Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/913027
92 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017/2018 men the thousands of questions I had about wine, right down to what made red wine red. But given my vow of silence, I could not. As it turned out, that silence wasn't wasted. Years later, all of my questions—all of the myriad of things I didn't understand— became the basis for The Wine Bible. I wanted to write the book that I had needed professionally—a book that I thought oth - ers might need, too. The Wine Bible has now sold 1 million copies. Before I address some of the broader issues regarding women and wine, I'd like to share two experiences of my own. The first happened in a famous New York restaurant. I was dining with a friend, who was a woman executive in the food business. To start the evening, she ordered the chef 's signature appetizers and asked me to choose a wine. I did—a white Burgundy—then I returned to our conversation. But within sec - onds I realized the waiter hadn't gone away. He had stepped slightly behind me. Then, leaning down so that only I could hear, he said, "Madame, I regret to inform you that you've made an unwise choice for the wine." That encounter happened 25 years ago, and maybe it wouldn't happen today. But I share it because of my initial reaction, which was to be immobilized by insecurity. "Was he right? Maybe I had made the wrong choice . . ." I remember being engulfed by a sense of powerlessness. This man had, with a sentence, plunged me into self-doubt. He had gotten me to question my own profes - sional ability. After a few seconds, I had the correct response and was furious with him. But when I think back on this, I'm mostly mad at myself. Mad that I had let this man profes - sionally unravel me—even for a second. All women have stories like this, and most of us swallow them down and just move on. But let me contrast that early story with something that happened recently. I conduct a lot of wine seminars for cor - porations. A few months ago, I was called by the managing partner of a global law firm. He asked me if I'd be interested in giving a seminar in Philadelphia for 150 of the firm's lawyers. He then passed the details and nego - tiations over to a leading woman in the firm. After speaking with her on the phone for 30 minutes about the topic, the wines, the operations of a seminar that large, and so on, she asked me my fee. I told her. She immediately came back with, "That's way more than I expected. Why should I pay you that amount when I could prob - ably get a local guy to do it for a fraction of that?" I quickly understood the sad irony. This was a woman challenging another woman about her worth . . . and hoping to rattle me enough that I'd back down. And for a second, I nearly did. Every ounce of me wanted to justify why I was worth it. I wanted to recite my accomplishments. I wanted to apologetically defend my fee. But instead, I waited. I let the silence on the line get good and heavy, and then I said, "I guess there's a perfect analogy here. If I had a legal problem, I'm sure I could find some local guy in the Napa Valley where I live, and he'd be comparatively cheap. Or, I could go to the best and hire you and your firm." And then I offered to give her some names of local guys in Philadelphia who would undoubtedly cost a lot less than me. The seminar I did for them was, by the way, one of the highest-rated seminars the law firm has ever done as part of its busi - ness retreats. I will come back to this idea of worth in a moment. But first, what do we know about what it's like to be a woman in the wine industry today? We know there are women in all aspects of the industry—from viticulture and wine - making to sales and marketing. But there aren't many women at the top. There are, as of yet, no statistics nationally on women CEOs in the wine industry who are not running their companies by virtue of being in a family business. But we do know that the number of women CEOs who head Fortune 500 companies has fallen in the last few years and now stands at just 4 percent. We also know that the gender wage gap is alive and well. On average, women today make 20 percent less than men, even con - trolling for experience, education, and loca- tion. On a more granular level, GuildSomm Beth Novak Milliken Annette Alvarez-Peters Andrea Robinson Amy Chappellet Barbara Banke