I grabbed this from Vinography, a great wine blog that I check almost every day (even if many of the wines Alder discusses are from Cali and nearly impossible for me to get).
Not-so-amazingly (damn that patriarchy) 76% of wine writers are male, but perhaps more surprisingly 91% are over 40 years of age and a full 60% are over 50! If we ever needed a reason why wine is still considered a stuffy upper-class drink, look no further. I'm happy to represent the (hopefully growing) segment of wine writers under 40.
With those kinds of numbers...there should be plenty of jobs opening up for a wine writer under the age of 30 (I'll be 29 until the end of April!).
It really does bother me that wine is still considered an upper-class beverage...there is absolutely no reason for this to be the case.
What can we do about this people? I try to write with a very down-to-earth style and attitude in my wine writing...I love bringing new wine drinkers into the fold...and I love dispelling all the high-brow myths about wine.
I drink wine that is under $12 all the time. Anyone who tells you that you can't find a good wine in that price range is a wine snob...and I'm not saying that in a good way.
I love "fine" wines...those that are 50 bucks or even higher (priciest I've tried was in the 80s)...but there is perfectly good wine available for ten or twelve...and PILES of VERY good wine in the 20 dollar range.
Word.
I'm with you. All we can do is support each other-all of us, and show that you don't have to be an old white guy with a beer gut to enjoy wine.
You wouldn't believe some of the things people say to me in my store, assuming I couldn't possibly be the one buying all of the wine. Not a young girl. No. Couldn't be.
The best thing about us? We have the confidence to like good cheap, wierd stuff because we don't think of wine as status symbol, just a frickin beverage.
Posted by: msavvy | May 28, 2005 at 01:07 AM