Class in a glass;
Women appreciate wine differently, says author
ANGELA ALLEN, Columbian staff writer
June 3, 2004
Leslie Sbrocco did not write “Wine for Women” because men are from Bordeaux and women from Burgundy.
Deepening the gender divide is not her agenda, she says, though she argues that women and men approach wine from different vantage points.
Women appreciate the beverage more from a perspective of “style” — as in taste and experience — while men tend to make wine decisions based on ratings, price and expert recommendations.
“Wine is all about the experience, I hear women say,” the Sonoma, Calif., wine expert said this spring when visiting Seattle for the annual Taste Washington weekend. “Women trust their palates.”
Sbrocco wrote her award-winning, easy-to-read 337-page book, published this year by William Morrow, because she saw a market: Women make up the majority of American wine buyers and wine drinkers, “the largest slice of the enological pie,” she explains.
Women account for 64 percent of wine consumers, according to the Wine Market Council, and women, experts argue, are the key to wine’s future. But women have a cellar full of questions when buying wine, pairing it with food and sharing it with friends and most aren’t afraid to ask them.
But first: How to sort it out? Wine-lovers memorize regions and grape varietals, collect labels, keep detailed diaries. They can visit with winemakers, follow a favorite producer and compare vintages at wine hot spots.
Sbrocco, a former TV reporter and New York Times’ Web site wine columnist, created an easier way: Think of wine as a wardrobe.
“Chardonnay is a flexible grape variety, and you can pair it with so many foods,” she said. “It’s like a basic black dress. It’s a wardrobe staple and it’s slimming.”
Her method involves connecting what we know best to wine, a vast subject surrounded by mystery, scholarship and snobbishness. Not everyone knows that New Zealand’s Hawk’s Bay produces a dynamite merlot, but most women easily discriminate between a bright red purse and a crisp white shirt.
Sbrocco’s fashion-to-wine shorthand goes like this: Sparkling wine conjures up sequins and suede (she likes bubblies with potato chips and caviar). It is elegant and dressy. “It makes your mood meter accelerate from zero to 60.”
Sauvignon blanc, a light medium-bodied white wine, fresh and fruity as a summertime appertif or a midwinter pick-me-up, brings a crisp white shirt to Sbrocco’s mind. “It can be tied at the waist for a fresh sassy look, or tucked in for a timeless image. The classic top is a year-round winner, both traditional and trendy.”
Then there’s merlot, defined by velvety texture and smooth taste. It’s the varietal that Sbrocco identifies most with Washington. “There’s no New World spot that can beat Washington merlots.”
Smooth, yummy, medium-bodied merlots bring cashmere to mind. “Wrap me up. I can slip right into these reds.”
A pair of sleek, preferably Italian, high heels link wine drinkers to sangiovese or chianti. “It may take time to break them in, but it’s a small price to pay for beauty,” Sbrocco writes, calling the classic Tuscan reds “tightly wound wines that often need time in the glass to soften up, but show their true beauty when paired with food.”
Sbrocco’s $25 book, subtitled “A Guide to Buying, Pairing and Sharing,” does much more than employ fashion gimmicks to keep wines straight. Her entertaining, nonacademic focus is handled by linking grapes to regions and synonyms (chardonnay, for example, is white Burgundy in France). She breaks wines down by descriptors (oak-y, buttery, fruity, et al), and offers a rundown of dozens of vintages’ prices from “bargain” to “luxury” sips. She offers wine-food pairings, and comes up with vino-centered party and celebratory ideas.
With a presentation style closer to syrah’s “red-hot red” purse than to the light spring dress of a dry riesling, Sbrocco carries a wine mantra in her fashionable bag: “Neither fear nor revere it. Wine is to enjoy.”
Did you know?
Chardonnay, the most popular wine in America, is generating the ABC movement, or “anything but chardonnay.” Sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, riesling and viognier are among the non-oak whites to inherit the throne.
Peggy Fleming Jenkins, Olympic ice skater and broadcaster, grows chardonnay grapes in Northern California. “If you want to fully experience the range of taste in a white wine, don’t call in the Zamboni,” she told wine writer Leslie Sbrocco. “Think gently chilled.”
“It has been demonstrated scientifically that women, particularly women of reproductive age, have a better sense of smell than men. Smell is the most important sense with regard to wine because most of what we call wine ‘flavor’ is its aroma. Women are better at identifying aromas and can detect them at a lower concentration than men.” Carole Meredith, professor in viticulture and enology at University of California at Davis, quoted in “Wine for Women.”
Washington wines to try
These five Washington wines were featured in Leslie Sbrocco’s “Wine for Women” seminar in Seattle during the recent Taste Washington event. Each wine is produced by a woman winemaker.
. Arbor Crest 2001 Sauvignon Blanc, $10, by Kristina van Loben Sels, Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, Spokane
. Olympic Cellars Working Girl White, Columbia Valley, $13, by Sara Gagnon, Olympic Cellars, Port Angeles
. Sagelands 2001 Four Corners Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $13, by Frederique Spencer, Sagelands Vineyard, Wapato
. Three Rivers Winery 2001 Boushey Vineyards Syrah, Yakima Valley (reserve, $39; non -reserve, $24), by Holly Turner, Three Rivers Winery, Walla Walla
. Hightower Cellars 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $31, by Kelly Hightower, Hightower Cellars at Red Mountain, Benton City.
