Alchool & Health

Women and wine: myths to be debunked

Julien Miquel, oenologist and wine writer, published a post on his blog entitled Social Vignerons entitled “Women and Wine? Let’s shrug off dusty clichés!” in which he brings us 10 clichés about women and wine that need to be debunked.

1. Men buy more wine than women – WRONG here are the percentages of wine bought by women: 83% USA, 80% UK, 70% France, 60% Switzerland, 57% Australia
2. Women drink only white and sweet wines – WRONG women drink 57% red wines, 30% white wines, and 13% rosé wines
3. Men drink wine and women wash the glasses – WRONG women drink more wine than men: 51% of the world's wine drinkers are women. 85% think wine complements beautiful and pleasurable moments
4. Women don't know how to choose wine – WRONG: For women, the choice depends on the variety and the region of origin as well as the pairing with food. For men, the status of a label and the price are very important. Furthermore, 1/5 of women have a good knowledge base about wine.
5. Wine made by women is for women – WRONG: In competitions with female juries, tasters are unable to recognize wines made by women.
6. Wine is still a very male-dominated sector – WRONG: Here are the percentages of women in the main wine professions: female oenologists 33% in France, 50% in Spain, sommeliers 80% in Sweden, Russia and Japan 40% in Italy, winemakers 28% in France 30% in Italy.
7. Women are not explorers, that is, they are creatures of habit with wine – WRONG: Women love buying new wines. Women base their decisions on the emotion a wine gives them and, above all, on a wine's ability to be suited to a specific experience. For men, technical elements and the brand are more important. 8. Women are more futile in their choices – WRONG: Women are less easily influenced and buy wines they like. This is the reason for the limited success of wines "for women," which are preferred by only 40% of US women and 26% of those marketed specifically for them. 9. Women buy wine randomly and impulsively – WRONG: 66% of women's wine purchases are planned. 10. Women who drink wine are uninhibited – WRONG: Many of them are not sure of themselves. When asked if they know wine well, 12% of women and 18% of men said yes. When asked if they can recognize wine aromas, 17% of women and 30% of men said yes.

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