“Mujeres del Vino”, A Study About Women in the Wine Sector
By Laura Conde, wine writer
Although more and more women are helming vineyards, wineries, labs or sommelier classrooms, a lot of work remains to be done in the wine sector to ensure equal opportunities. This is more than evident in the report Mujeres del Vino 2024, based on a joint study by the Instituto Más Mujeres and the DO Catalunya, coordinated by sommelier and wine communications specialist Meritxell Falgueras and writer and activist Laia Arcones.
The data compiled for the study, based on more than 400 interviews with wine professionals of various ages across Spain, speaks volumes: 80% of those interviewed believe that men and women do not enjoy equal opportunities in the industry. Furthermore, 47% state that they have experienced sexist or pejorative comments in the workplace, and 25% say they have personally suffered some form of harassment, be it verbal, psychological or physical. In addition, 65% admit feeling imposter syndrome, doubting their abilities despite having the required experience, whereas 75% feel their opinions are not always taken as seriously as those of their male counterparts.
“The aim of this study is constructive, not destructive,” · explains sommelier and communications specialist Meritxell Falgueras, the prime mover behind the study. “We are not interested in singling out anyone, but in showing the urgent need to give greater visibility to projects led by women, which is complicated given that gender equality in the household is non-existent. It’s hard to believe, but even today, you go to conferences, and women aren’t represented at all, not even for the photo opportunity to make the event look good,” she points out.
Falgueras insists that although the sector has come a long way since its beginnings, it still contains areas where gender inequality is glaringly obvious. In fact, the idea for the study came about while she was preparing her upcoming book Mujeres del vino, which will be released after the summer. “At one point in the process, I wondered whether the inequality I was seeing was only a matter of my own perception. This study confirmed what I suspected: that this is a widespread feeling among women who work in different areas of the wine sector.”
In Need of Improvement: Glass Ceiling and Work-Life Balance
In addition to the accounts provided by interviewees, the study identifies various structural barriers to women’s professional development: the lack of visible role models, the scarcity of women in leadership positions, and the difficulty in establishing a work-life balance. Of the women interviewed, 67% point to this last factor as one of the main obstacles in their professional development.
Furthermore, many women feel pressure to constantly prove their worth in a historically male environment. 74% declare they have attended events where female representation was essentially non-existent, and 40% believe that certain positions are still seen as a “man’s job”, especially in winegrowing and technical oenology.
The study, however, not only identifies problems, but also proposes concrete solutions. These include the need to increase the presence of women in leadership positions, implement policies aimed at equality and salary transparency, facilitate mentoring and training programmes, and promote the visibility of female role models within the industry.
The study also advocates for the establishment of quotas for female representation in associations and executive boards. “A lot of people say they don’t like quotas. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t like them either,” states Falgueras, “But as long as we don’t have equality in the home, let’s at least have it in other spaces. This is a gesture that can help move the dial on equal opportunities and increase awareness among the general public.”
Myths About Women and Wine
The study also examined some myths that have been propagated ad nauseam about women and wine, which, according to Falgueras, “have a stigmatizing effect, because they reinforce barriers to gender equality within the industry”. Close to 80% of the interviewees said they had at one point heard that women prefer sweet wines to dry ones, while 42% had on occasion been told that women choose wines based on the label, not their quality. 40% state they have heard that women cannot helm wineries or vineyards, because the job is too tough, whereas 36% had been part of a conversation in which others insisted women do not know as much about wine as men.
According to the study, other myths that we would do well to eradicate include that menstruation affects the harvest; that women are not as good at tasting wines, because their palate is more delicate; or that women only hold leadership positions, because they are related or married to some powerful man, to name a few.