Anna, the daughter of friends of mine, is in her final year at university and keen to enter the wine trade. Clearly, she is wise beyond her years because it’s a hugely engaging career. She will never get rich but will always be happy. Oh, and a glass of something tasty will never be far away, and nor will someone congenial with whom to share it.
Wine is made in beautiful places – just think of Bordeaux, the Douro Valley, Western Cape, Yarra Valley, Napa, Piedmont, Mendoza, Central Otago and even the rolling South Downs of Sussex – by delightful people (well, with just the one exception). It’s a warm, friendly and collaborative world to be in.
I’ve tried to introduce Anna to as many different parts of the trade as possible: to people who make wine, import wine, market wine, promote wine, sell wine and write about wine. It was only when I sent the final introductory email that it dawned on me that everybody I had put her in touch with – except one – was a woman.
‘Twenty-five years ago, the wine world was almost exclusively run by men, especially in Bordeaux.
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