Women are taking over the wine industry

Female perspectives on wine
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It’s a man’s world, no more! The wine industry is in the process of being reborn.  What was a highly aristocratic and a men’s exclusive environment is now an energetic new sector that has behind it the vibrant voices of women.

According to the latest statistics over at the Institute of Masters of Wine women are taking over the cellars. Besides the fact that there are only 91 females who carry the title of master of Wine, the last batch of candidates of the world most exclusive wine club suggests there might be a shift in the wine world: women are stepping up.  Of the 302 candidates, 171 were women and 131 were men that may hint that the men might be outnumbered in classes this year.

The fresh female perspectives are shaping the industry and their opinion, their blogs and their executive decisions are being heard and influencing the latest trends.

Wine in heels

The actual trend in the wine industry is taking the wine from the exclusive clubs to the streets and females are the biggest contributor of this wine’s revolution. Women are turning wine into something cool and opening the consumer hearts and minds to it. Also, the wine’s blogs have contributed a whole lot to these changes, there are more wine blogs and wine sites run by women which are taking over the whole show.

Recently, six women in the wine business were featured on a Wine Enthusiast profile article, they are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that taking up a role in the traditional boy’s clubs it’s a hard task, so they need to unite. There are all sorts of supportive community’s such as Women & Wine and Women & WineSense. This change has been noted in restaurants too, where the sommelier used to be a man’s job but now it is more frequently a women.

Women have been the great target of wine’s marketing campaigns, we all know that, but  now, more and more women are influencing the way and what we drink, they are becoming the decision makers themselves.

German Master of Wine in Portugal

The German master sommelier Hendrik Thoma came to Portugal to select the 50 best portuguese wines to sell in Germany.

Germany is on the 7 º place of export destination of portuguese wines and in 2 º when it comes to exporting still wines, with an overall market growth of 11.7 % in value. The three years goal for this market is to grow 14 % using an investment of 260 million euros.

Hendrik Thoma talked about portuguese wines
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The acclaimed wine critic, Henrick Thoma, explained his relationship with portuguese wine has almost 20 years and he has predicted the explosion of quality that happen within our wine market. "The Germans have a positive view of portuguese wines” explained the sommelier, “many of them come into contact with these wines on vacation, then come home and have difficulty finding them".

The expert revealed the secret of growing the portuguese wine market share in Germany: working that which differentiate us. We should implement the notion that the portuguese ​​grape varieties are diverse and unique and that they are USP - Unique Selling Product. As long as the portuguese wines maintain an “unique style” they have no direct competitors in the German market.

Hendrick Thoma points out as their favorite the Alentejo wines, although first known Douro wines and then the regions of Dão, Bairrada and Vinho Verde.

The wine reviewer believes that the way to convince major buyers and sommeliers Germans to put portuguese wines in their restaurants is to show them the portuguese cuisine accompanied by fine portuguese wines. Many of them are unaware of our national culture and products, so the answer is to educate them and to convey an image of credibility and the idea that one can believe in portuguese wine.