Winemaker Felicia Rogan

Introduction: Why a Wine Book for Women? If you're reading this, my guess is you enjoy wine. Whether you indulge regularly or only occasionally, reaching for a glass is a welcome pleasure. From cocktail hour to the dinner table, wine signals celebration, recreation, and relaxation. I think we can all agree, however, that wine can be a mystery. You know you like it, but often don't quite know why. Wine for Women is here to answer your questions and empower you to squeeze more enjoyment from each bottle you drink and dollar you spend. Need help making smart buying decisions or just want to be more confident navigating a wine list? This book is for you. If you're a time-challenged cook who enjoys wine with meals, this book is also for you. Interested in creative, entertaining ideas to share wine with family and friends? You're in the right place. Penned with passion for wine, my practical guide is ideal for busy women who love to eat and drink well. Depending upon what you want to learn, you can either skim for tips or dive for details. While I offer serious wine information, my book doesn't take itself too seriously. Remember, wine is fun! Are "Men from Bordeaux and Women from Burgundy"? You may be asking "Why a wine book for women?" Is the battle of the sexes now played out over dueling glasses of Chardonnay and Cabernet? Hardly. The point of this book is not to create a vinous male/female divide but rather to highlight wine information that is relevant to most women's daily lives. (Men reading this book--congrats for being secure enough with your feminine side to pick it up.) As the majority of wine buyers and drinkers in this country, women comprise the largest slice of the enological pie. According to the non-profit Wine Market Council, women now account for nearly 64 percent of all wine consumers. "Women are very key to the future of the industry," says John Gillespie, the organization's president. I agree, which is why I've written this book. The female skew shouldn't come as a surprise when you consider that women are generally the household shoppers. As national wine buyer for the retail chain Cost Plus World Markets, Mark Albrecht knows the power of the female consumer. "Eighty percent of our customers are women. I find they're very adventurous when it comes to wine and enjoy exploring bottles from all over the world." A recent study conducted for California's Canyon Road Winery concluded that women are more involved with wine than men. Of the more than one thousand wine drinkers surveyed, more women than men drink wine at restaurants, by itself as a cocktail, and in celebratory situations. Wine for women is not a status symbol or a collector's item; it's about enjoying life with family and friends one bottle at a time. What Women Want to Know: Buying, Pairing, and Sharing During my career as a wine writer and speaker, I would often be approached by women who wanted to know more. The idea of a wine book for women crystallized in my mind but I needed to understand what, if anything, would make the female perspective on the subject unique. After compiling research done by others and conducting my own interviews and surveys, I discovered the majority of women are less focused on wine ratings, vintage charts, and acquiring bottles. Forget the notion that women sip white while men slurp red (women actually drink more red than white these days). It is not about what's in the bottle but how we approach what's in the bottle. Women tend to be interested in personal recommendations, food ideas, and helpful tips on finding wines that simply taste good. As a result, you'll find chapters organized into sections I've called THE BIG THREE: BUYING, PAIRING, and SHARING. This is what we do with wine--head to the store and buy something to drink that night, take it home to serve with dinner, and uncork it with our family and friends. Buying sections are focused on how to buy wine by taste and style, and highlight wine regions as they correlate to what you might actually see on store shelves, hence the focus on wine labels. Pairing sections offer practical, everyday advice on enjoying wine and food together. They come complete with shopping lists and Design-a-Dinner suggestions for people with busy lives, or for those who want easy meal ideas. Sharing sections address common questions about storing and serving wine, giving wine as gifts, and entertaining with wine from casual picnics and brunch gatherings to once-in-a-living celebrations. Wine is an intimidating subject, but it doesn't have to be. When I first started learning about wine I as afraid to open my mouth if I couldn't correctly pronounce the name of a wine or region. But my desire to explore overtook any embarrassment and I simply asked lots of questions and pointed to the bottle I wanted. The wine doesn't care, right? Now, even when I can't say something perfectly, it doesn't matter. I buy it, try it, and remember it for the next time. That's the beauty of wine information, which I think of as building blocks. Each time you learn something new, it's like placing one block on top of another. Over time, you build up layers of knowledge and confidence. If you walk away remembering just one thing each time you open this book or taste a new bottle, you've succeeded and so have I. From the book WINE FOR WOMEN: A Guide to Buying, Pairing and Sharing Wine by Leslie Sbrocco (lesliesbrocco.com). Copyright 2003 by Leslie Sbrocco. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow Cookbooks, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

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Q: How did you become involved in the wine business? A: Fell in love with California as a post grad student at UC Berkeley. My father was my very first "believer". He helped me financially for the initial seven-year investment. Q: What were some of the hurdles, if any? A: Many hurdles: the vineyard layout for high density (2,200 plants an acre) plus the beneficial sun exposure running the vine rows east to west as opposed to the norm were very controversial in those days. The Napa Board of Supervisors did not want to grant a permit since they said it had never been tried before. I had to present the many European existing layouts in Germany, Switzerland and the like. Finally with the help of the USDA and their Resource Conservation Unit (which did a study), we got not only approval but the board's endorsement as the proper way to develop a hillside vineyard containing the precious and scarce top soil within the property through innovative use of rock dams and ways to direct the flow to its natural direction Q: What do you love most about your job? A: The every day unending possibilities...Everything can be redesigned and reconfigured the following harvest for something even better than the previous year. There is never one only answer to anything or one variable to contend with. Mother Nature knows how to keep you entertained. Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to do what you do? A: Have lots of patience and a long long term vision. Be passionate about what you do because without passion your patience will give up Q: How are women changing the wine industry? A: There are many more possibilities for the nurturing side of women to benefit the industry; there are many more avenues in which the multitasking and ability to take care of the myriad of situations that we are confronted with in the industry gets put to good service! Women capture nuances and that is important not only in wine tasting and wine making but in the wine industry in general. Q: What are some of the misconceptions about women and wine? A: That because we cannot tolerate drinking as much in volume we don't have the capacity to discern quality. Quite the contrary! We have an inherent ability to discern minor nuances that add up to major differences in wines of elegance and finesse versus wines of sheer power with no complexity. Q: Which of your own wines is your favorite and which wines do you generally prefer? A: I like them all it's true, but the ones that give me most 'trouble' like the Petit Verdot are closer to my heart just like all 'troubled' children are. Cab Franc is a delight to work with but in the vineyard it is very difficult to get it 'balanced' -- Petit verdot is difficult in the vineyard and in the cellar all around. We called that blend "V". Viader Winery, 1120 Deer Park Road, Deer Park, Calif., 707-963-3816, viader.com.

Q: How did you become involved in the wine business? A: My family started the winery when I was 12, so I basically grew up around the business. I would work at the winery in the summers and I really enjoyed it. I took my first wine course at UC Davis and loved it so I went on to receive my degree in fermentation science. Q: What were some of the hurdles, if any? A: When I first started in the business it was very male dominated and I think changing the perception that a female can make wine was a huge hurdle. I remember many times people being shocked that I was part of the winemaking process. They many times assumed I was in sales or worked in the tasting room. Q: What do you love most about your job? A: I love the combination of art and science and the dirt and glamour of the business. Everything all rolled into one. Plus, I love creating a product that brings so many people closer together--families and friends. It is a "happy" industry. Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to do what you do? A: My advice to someone who would like to get into winemaking is start from the ground up at a winery. Learn all of the processes and get as much exposure to all areas of the business. As valuable as my education was, there is nothing like old fashioned experience. Q: How are women changing the wine industry? A: Just by the sheer fact that we are becoming more and more a part of the industry. We are finding more women employed in the wineries and vineyards and more women are making up more of the consumer base. It just adds another dimension to the industry. Q: What are some of the misconceptions about women and wine? A: A big misconception is that women are better tasters than men or have heightened senses. I believe that we have a different approach to evaluating/tasting wine and nothing more. Another misconception is that women only buy wine based on the label. However, I think everyone falls prey to that one way or another. Q: Which of your own wines is your favorite and which wines do you generally prefer? A: My favorite wine is probably the DIONYSUS, Meritage--a blend of the Bordeaux varietals. I love creating this wine because it is all about blending. This is where the "art" comes into the picture, plus I love to drink it. One of my favorite varietals is Pinot Noir. Although Arbor Crest does not produce pinot noir, you'll find me drinking French Burgundys and Oregon Pinots! Arbor Crest Winer Cellars, 4705 N. Fruit Hill Road, Spokane, Wash. 99217, 509/927-9463, arborcrest.com.