Masters of the Napa Valley "In Concert"

From left: Diana Snowden Seysses, Rosemary Cakebread, Cathy Corison and Women in Wine LDN’s Regine Lee MW

In Berry Bros & Rudd’s Sussex Cellar, St James, London

The latest Women in Wine LDN event, hosted with Pol Roger Portfolio, spotlighted three masters of Napa Valley winemaking.

Cathy Corison, Rosemary Cakebread and Diana Snowden Seysses were in London to show their collaborative blend, Lot 23 “In Concert”. Produced for the Premiere Napa Valley auction, whose proceeds fund programs to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley, it was actually created during the pandemic over Zoom, also with Dawnine Dyer. One thing was important from the start - each winemaker would contribute an equal amount to the blend, bringing together wines from estate vineyards in St Helena, Oakville, Diamond Mountain and Spring Mountain. Only 240 bottles were produced and then bought by Pol Roger Portfolio. We were really honoured to have been able to taste it and to meet the inspiring winemakers.

The outstanding Lot 23 “In Concert” is an inky-coloured wine, complete with complex aromas and a delicate edge. We also tasted Corison Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Cakebread’s Gallica Red 2017, and Snowden Cabernet Sauvignon 2017; all incredibly different yet sharing a common elegance and powerful texture. Many of us agreed that rarely had we tried Napa wines like these. They were vibrant and bright, whilst maintaining the true beauty of the grapes used.

We discussed the challenges each winemaker had encountered, whether they were a result of the vintage or counteracting the opinions of others. Climate change consistently came to the forefront of discussion, specifically the erratic weather events that have gripped California. 2011 was a challenging year for Napa, the cool weather slowed ripening and heavy rain left an increasing risk of rot; Cathy described her concern about whether she would even make a vintage that year. Canopy management played a key part in overcoming this challenge, stripping the leaves more so than usual to ensure the grapes had the best chance of ripening. In contrast, 2017 was an intensely hot year, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius; this is a year that is hard to disassociate from the October wildfires. As a result, the challenges were not only in the vineyard, but also in the community. Rosemary described how her head was in winemaking, but her heart was in helping her community and team members that had been affected. This testing year and the difficult decisions it took to navigate it, inspired Diana to increase her own involvement in climate change activism, proclaiming that truth-based power is key.

As three female winemakers, they confirmed their experiences had not been exempt from doubts born out of gender. Cathy’s response of ‘watch me’ when told by a professor she would never work in Napa Valley, was both empowering and inspirational; the lesson being obstacles do not have to be the end of long held ambitions. Diana advised us to not sweat the small things, to find your individual power and to focus on that. This was echoed by Cathy as she described how she always had a wine in her, waiting to get out, it was something she just had to do, no matter what she was told.

One thing was abundantly clear, these women had created an incredibly strong support network and leaned on each other when needed. The saying ‘it takes a village’ couldn’t be more true in the wine industry, whether you are working in the vineyard, sales or hospitality. This is a notion all women in wine can hold close, supporting one another going forwards.

A big thank you to Pol Roger Portfolio for sponsoring the event, Berry Bros & Rudd for hosting and to both for supporting women in wine.

Spotlight on: Jane Anson

We were delighted to host Jane Anson at the Farr Vintners office on 16th May 2022. WIW LDN’s Hannah Van Susteren led the discussion on her foray into wine journalism, how she established herself as one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on Bordeaux, and her outlook on Bordeaux’s future.

Jane also talked about how she built her career and her brand, giving us advice on having a specialism, and that “the harder you work, the luckier you get”. She bootstrapped her publication of “Bordeaux Legends, a history of the 1855 First Growth wines” which elevated her profile as an authority on the region. She discussed the generosity of each chateaux in letting her into their inner sanctums, which led her to be Bordeaux correspondent for Decanter Magazine. The Covid pandemic, which threw the industry and wine journalism for a loop, provided the impetus for her to strike out by herself and establish her own website (janeanson.com) and consultancy, which has become successful and profitable within its first year. Jane also created a mentorship scheme, bringing young wine trade members to Bordeaux to meet key people in the industry and have a first-hand experience tasting wines at the chateaux.

Speaking about her newest book, ‘Inside Bordeaux’, she talked about new discoveries about the region, primarily the insights into terroir mapping and sustainability. Jane said that to keep Bordeaux relevant for the next generations she spoke about the need to keep being open-minded and outward looking.

Thank you so much to Jane for meeting with us, and to Farr Vintners for your generosity hosting us and supporting women in wine!

What's Shaking Up the Wine Job Market? Q&A with Vinokelly Search

On 1st March, we hosted a Zoom call with Elizabeth and Gareth O’Kelly, co-founders of drinks industry recruitment firm, Vinokelly Search.

We had a fantastic conversation about the Covid pandemic’s effect on the job market. Candidates are increasingly requesting flexible working, even in back office roles which tended to be exclusively office-based, and employers are having to concede and face the challenge of creating a hybrid working policy across the board. Elizabeth and Gareth also mentioned employers have really noted the importance of customer services, logistics/supply chain, and B2C e-commerce skills in the face of companies having to pivot their business models during lockdown.

We spoke about how to negotiate a compensation package, and they provided recommendations for women such as utilising recruitment agents, asking for a base pay review after a contract starts if an offer is a bit lower than desired, and being upfront about salary expectations at the beginning of the process. The O’Kellys talked about the significant increase in start ups in the wine industry post-pandemic, which tend to engage in technology and/or have an irreverent, fun approach to wine, and how to navigate potentially working for them. On an optimistic note, they’ve observed that generational shifts in senior management at wine companies has led to progress in recruiting for a diverse workforce.

Thanks so much to Elizabeth and Gareth for a fascinating talk!

Managing your career: How to optimise the recruitment process

On 1st August, 30+ members of Women in Wine London enjoyed an insightful presentation with Gary and Elizabeth O’Kelly, of Vinokelly recruiters at WSET, Bermondsey Street.

This husband and wife duo set up Vinokelly just three years ago. Gary worked in fine wine sales for a number of years and Elizabeth in financial recruitment, and they recognised a gap in the wine market for recruitment which they filled by combining their experiences.

We discussed different approaches to applying for jobs. Elizabeth and Gary said that often women don’t feel qualified because they don’t fulfil all points in a job spec. It is important to remember, however, that many employers don't expect any one candidate to have all their requirements (and certainly not fulfilling each criteria doesn't prevent men from applying). Instead, employers are taking a more fluid approach to hiring and such specs are just a starting point. They are really looking to see what individual candidates can bring to a role holistically.

Across the informative hour long discussion we covered the following topics:

Writing your CV and cover letter:

• Use statistic to illustrate what you have achieved. For example: sales figures, margin targets, operational KPIs, ROI, budgets managed.
• Cover letters aren’t as important as they may seem but make sure you tailor it to the role nonetheless; write three great points about why you are good for the role
• Use bullet points and don’t use any funny fonts or alignments.

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is a really useful tool, more hiring managers use it to find candidates than you think
•  Keep it updated and current (the content as well as your picture)
• Get as many high quality endorsements and quotes as you can

Working with Headhunters:

• Trust your instincts: if you don’t like the recruiter or don’t think they are working in your best interest (and especially if they ask for money to place you), walk away.
• If you change your mind about an interview or an offer that’s fine, just let the recruiter know. Often candidates just stop responding which shows a lack of professionalism.
• Ask as many questions as possible. Voicing any concerns and queries is going to make the process much smoother for all parties.
• As frustrating as it may be, don’t expect too much feedback. In most instances, recruiters are just told by their clients that the candidate just isn't a good fit.  

Negotiating your package:

• Make sure you outline all of your current package including salary, pension, bonus, transport/technology and wine/drinks package. Forgetting these will make negotiations more difficult.
• Ask for what you want. Be honest. If you don’t get the salary, see if there’s a way to write an increase into your contract.
• Often there is more in ‘the pot’ than you may think, it’s always worth asking for but be prepared for the answer.

London Wine Fair panel: 'Diversifying Thought Leadership'

From left: Regine Lee, Anne Jones, Joe Fattorini, Alex Ririe

On 22nd May, Women in Wine LDN hosted a panel discussion at the London Wine Fair’s Industry Briefing area.

We were invited by Hannah Tovey, the first female director of the London Wine Fair, who joined us on stage to give an inspiration introduction about her own journey through the industry.

Titled ‘Diversifying Thought Leadership’. The aim was to discuss whether the wine industry is reaching its female wine consumers effectively and creatively – a burgeoning topic in the UK, given that over 55% of consumers are female.

London Wine Fair 2018

We were incredibly pleased to have such a notable line-up of panellists, as follows:

Alex Ririe
Managing Partner, Strategic Development at Coley Porter Bell / Ogilvy, UK member of the WSET Alumni Advisory Board

Joe Fattorini
Wine expert, writer and presenter of “The Wine Show”

Anne Jones
Waitrose Category Manager, Wines, Beers and Spirits

Chaired by Regine Lee, co-founder of Women in Wine LDN

We talked about a range of topics including consumer research into preferences by gender, wine marketing, and flexible working and gender diversity in the workplace.

The success of Prosecco among female wine consumers was considered and debated as a barometer of larger themes around gender and wine marketing and producer development. Alex mentioned that so much of Prosecco’s success is about the framing; it has become the go-to for everything from just a ‘treat’ to a ‘special occasion’ wine. Yet, it was a need that was filled – and any other drink could be a strong competitor with the right frame. Anne commented that, although Prosecco is seen as a ‘wine for women’ it is a more nuanced view of the statistics is required in terms of understanding.  

We had some fantastic questions from the audience ranging from the relative importance of educating the consumer, ‘gendered’ tasting notes, and whether boosting female consumers’ confidence in wine should be focussed on food/wine matching.

General consensus was that and inclusive, diverse industry was not just better for the structure of companies but would also improve the relevance to the consumer.

Tradition and Trends: The Fine Wine Market

On 14th May, Women in Wine LDN hosted ‘Tradition and Trends: The Fine Wine Market’ at Liberty Wines in Clapham.

The panel was made up of Ella Lister, founder of Wine Lister; Sara Phillips, Marketing Manager of Liv-ex; and Sara Guiducci, Senior Fine Wine Sales Executive of Corney and Barrow.

Although the discussion covered a plethora of topics, two key discussion points were the changing role of the fine wine critic and the broadening of the fine wine market.

The market no longer looks solely to Robert Parker’s scores, as it did just a few years ago. Sara Guiducci, who is also working towards her Master of Wine, says that she has seen her private clients increase their reliance on not just her own opinion, but also the opinion of other consumers. Sara cites the development of wine apps as being an important change in the market as it ‘allows consumers to talk and connect with other consumers.’ Ella Lister commented that ‘the wine trade loves wine critics because wine critics help to sell wine’ and that it is now ‘widely accepted that not just one person will replace Robert Parker’. For Wine Lister, the scoring is complicated, as they have partnerships with some of the most well-known critics, all of whom score differently, and aggregate their scores along with other key sales metrics. ‘You have to look at the different levels of generosity and map them onto a single scale….93 points is worth a different amount for each critic’, explains Ella. Both agreed that consensus among top critics is becoming more important than a score from one individual. 

Spotlight on: Bianca Bosker, author of NY Times bestseller 'Cork Dork'

Bianca Bosker, author of ‘Cork Dork’, joined us from NYC to discuss her New York Times bestselling book that's taking the US wine industry by storm. ‘Cork Dork’ is the story of her journey into the highly charged world of “obsessive sommeliers, big bottle hunters, and rogue scientists who taught me to live for taste”, as the title of the book describes.

Bianca’s foray into wine began only three years ago, when she heard about the World’s Best Sommelier Competition and was hooked. She left her job as a technology journalist for the Huffington Post to work her way up from cellar rat to Michelin-starred restaurant floors and sommelier competitions, with her path culminating with the Certified Sommelier exam.

Bianca shared with us some of her favourite passages of the book, which included her first experience tagging along to an elite blind-tasting group and another of how somms navigate the restaurant floor during a stint shadowing at Marea. “Most days,” she writes of her first forays into this world, “I was drunk by noon, hung over by 2 p.m., and, around 4 in the afternoon, deeply regretting the burger I’d devoured for lunch.” The obsession of top flight somms was a huge part of what drew her in, saying “obsession was makes people capable of superhuman feats” but observes that it is a “passionate and sometimes cruel world and part of that obsession comes from a demand for excellence”.

But Bianca says her main aim was to tell a story that didn’t “repeat the same inherited wisdom on wine”, and to write the wine book she (and us!) wish existed. “People want to learn about wine but we are still explaining it in the same traditional way...of telling people what to taste instead of how to taste”. As an outsider, she says, she didn’t have the same allegiances that are firmly routed in the wine world. The aim was to “examine the sacred cows” and to see the wine world as it is. This allowed her to look at “the soul, the science and the high the low” of wine. Bianca argued that the crux of the book is that “we need to get in touch with our neglected senses of taste and smell”. Regardless of whether you’re a top end somm or a wine drinker happily ignorant of a wine’s terroir, she believes that being in touch with our senses of smell and taste as a way to enjoy life is the key.

The conversation also covered wine snobbery. Following the book, she wrote a New York Times OpEd article which argued there is a place for mass market wines that are constructed with consumer taste preferences in mind, rather than our traditional notions of wine stemming from a winemaker’s singular vision. This brought on a response that was “swift and fierce and merciless” from parts of the trade and critics, but it was important debate to have. She also commented on her frustration with sexism and harassment within the restaurant industry – without HR departments, she mentioned it’s “up to [the individual] to move on out of it”, and regrettably the ability to change unacceptable practices arising from power imbalances are left to those who wield the power in the first place.

Her refreshingly candid insights, warmth, humour and fascinating answers to our Q&A made for a fantastic evening.

Thank you to all those who attended, the publishers of ‘Cork Dork’, Allen & Unwin, and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust for hosting our event.   

Industry Mavericks and Creative Entrepreneurs

Artwork by Sara Hobday

In November WIW LDN hosted our Industry Mavericks and Creative Entrepreneurs panel discussion with speakers Charlotte Wilde (formerly of Sager + Wilde), Corinna Pyke (Borough Wines) and Maggie Campbell (Privateer Rum) at SW4 wine bar in Clapham. 

The evening offered an informal conversation about what led to success, the challenges they faced, their career progression and their businesses. "'Entrepreneur' wasn't a word association I ever expected, but I was always trying to increase my value as I progressed [through my career and my studies]' says Maggie Campbell, Head Distiller and Vice President at Privateer Rum, Director of the American Craft Spirit Association and Master of Wine Student. This was certainly one of the themes that resonated throughout the evening: Find your niche and develop your offering. As Charlotte explained of Sager + Wilde, arguably one of London's first and most successful modern fine wine bars, 'No one was doing it. And we thought, there's demand here. We just need to do it right'. 

Corinna Pyke, Borough Wines

Maggie Campbell, Privateer

Charlotte Wilde, Consultant

They also spoke in depth about the dedication of the teams around them, the importance of hiring - and keeping - individuals who believed in the value of the business. 'It's so important to us that our sales team is on board with the buying decisions we make' commented Corinna, who is a partner and Marketing Director at Borough Wines. Aligning their product with customer feedback and their sales teams knowledge has been imperative to growth. Charlotte echoed this sentiment saying that for her, it was the people who worked at Sager + Wilde and the customers that shaped the business to be what it is. She learned quickly that the decisions they made had to have a net positive impact: 'from the wine list to the type of loo roll we had, any decision to spend an extra pound had to benefit the customer'. 

Each highlighted key aspects for success in their business: the importance of strong distribution in the US (Maggie), the need for great communication to customers to make wine accessible (Corinna), and growing in a sustainable way (Charlotte).

They also spoke about how influenced they were by colleagues, friends and peers and how this now shaped their careers and professional outlook. Maggie spoke about a decision made by Privateer's president to delay building a tasting room at the distillery until they had stronger distribution across restaurant/bar customers. As the tasting room would have been an easy and quick revenue channel to set up, '[Everyone said] he was wrong and it was crazy and in actual fact, it was one of the soundest decisions we made. You can't grow that much in sales volume with a tasting room, but you can with better distribution; that was the important thing to focus on first. It was a learning experience [for me]'.

Thank you once more to our panellists and to SW4 for hosting us. Please watch this space - 2018 events are in the works. 

Speed Networking, Elevator Pitches and Is Wine Gendered?

On 10th August, we held a multi-faceted summer social, combining a talk on ‘Is Wine Gendered?’ followed by our first speed networking session. Over 40 women working in the London wine industry joined us at the Liberty Wines office in Clapham for a very successful and inspiring session.

Sula Richardson (WSET) and Clara Rubin (Veraison Wine Education) kicked off the evening with a reprisal of their P(our) Symposium lecture, which explored the ways in which wine marketing, communication and tasting are influenced by our conceptions of gender. They argued that a more nuanced approach is needed, taking into account the realities of both people consuming wine and working in the wine industry. View their P(our) talk here.

Networking for people who hate networking

The speed networking section of the evening was introduced to Women in Wine LDN leader, Hannah Van Susteren, as the ‘We hate networking’ portion. Recognising that ‘networking’ is usually cringe-worthy and often feels artificial, we sought to do something different. After selecting a playing card randomly from a deck, people found the three others with their same card number and practised their elevator pitch and engaged in conversation to get to know each other.

The groups switched every 15 minutes as everyone selected new playing cards and arranged themselves into new groups. Although we had questions to prompt the groups – e.g., “What are the biggest challenges in your job?”, “Whose job in the wine industry would you most like to steal?” – we found that by just by putting engaged, interesting and career-minded people together was a conversation starter in itself. Women in Wine LDN organiser Regine Lee said, “The true gauge that our speed networking session was successful was that even after I literally kept hitting a gong to get the groups to finish their conversations, pretty much all of them ignored me and continued talking to each other!”

As we received fantastic feedback, we anticipate that we’ll do another speed networking session later on, and some further events focussing specifically on professional development. 

Spotlight on: Wine Judging and Competitions with Sarah Jane Evans

Yesterday evening, Women in Wine LDN hosted ‘A Spotlight on Wine Judging with Sarah Jane Evans MW’ at the brand new Institute of Masters of Wine office in Vauxhall. We were extremely lucky to have Sarah Jane as our speaker. Her list of achievements are notable for being both diverse and fascinating; former IMW Chairman, current Chairman of the 2018 IMW Symposium, member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino, Trustee of the André Simon Book Award, and a Series Editor of the Classic Wine Library. On top of that, she spent a decade as Associate Editor of the BBC's Good Food magazine and has a specialism in chocolate, having written the immensely compelling book “Chocolate Unwrapped”.

Regine Lee interviewing Sarah Jane Evans MW at the Institute of Masters of Wine in Battersea, London

Although we could easily imagine monopolising Sarah Jane’s entire day talking about all sorts of topics, we focused on wine judging for the evening. She spoke enthusiastically about the comparative systems and merits of different scoring processes. At the heart of it, she says, ''communication about the wines is just as important as the score'', from judges battling it out to reach a consensus on wines they may have wildly different opinions on, to the importance of being able to argue your case to justify the points. When asked whether women and men have different approaches to judging, Sarah Jane mentioned there is an element of women being attuned to consensus-building: “We find that as we work around the table we may disagree with each other, but we find a solution and work at it.”

We also spoke about the real value that medals may bring to wine styles and producers, and the effect they have in the market, such as when a Jean Stodden’s Spätburgunder, Alte Reben 2010 from the Ahr Valley won best Pinot Noir at the Decanter competition last year, bringing attention to the region here in the UK. Sarah Jane also advised that producers should ensure that they make the most out of marketing a medal win, and that a medal is only as good as what a producer does with it.

She wrapped up the discussion with her thoughts about making your mark professionally. Throughout her talk, there was a lovely parallel in the way she spoke about how a wine achieves success in a competition and how a person achieves recognition both as a judge and in their wider career. As Sarah Jane concluded, “The important thing is to be known for something that makes you different.” Truly inspiring.

Spotlight on: Career Developments

On Monday 12th December, just under 40 members of  Women in Wine London met at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust office for the last event of 2016. In what was a new format for us, we traded in our usual panel discussion for three short presentations from three very accomplished women on a recent development relating to their career; Vicky Burt MW, Clara Rubin and Anne McHale MW. 

The Speakers

Vicky Burt MW (Research & Development Manager, WSET) kicked off the evening as our first speaker with an overview of her findings from her MW research paper: 'What is the best glass for Champagne?' She went through her extensive methodology to assess both the physical and psychologicalreasons why certain glasses are better for Champagne. Running tests on fully sited and blindfolded WSET 2 and 3 students, she asked them to nose and rate  Champagne in different Riedel shaped flutes. Her findings showed that in both groups there was a preference to a specific glass but that this was even more dramatic a preference in those who were sited for the tasting. She concludes that regardless of the quality in the bottle, the glassware has huge factor in the consumer's overall experience and suggests that producers may want to consider this.

Clara Rubin DipWSET (Educator, Veraison) spoke about her journey in developing Berkmann Wine Cellar’s wine education offering, which eventually grew to become Veraison, a standalone entity.  Aiming at giving confidence to the on-trade when serving wine, the Veraison courses are short, accessible and engaging. Clara identified her mission as being to vanquish the Type 2 wine ego which causes 'fear of embarrassment' when learning about wine, which stops us from asking questions or sharing info, and instead championing the Type 1 wine ego which says 'I do not mind admitting I’m still learning'. It was certainly no small feat to set this up this program on her own, and Clara commented how rewarding it has been to reap the successes.  She and her fellow educator have taught 30 businesses and 1,700 people between them so far since the launch in July. 

Anne McHale MW was the final speaker and gave an insightful talk on the 'Pros and Cons of Being Self-Employed'. Earlier this year, Anne decided to strike it out on her own, after having worked at Berry Bros & Rudd for 10 years in the Wine School team. Now, as an independent wine consultant, she focuses on helping businesses with their wine lists and education programmes. She talked about the daunting aspects of leaving an otherwise secure and comfortable work life but that, for her, the benefits do outweigh them, as she enjoys the autonomy and the flexibility. She says she sees this as an exciting time to be in the wine trade as consumers are opening up to new styles and we’re seeing a greater diversity of wine hit our shores than ever before.

As always, the audience asked some fantastic questions and, most importantly, worked their way through the festive piles of mince pies, paté, cheese and charcuterie. The wine of the evening was the English sparkling we had to start: Balfour Leslie’s Reserve NV, a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier blend, which showed delicious crisp yellow apple and brioche notes.