Why are the majority of wine connoisseurs male?

WINE TALK
41

I don’t think it has anything to do with men being collectors, etc… And in fact, women collect just as much as men. Imelda Marcos was famous for her shoe collection wasn’t she? It has much more to do with the behavior that surrounds wine collecting. For example:

The rarest, most expensive collection of vintages from possibly the most desired vineyard on the planet—DRC Romanée-Conti, a red Burgundy—has finally come up for sale, and he can’t sit still. “Bid!” he barks, an unlit cigar dangling from his mouth at Café Gray last month. “Bid!” he yells again, staring down other buyers. “Bid!” one more time, reaching for his crotch.

New Vintage-Wine Collector Bids, Imbibes -- New York Magazine - Nymag" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is nothing whatsoever about that kind of behavior that has anything to do with wine. It’s entirely about ego and attention seeking and it’s entirely gauche and crude. Wine happens to be the object but it could be cars, art, jewelry, real estate, anything. Why amass an immense cellar? You will sell it, you will host large parties and share, you will donate to a charity or to a business, or you will leave to your heirs. But whatever you do with it, you will talk about it. And others will too. And the conversation isn’t about wine so much as it’s about you.

And I think that’s where the gender differences come in. Men like to boast and strut.

Better wine than something else though. Some poor buggers collect things like comics. From a fitness perspective, at least if they want to pass on their genes, that seems to be an evolutionary dead end.

42

I suspect that one wine connoisseur who just had gonad-removal surgery…in public view. That will even the tilt, but only a short amount. [tease.gif]

43

Intentional one assumes?

[oops.gif]

44

Self-inflicted? Yes. No anesthesia? Ask his boss. Intentional? No way can this f00k-up be random.

45

If you are implying that the IWFS Philippine Branch discriminates against women, you are mistaken.

There is nothing in said branch’s charter that excludes women from being members. I asked the current president and wine master about this lack of women members a long time ago and he answered that no woman has ever applied for membership.

I think the initial cost of membership (which includes a somewhat material contribution to the branch’s wine cellar), as well as the costs of regular monthly functions (these days typically around US$110++/person, going up to US$300+/person for special functions), is probably the biggest deterrent to most.

The women formed their own branch on their own accord, and their functions are substantially cheaper - I’ve attended 2-3 of their functions as a guest and none cost more than around US$45/person (the food and wine are very simple). Even the small handful of women I know here who have very respectable wine collections opted to join the women’s branch - even one who is married to a château owner in Margaux. I suppose they just wanted a branch of their own.

46

Not in any way, shape or form, Noel. I was not trying to imply that. It was just an historical curiosity.

47

Or as we say in non-Tory America, “a historical curiosity.” [wink.gif]

48

David,

You’ve misspelled “Troy”.


[tease.gif]

49

Oh, ok then. Just making sure our branch is not misunderstood.

N

50

Thanks for the welcome, Professor Vastola!

To Chris White’s point about the majority of women who post on this wine board and on other boards: I would agree that most of the women wine geeks (post, collect, attend wine tastings, attend offlines) do not have children at home. I have been doing “all that wine stuff” for 5 or 6 years, and for all but the last year, have been a single mom of a school age kid (she went off to boarding school this year). But I think what we women wine geeks have more in common is an independent, outspoken nature. It’s pretty much a requirement to do this sort of stuff.