My grandfather was a wine merchant in post war London. It was a genteel time when men attended to their business matters in the morning then retired to their clubs for a bottle of Pauillac, a nice cut of steak, and an afternoon snooze behind the newspaper.
The nice women were at home, keeping domestic affairs in order. They were certainly not out pounding the pavements. After all, there was “no place for a woman in the wine trade.” Or so the late Sarah Morphew Stephen was told when applying for her first winery trainee position and just as Jancis Robinson was asked at wine events early on in her career, if she was “there to taste for her boss?”
Despite these dismissals, both women went on to become Masters of Wine and lead highly distinguished careers. We owe a debt of gratitude to these trailblazers, and many more like them. Their example has helped women across the wine world aim higher, speak out, and refuse to be marginalized.
The tales of women building successful wine careers over the past fifty years, without financial backing or family legacies, are particularly inspiring.
FROM BULGARIAN REDS TO THE VALPOLICELLA HILLS
Karen MacNeil did not come from a wine savvy family. “There was never anyone wealthy enough in my family to drink wine,” she explains. At an early age, MacNeil left her Nevada home and supported herself during her final years of high school.
Inspired by the evocative depictions of wine in her favourite classic novels, MacNeil began sampling the most affordable bottles at her local supermarket. “Every night, while doing my homework I would have a glass of wine. It was a $0.89 Bulgarian red and I thought it was delicious.”
Across the Atlantic, Marinella Camerani also forged her own path into the wine world. In the 1970s, she was languishing in an accounts job at her family’s industrial factory. “My father preferred to work with my brother, my sister’s husband, really any of the men, rather than give the women of the family any real responsibility.” Camerani recalls.
This realization led her to make a radical life change, moving out of the city to manage the family’s rustic country house in the Valpolicella region. At that time, the grapes from their few hectares of vineyards were sold to the local cooperative.
“When I left for Mezzane di Sotto I had never worked in a vineyard or a cellar,” Camerani shares. “I never thought I would make good wine, but now this was my job, so I had to learn.” Today, Camerani’s biodynamic Corte Sant’Alda estate produces among the most admired wines in Valpolicella.
FIGURING IT OUT IN THE FACE OF REJECTION
Filipino-American Annette Alvarez-Peters grew up an army brat. After attending nine different schools between kindergarten and grade 12, she was done with formal education. “I always found school hard and knew that college wasn’t for me,” says Alvarez-Peters.
Instead, she took an entry level administrative job that eventually led her to Costco. After working her way up to audio buyer, Alvarez-Peters joined the alcohol beverage department. “I knew nothing about wine at first,” she laughs, “but I promised my boss that I would figure it out.”
Leaning on recommendations from wine drinking friends, studying wine menus, and scouring wine shop shelves, she slowly built up her portfolio. Alvarez-Peters also went back to school, despite a diagnosis of dyslexia, studying first with the Society of Wine Educators and then completing the Wine and Spirits Education Trust programs.
At the height of her Costco career, Alvarez-Peters had indeed figured it out. She was lauded by Forbes Magazine as one of the most influential wine buyers in the world, heading up a team that, in 2019, brought in $4.8 billion dollars in global sales.
Karen MacNeil headed to New York after high school to pursue a career in journalism. The early days were not easy. “I thumbtacked every rejection slip to the wall of my fifth floor walk up. I collected over 324 of them and would look at them every day,” she says.
After an initial focus on social and political issues, MacNeil turned to food writing – in part to supplement her meagre diet with free samples. When her first successful article on local butters was published, MacNeil could never have imagined the success to come.
KEEPING QUIET WHILE THE MEN TALKED
Marinella Camerani also faced her share of rejection in the early days. Within five years of her move, she and her husband divorced. She chose to stay on and, through hard work, the right guidance, and sheer perseverance, learnt her craft. And all this in the face of heavy disapproval from the local community.
“They thought I was crazy! They couldn’t understand me, especially once I was alone. Women were good for marrying and being wives, not for working in a winery. I had a bad relationship with the people of the village early on. It was a very difficult time.”
It was the early 1980s. The banks would not lend to her, and the tradespeople would not sell her equipment unless she brought a man along to negotiate. “They wouldn’t even look at me,” Camerani recalls with a raised eyebrow. “By then I knew far more about tractors than my father, but I couldn’t buy one without him there.”
In New York, Karen MacNeil was just starting her wine writing career and looking for educational opportunities. She gained access to the tasting group of an elite circle of male wine critics, but on one condition, she was not allowed to speak.
“It is unthinkable today, but at the time I was not insulted. In truth, I didn’t feel that I had a valid opinion, so I didn’t want to talk. What frustrated me was not being able to ask questions. I wanted to benefit from their knowledge.”
Like Camerani, MacNeil turned this adversity into a strength. She kept quiet and took everything in, slowly building her knowledge over time. All of the questions she wasn’t allowed to ask stayed with her, eventually forming the basis for her globally best-selling wine guide, The Wine Bible.
SHOWING THEM WHO’S BOSS
For Annette Alvarez-Peters, one of the most difficult challenges of her career came from within. “My biggest problem was self-confidence,” she says. “On the wholesale and supplier side, I was always meeting with presidents, chairmen and CEOs. My lack of self-confidence made me hesitant to push too hard.”
In 1995, there were not many female executives at Costco. Alvarez-Peters became a keen observer of the few in her sphere. She watched how they handled interactions and slowly began modelling her professional comportment on the behaviours she admired.
While Alvarez-Peters built up a network of female peers, Marinella Camerani followed her intuition. “I saw how men were with each other and decided to be tougher. When they saw that I wouldn’t back down, they changed. Now, they speak to me. They know that I am the boss.”
For MacNeil, the combination of these two approaches is key to advancing women’s status in wine. “We need to develop a thicker skin and not let ourselves be stopped by criticism,” she says. “We also need to learn to ask for more money for our work.”
Though she is encouraged by the growing number of prominent women in wine, MacNeil is also dismayed by the rising trend of female wine influencers trading on their looks. “This flighty, little girl, wine chick aura is detrimental to every serious woman out there in the industry. It sets women back.”
CHAMPIONING THE NEXT GENERATION OF WINE WOMEN
There is still a long way to go on the quest for gender equity. According to women in wine advocacy group, Bâtonnage Forum, the median annual wage gap between male and female sommeliers in America is $7,000.
And, while women make up roughly 60% of enrollment figures in University of California Davis oenology programs, 2022 figures from Santa Clara University researchers show that only 14% of California’s wineries have a female head winemaker.
France’s agriculture social protection group, MSA, reports that less than one-third of French wine-producing companies are headed up by a woman. Various reports also estimate female sommeliers in France as making up a mere 20% of the industry.
“There have been a lot of improvements,” says Alvarez-Peters, “but we still have a long way to go. We need to stand up and cheer each other on,” she adds. Since retiring from Costco, Alvarez-Peters has become an active board member and mentor with Bâtonnage Forum and Wine Unify.
Camerani is also focused on passing on her years of accumulated wisdom and seeing where the next generation takes her estate. “I have a beautiful young team,” she says with a smile. Times have changed, “my daughter Frederica doesn’t have to be as fierce as her mother.”
With a multitude of new book ideas and projects on the go, MacNeil is still building her empire. She does not boast about her achievements, but neither does she shrug them off. Her advice to young women entering the wine world? “Persevere! Work hard and claim your authority.”
Jacky Blisson MW is an independent wine educator, writer, and consultant with over two decades experience in all facets of the global wine trade. She is the first Master of Wine in Québec and one of only ten across Canada. After studying wine science and commerce in Beaune France, Jacky managed exports for Burgundian and Rhône Valley firms. She also worked harvest seasons in Beaune and Walker Bay, South Africa. Jacky produces a self-titled wine website and YouTube channel. Her go-to restaurant that never disappoints is L’Express in Montréal and the best concert she ever attended was The Tragically Hip on New Year’s Eve 2000.