Like other wine writers, I see a lot of press releases pass through my computer. After checking the subject line, most, like ‘Harvey Slakenheimer promoted sales manager for Western Iowa,’ get routed directly to the recycle bin. But, occasionally, the odd message manages to catch my attention.
‘National Wine Competition Judged Solely by Women.’ In the headline-writing business that is known as a grabber, a headline that pulls you into the story. So, I read with interest that on March 13, 2007, ‘the first ever National Women’s Wine Competition will single out the Wine Women Want ™ based on a blind tasting by an all-women panel of judges.’
Wine competitions in the United States have always been and continue to be controversial. Advocates maintain that competitions ‘improve the breed.’ Critics claim that wine competitions are little more than marketing tools. Count me as an advocate. Further, I’m all for anything that recognizes wine quality and promotes wine education, but it seems to me that the National Women’s Wine Competition is, perhaps inadvertently, fostering division, rather than promoting unity.
In 1978, I started on the wine judging circuit at the Los Angeles County Fair and since have never seen one competition that is divided by gender. In fact, it was always my belief, and one which I practice as a wine competition chief judge and organizer, that wines get the best look possible from a judging panel balanced with both male and female judges. In the early days, all-male judging panels were common, as noted in the NWWC release, but that was because qualified female judges were scarce.
The idea of having both men and women on the same panel was the goal of competition organizers, because it was believed that men and women taste differently and that each brings a different perspective to the tasting panel.
Gabrielle Leonhard, national president of Women for WineSense, recognizes this assumption, stating in the release, ‘There has been a lot of discussion lately on the differences of the male and female palate. We are very excited to see the results of the competition and plan to provide an educational forum at our tasting event that will help to break down if and why there are differences in the wines that men and women appreciate.’
One of the failings of all wine competitions is that the wines are tasted and evaluated by one set of judges at one place in time; thus, a judging of wines by an all-female panel will not indicate what wines women prefer any more than a tasting by an all-male panel would determine what wines men prefer. Line up six different varietal wines and have a panel of three male and three female judges select their top three wines. My guess is, with a few overlaps, the results will differ, based on personal choice rather than gender.
While building a wine judging panel with people of different professions makes sense; stacking the panel with only women judges only narrows the collective judgment of the wine’s worth, the same as it does with an all-male wine tasting panel. Some, of course, will see this as gender-specific discrimination, but they are missing my point.
The laudable goal of Women for WineSense would be better served if the organization sponsored a non-competitive survey, or test that scientifically examines the possible differences in wines preferred by male and female tasters. That would be welcomed and valuable marketing.
PHOTO: Wine Review Online columnists Mary Ewing-Mulligan, left, and Leslie Sbrocco are seen here consulting during the annual Critics Challenge International Wine Competition. Both were announced as judges for the NWWC, but Mary has since withdrawn due to a schedule conflict.
Photo by Pablo Mason.
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