Misogyny in the wine sector

How are you?

Me? Well, thanks for asking. Actually I’m feeling a little metaphorically battered and bruised to be honest. And, talking of being honest, I’d like to say right from the outset that I am vehemently against all ‘. . . isms’. As an example, take my fairly recent Cork Talk calling out racism in the wine sector – abhorrent, as is sexism, misogyny in fact.

Yet it seems that during a recent lengthy Twitter dialogue on that very subject, with many commentators taking part, I’m being wholly misunderstood. The knives have been out and, mixing my metaphors, I’ve been somewhat sliced! I’m not worried, however, as it’s clear to me where I stand ( see above) and I’m certain to those who actually know me, as well as, hopefully, those like your good selves whom I’ve never met, but who read and listen to me. I’m not a bad bloke at all!

It all began when a friend and wine colleague of mine posted a tweet which had a link to a mutually disturbing article by an American lady in the wine sector, currently in Rioja, I believe. ( https:// bottledbliss. wordpress. com/ 2020/ 09/ 10/ women- wine- andtheuncomfortable- conversationwe- need- to- have/). It is a damning criticism of male attitudes to women in the same sector – horrifying to me, as I’ve honestly ( there’s that word again) never seen or heard any of it.

Now, it’s that last phrase there, or ones like it, that I’ve used in my tweets that have been taken, wholly incorrectly, as if I am doubting what the author, Vinka Danitza (@ DanitzaVinka) says. I openly replied to my friend and therefore to everyone else on Twitter asking if he’d seen the type of behaviour etc Vinka describes. And the dam’s walls collapsed, mostly in total misunderstanding.

So – a few of the comments Vinka makes:

( i) whilst she agrees that in Spain inroads are being made into the, as she sees it, male dominated wine world here, ( she’s right there, alright – there are now many, many women making a big impact on winemaking, wine tourism, winery management and so on. Exhibit 1 – look at my colleague, Zoltan Nagy’s book, ‘ Reinas de Copa’; Exhibit 2. my own observations during the hundreds of bodega visits I’ve made in the last 23 years), there is nevertheless more to do.

( ii) Vinka has been subject to dreadful sexual innuendo, particularly in Portugal. There is, of course, absolutely no excuse for this. There is no place in wine, or any other sector, for this gross behaviour and those responsible should be, none too gently, turfed out.

( iii) I was appalled and quite disgusted to see two images of wine labels, one coming from an Australian advert ( which was banned in the UK). Quite simply this is degenerate and shouldn’t be tolerated. Whilst we’re talking about advertising – she also asks about the validity of using women’s bodies for wine adverts, contrasting such adverts with those that feature men and their: ‘ calloused hands holding a bunch of grapes’ or ‘ a man ploughing with horses on some crazy steep slope, a man in the vineyard with a cute dog, and so on.’

( iv) Vinka talks of women having to think very carefully before choosing an outfit to wear when going to tastings, not wanting to give the wrong impression, yet wanting to dress the way they like and do normally. She asks, do men ever have to consider this?

( v) She also talks of criticism from men that groups of women are catty, bitchy and cutthroat so can’t really be taken seriously when discussing wine.

There’s lots more and I urge you to read it – and perhaps make comments to Vinka or/ and to me about your experiences.

Which leads me to my next point. It seems, to the many critics of my tweets, that my wish to hear more from other women, in order to understand how widespread are these many criticisms, was an attempt to invalidate the Vinka’s experience. Not at all true.

What is true is that I’ve never in 30 years working in wine, seen anything at all of the misogyny about which she writes. I said that as well, but fearing a lynching, I also tempered it ( or so I thought) with the comment that as a bloke I’m not in the best position to tell, as it all may be going on without my knowing about it. My not being in the best position to comment was a phrase repeated numerous times – nice to be agreed with! But, my experience is just as valid, albeit perhaps not that well researched.

Responsible journalism must surely investigate stories further – that doesn’t mean that they aren’t to be believed if there are no, or few others of the same nature. It’s simply a means to assess how common these dreadful experiences are – in order to call out those responsible and thereby, hopefully, help rid the sector of the problem, and indeed those who are guilty of such attitudes/ actions/ beliefs/ etc.

All comments, views and experiences welcome!

PS – Have you seen my short Wine Review videos yet, posted on Social Media? Worth watching, I think!