Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/11486
Diane Teitelbaum, Dallas, Texas For years, if a Dallas wine merchant saw a customer walk into the store with a newspaper clipping in hand, they breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the impending transaction wouldn’t require the art of the hand sell. Why? Likely the customer was a reader of the Dallas Times Herald or the Dallas Morning News and was acting upon the sage advice of wine journalist Diane Teitelbaum, herself a one-time wine retailer. “I never considered myself a good writer, but the mate- rial was true and written in a voice that was clear as a bell,” Teitelbaum says. “People who knew about wine knew the information was correct, and people who didn’t know could understand it.” Proving that the sum of the parts equals the whole, Teitelbaum created her own business from over 25 years of wine-centric activities—as wine correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, and more recently as an educator and interna- tional judge, consultant to major hospitality brands and private collectors and appraiser for auctions. As an American Airlines consultant, she built an award-winning wine list on interna- tional routes in just two years' time. Being a woman in both an industry and in a state renowned for for its machismo didn’t stop Teitelbaum. “I didn’t think about it and I didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to be easy for women. I just went out and did what I did and didn’t think a thing about it,” she said, adding, “There was no reason why women can’t do as well as men, and men do as well as women.” Marsha Palanci, New York City A long-time interest in all things European led Marsha Palanci into the food and wine worlds. Fluency in French (she was raised in France and Belgium and has a master’s degree in medieval French literature) landed her a job at Food and Wines of France, where she promoted that country’s most sublime exports—gourmet mustard, snails and cheese. That delicious path set Palanci up for a heady career at Schieffelin & Co. (later acquired by Moët Hennessy USA) where she managed such brands as Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Hennessy Cognac and Ruffi no. And here, playing in the big leagues also meant fi ghting for credibility as a businesswoman. “Back then, we had to camoufl age ourselves and be as much like the guys as possible,” she said. “The guys really didn’t welcome you, and you had to make yourself valuable.” When she reached the VP level, Palanci made a decision to go even higher. So she started Cornerstone Communications, a PR fi rm specializing in lifestyle marketing with a keen focus on wine and spirits. “The credentials from Schieffelin gave me a huge leg up, but I wanted to be my own boss,” she said. Twenty years strong, Cornerstone has excelled in a niche industry that seemingly everyone wants a part of. “I’d say it’s harder now to be in the business because it’s become a sexy thing to do, but we remain expertise-driven,” Palanci says. All members of her staff—coincidentally, all women—receive formal wine education, and they spend as much time brand- and relationship- building as creating buzz through social media vehicles. At the end, says Palanci, it all comes back to a tried and true strat- egy: “Finding programs that are relevant, that make sense for clients and will resonate with consumers.” june 2010 / the tasting panel / 63