{ SOMMjournal.com } 101
Remi Cohen Meg Murray Kimberly Hocker
"The perception by men that the wine
workplace is already equitable when in
fact it isn't."
Number 2 was:
"Men intrinsically feel more comfortable
interacting with and promoting other men."
And number 3:
"There remains a deep-seated misogyny
in American culture that is difficult to
surmount."
All of this has given me pause. The
status of women in the wine industry feels
different, yet despite some very impactful
gains, it also feels nascent and fragile and
tentative. I can easily imagine a 2020 that,
for the average woman, is not substantively
different than 1990.
But I can also imagine a true New
World wine industry that's a meritoc
-
racy—an example, perhaps, to other
industries very much in need of their own
reckonings.
It's ours to build. The time is now.
Karen MacNeil is the
author of the bestselling
book The Wine Bible
and the editor of the
digital newsletter Wine
-
Speed. She has worked
in the wine industry for
40 years. Reach her at
karen@karenmacneil.
"I can easily imagine a
2020 that, for the average
woman, is not substantively
different than 1990. But
I can also imagine a true
New World wine industry
that's a meritocracy—an
example, perhaps,
TO OTHER INDUSTRIES VERY MUCH IN
NEED OF THEIR OWN RECKONINGS."
—Karen MacNeil
