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WOMEN IN WINE C Theommunicators story and photos by Lana Bortolot Mary Ewing Mulligan, New York City Try to fi nd something Mary Ewing Mulligan isn’t good at. Wine for Dummies, one of seven wine books she’s co- authored with husband Ed McCarthy, has sold nearly one million copies. In the industry, she’s received accolades for professional excellence (2009), distinguished achievement professional excellence (2009) distinguished achievement (2003) and wine education (1994). Then there’s the Master of Wine credential. As in, the fi rst female MW in the United States—one of only four in the country and 75 in the world. But it is as President of the International Wine Center, the largest wine school in the country, that Mulligan is best known. “Learning about wine is serious business, and I’ve always been innately humbled because no one can know everything about it.” That’s why the Dummy books were appealing. “It was the idea of opening the doors and clearing the confu- sion,” she says, a process she calls transformative and which required respecting the reader and their choices, while encouraging them to drink out of the box. Ending up in education is an irony, given that Mulligan rejected teaching as one of the few career options available to her. ”I’m still a huge believer in the women’s movement, and it made me believe I could be a successful career person as opposed to someone who just holds a job.” And while she doesn’t think along gender lines, Mulligan says she enjoys her work because of the women in it. “We women can be very straightforward with each other, do what we love and be authentic about it.” We women can be very straightforward with each other.” 62 / the tasting panel / june 2010