interested in pursuing the prestigious — and potentially lucrative, salary-wise — MS lapel pin.
“My own personal decision at this point is to distance myself from the examination process,” she said. “I would love to help to effect change within the organization, but right now the Master Sommelier standing, even with all the work I’ve done toward earning it … There’s such a negative connotation at this point, it’s no longer worth my time and money.
“I’ll continue my wine education onmy own. I’m more interested in doing what I can to change the culture of the (hospitality) industry in all of the issues that have come to light. We all need to do everything we can to make everything more equitable and open, more safe to everyone involved.”
As for Treviño Boyd, 47, who has run wine programs at several local restaurants and, most recently, at Lakeside Country Club, she earned the Advanced Certificate from the American Sommelier Association based in New York, where she began her career. Although the Rio Grande Valley native has never been part of the court’s educational hierarchy, she is close to many who are, including a few who have sorely disappointed her with their actions.
“Sexism is so rampant in every aspect of our society,” she said. “The court … is very male dominated, and the profession is very male dominated. It’s really just a big boys club. I’m sorry, but it’s time to call people out.”
Specifically referencing Master Sommeliers, several of whom were called out by women interviewed by Times reporter Julia
Moskin for varying degrees of misbehavior — and, in at least one case, an alleged rape — she added: “They purport to be mentors. But they can’t be a mentor to a young man or a young woman behaving that way. What does that pin mean? Does it just mean you want to make $180,000 a year? Come on, man, step up. Be a leader.”
Master Sommeliers do, indeed, command salaries in that range, which is why somany young people who discover their passion for wine while working as waiters pursue the arduous path, which costs thousands of dollars and consumes countless hours of study time. Some 12,000 are in
the mix today, trying to climb the court’s ladder.
Or were.
“The most brilliant somms that I’ve met have usually been young women,” Treviño Boyd said. “But so many of them feel exasperated, disheartened, disenfranchised.
“The hospitality industry, the restaurant industry, they push women to the fringes. But, of course, we have no choice but to play along with it. The women (cited in the Times story) … that’s how badly they wanted to be part of this ‘boys club.’ ”
Treviño Boyd, Dalton and Thomas are all adamant they haven’t compromised their personal values when confronted by the coercive situations described by the Times involving some of the most prominent names in the court, including its American chapter co-founder Fred Dame; former board member Geoff Kruth, the founder of the educational service Guild Somm; and Drew Hendricks, another board member who was one of Texas’ first Master Sommeliers. But there were opportunities aplenty.
“I have experienced some of the situations that were similar to the ones described in the article,” said Thomas, 35. “I never did anything to get anything. But I was for sure uncomfortable having to turn down many advances. I don’t think it affected me negatively in terms ofmy examinations, but I don’t know. It’s a little disconcerting to look back, to think that maybe I’m not a Master Sommelier because of it.”
Resisting or even complaining about bad behavior by male colleagues too often results, Treviño Boyd said, in being told, ‘Oh, you’re so sensitive.’ It’s a reflection of the society right now. It’s systemic.”
Though Dalton, 44, called the Landry’s teamat Mastro’s “my biggest champions, my biggest supporters,” she said she deals with often blatant sexism from the clientele, blaming it on the “good ol’ boy culture.” In fact, she said, “I’ve never experienced more sexismin any restaurant
I’ve worked at anywhere in the country than at Mastro’s … It used to bother me. Now I take it for what it is.”
None of the four Houstonbased Master Sommeliers made themselves available for comment about the Times’ revelations, which included accusations from two Texas wine professionals regarding Hendricks, a native of the Panhandle who, after leaving the Army, came to Houston to attend culinary school but wound up falling so hard for wine that he spent eight years pursuing Master Sommelier status. With it, he landed jobs at the Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Dallas, then moved to Houston in an executive role with the Pappas restaurant group before going into wholesale dis--
tribution.
Both J.R. Ayala, an Austinbased wine educator who works for McGuire Moorman Hospitality, and Dallas sommelier Courtney Keeling told the Times that Hendricks behaved improperly toward them while they were all attending a retreat at the Clubs at Houston Oaks in 2018. Hendricks, whose attorney told the Times the accusations were baseless, was then with RNDC, one of the nation’s largest wine distributors, and had become a prominent figure in the Texas wine sphere. The Court of Master Sommeliers this week announced that he has been suspended, along with six other members.
Hendricks also co-founded the major summer wine festival in Dallas called TexSom in 2005. Treviño Boyd said she has been a part of TexSom numerous times and described it as a venue where sketchy behavior is endemic.
“Lots of ‘greyhounds’ poolside,” she said, referencing the gin-and-grapefruit-juice cocktail. “And lots of boys being boys.”
Master Sommelier June Rodil, who is in charge of Goodnight Hospitality’s wine program, said via a text that she and the other women who have MS status will discuss the matter “as a group. I would like to have time with them before making any kind of statement.”
Guy Stout, a Master Sommelier and longtime wine educator with Southern Glazer’s who took a buyout this year due to COVID-19’s impact, also demurred. He was a mentor for Hendricks.
Master Sommelier David Keck, a former Houstonian who moved back to his native Vermont in March and is about to release his first wine, spoke with the Chronicle.
“What I can say is the court was founded on the principles of honor and integrity, and anything that speaks contrary to that makes us all look bad,” Keck said. “We’re all implicated in this, and that means we all have to operate in amost thoughtful way going forward. We need to be more aware, and more outspoken in ensuring change. This is hard (to talk about). One of the big challenges is that (the accused) are all friends and colleagues. It makes you sad, but it’s an issue we should be talking about. The court is getting beaten up and rightfully so. It has hurt us all professionally.”
Keck also offered a reminder that the center of their professional universe, its raison d’être, happens to be a literally intoxicating beverage, with inherent dangers.
“We have to treat that substance, alcohol, more carefully and more respectfully,” he said. “It causes behavior to become problematic.”
“It does not mean that our interest in your life as a sommelier and mentor gives you permission to assume we want to have sex with you.”
Julie Dalton, Mastro’s sommelier
“They can’t be a mentor to a young man or a young woman behaving that way. What does that pin mean?” Vanessa Treviño Boyd, Advanced Certificate earner