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Women of Wine The Rise of Women in the Global Wine
Industry 1st Edition Ann B. Matasar Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Ann B. Matasar
ISBN(s): 9781423789628, 1423789628
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 1.24 MB
Year: 2006
Language: english
Women of Wine
 Women of Wine
The Rise of Women
in the Global Wine Industry

Ann B. Matasar

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley Los Angeles London

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished
university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the
world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences,
and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press
Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals
and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

© 2006 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Matasar, Ann B., 1940–

Women of wine : the rise of women in the global wine
industry / Ann B. Matasar.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-520-24051-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Women in the wine industry. I. Title.

hd9370.5. m37 2006

331.4'86632—dc22 2005023244

Manufactured in the United States of America

15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum

requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence
of Paper).
 CONTENTS

List of Illustrations
vii

Acknowledgments
ix

Introduction
1

1. Women Need Not Apply

5

2. The Changing Face of the Wine Business

16

3. A Toast to the Past

25

4. Viticultrices et Propriétaires
37

5. Le Donne del Vino

58
 6. The New World: California
75

7. The New World: The Southern Hemisphere

93

8. Knowledge Is Power
120

9. Uncorking Sales
138

10. Past, Present, Future

159

Notes

169

Appendix 1: List of Interviews

201

Appendix 2: Women Masters of Wine

209

Appendix 3: Women Master Sommeliers

211

Glossary
213

Bibliography
221

Index
237
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Catherine, Colette, and Laurence Faller 39

2. Corinne Mentzelopoulos 45
3. Lalou Bize-Leroy 51
4. Teresa Severini 63
5. Heidi Schröck 73
6. Heidi Peterson Barrett 83
7. Zelma Long 91
8. Sarah Marquis 97
9. Prue Henschke 99
10. Vanya Cullen 102
11. Jane Hunter 106
12. Susana Balbo 111
13. Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle (de Bournet) 115
14. Carole Meredith 124
15. Mary Ewing-Mulligan 130
16. Jancis Robinson 134
17. Sarah Kemp 136
18. Serena Sutcliffe 141
19. Mireille Guiliano 150
20. Madeline Triffon 155
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Winemaking has inspired thousands of books over the years. Few, if any,
however, have been devoted solely to women’s contributions to the world
of wine. This book is intended to fill that void, to highlight those con-
tributions, and to create greater visibility for the remarkable women who
are influencing today’s wine industry.
Although I have relied heavily on primary and secondary resources
for background material, this book would not have been possible with-
out the women and men who granted me interviews. To those individ-
uals with whom I met, my thanks for your insights, thoughtfulness,
honesty, inspiration, time, and hospitality. Your experiences and knowl-
edge have given life to this work. I also want to thank the many women
throughout the world who responded to my lengthy questionnaire. Al-
though I was unable to interview all of these women, many of their re-
sponses are included in the text.
One of the most striking things I discovered in the course of my work
was the large number of influential women in the wine industry world-
wide. Few days went by without someone telling me about another
woman they considered worthy of mention. Unfortunately, it was sim-
ply not possible to contact, meet, and include them all in this work, de-

ix
 x / Acknowledgments

spite their significant contributions. I would like to extend my apologies

for such omissions.
Many people provided assistance in producing this book. I am indebted
to librarians at Roosevelt University, who expeditiously and pleasantly
handled seemingly endless interlibrary loans. Axel Borg at the Univer-
sity of California at Davis guided me through the university’s extensive
holdings and treated me with exceptional professional courtesy. The ref-
erence librarians at the Northbrook, Illinois, Public Library obtained a
plethora of resources from a vast number of libraries throughout the
United States. The Internet notwithstanding, there is still no substitute
for a skilled and caring librarian prepared to assist with interminable
interlibrary loans, to chase down obscure articles, and to help locate
archival materials.
I have been blessed with several talented friends who have assisted
me in this work. To my former student and good friend Muriel
Blanchier, a profound merci for compensating for my inferior command
of French. Barry and Susan Feinberg proved themselves to be picture-
perfect friends in helping me assemble the photographs. As we delved
into the accuracy of each footnote and quotation, Deborah Pavelka, my
colleague, friend, and co-author on many other projects, demonstrated
her skills as a forensic accountant. And to Gary Wolfe, who took the time
to review the entire manuscript and provide valuable editorial advice, I
am eternally grateful. After all this support, any errors that remain are
solely mine.
My ability to travel extensively for interviews and research was un-
derwritten by funding from my named professorship at Roosevelt Uni-
versity. The university also granted me a research leave for the spring
2004 semester to complete my work on the Southern Hemisphere. I wish
to thank all members of the Roosevelt University administration for their
support and encouragement.
To my children, Seth and Toby, whose interest in wine helped inspire
this project and whose encouragement kept my spirits up when progress
was slow, my love. Last, but hardly least, my love and gratitude to my
 Acknowledgments / xi

husband, Bob, without whom this work would not have been possible.
He suffered through it all on a daily basis as a counselor, constructive
critic, wine enthusiast, and companion waiting patiently for me to com-
plete interviews. More than a chauffeur who drove on both sides of the
road, he kept me on track and challenged me to be my best. He deserved
every great glass of wine he was offered. It is to Bob that I dedicate this
book.
 Introduction

Throughout recorded history, wine has been a common thread running

through innumerable cultures, religions, and nations. No business or in-
dustry reaches further back in history or is more global in scope than the
wine industry. And no other industry has so resolutely excluded women
from positions of influence for so long.
Despite the overwhelming male dominance of the wine industry, one
hears repeatedly about individual women who have broken the barri-
ers. Everyone seems astonished to discover a unique woman who has
conquered age-old prejudices in order to become an exemplary wine-
maker, a winery owner, or a sommelier. But we have lacked an evalua-
tion of the cumulative implications of women’s advancement in the
world of wine—in other words, scholarship has focused on the trees but
ignored the forest.
Individual women, like the separate tiles of a mosaic, do not reflect
the whole scene. Standing back to look at the completed mosaic, one dis-
covers a new and exciting phenomenon: a substantial and growing num-
ber of women who now influence the wine industry and hold positions
of power within it. Although the industry remains male dominated, it
is no longer able to exclude women or prohibit their advancement
across the board. No list of today’s premier winery owners and wine-

1
 2 / Introduction

makers is complete without the names of women. Any discussion of those

in authority who shape the industry—from educators, writers, and crit-
ics to executives and sommeliers—must now include both genders. In
the Old World as well as the New World, women are represented all the
way up the power structure.
Within the experiences of individual women, the gender bias they
have encountered is an inescapable theme, but the degree to which it has
impeded their progress varies greatly. Men appear in their narratives not
only as obstacles and naysayers but also as mentors, partners, and friends.
The most striking common characteristic of all these accomplished
women is that they are a gutsy group of supreme achievers who refused
to be diverted from their path.
Some, such as Corinne Mentzelopoulos (Château Margaux), Baroness
Philippine de Rothschild (Château Mouton Rothschild), May-Eliane de
Lencquesaing (Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande),
Laura Bianchi (Castello di Monsanto), Lorenza Sebasti (Castello di Ama),
or Chiara Lungarotti and Teresa Severini (Cantine Lungarotti), are pro-
prietors of legendary estates. Others, such as Sandra MacIver (Matan-
zas Creek Winery), Cathy Corison (Corison Winery), Susana Balbo (Su-
sana Balbo), and Diana Cullen (Cullen Wines), founded new estates.
Some represent the present and future generations of well-established
wine families: Gina Gallo (Gallo of Sonoma), Albiera Antinori (Cantine
Marchesi Antinori), Laura Catena (Bodega Catena Zapata).
Some are winemakers whose name on a wine label imparts a guar-
anteed cachet—Lalou Bize-Leroy (Domaine Leroy), Heidi Peterson Bar-
rett (La Sirena), and Vanya Cullen (Cullen), for example. Others, such
as Serena Sutcliffe, MW (Sotheby’s), and Jancis Robinson, MW, OBE,
are writers and critics who have extraordinary influence over con-
sumers’ tastes, the demand for particular wines, and the prices those
wines command. Some, including Madeline Triffon, MS, and Alpana
Singh, MS, are sommeliers who oversee the selection of wines and match
wines with food for the world’s finest restaurants. Others—such as pro-
 Introduction / 3

fessors Ann Noble, Carole Meredith, and Linda Bisson (all of the Univer-
sity of California at Davis)—provide the knowledge needed to improve
the industry.
What one sees is the emergence of an industry that is changing in a
multitude of ways, from vineyard management to winemaking to inter-
national sales. No matter where you look, women are participating in
and leading these changes. Their collective experience provides an in-
structive paradigm for women seeking advancement throughout the
business world.
This book begins by establishing a historical context for appreciating
women’s contributions to the modern wine industry. Chapter 1 discusses
the hurdles placed in the path of women historically. Chapter 2 reviews
the changes in the global wine industry during the last twenty-five years
of the twentieth century that opened the gates for substantial numbers
of women. This chapter also provides a general overview of the wine
industry, particularly those aspects most relevant to understanding
women’s influence. Chapter 3 is a historical tribute to four nineteenth-
century women pioneers who left an indelible mark on the industry and
their name on some of the world’s greatest wines.
The four chapters that follow are devoted to women winemakers and
proprietors. The discussion corresponds to the geographic division of the
wine world, namely, the Old World, defined as European winegrowing
nations (chapters 4 and 5), and the New World, defined as winegrow-
ing nations originally colonized by Europeans (chapters 6 and 7).
Chapters 8 and 9 present portraits of professional women who influ-
ence the wine industry by virtue of specialized expertise. Chapter 8
focuses on women who add to the body of knowledge on which the
industry and consumers of wine depend. Those involved with unique
aspects of wine marketing are the subject of chapter 9. Finally, chapter
10 offers an overview and a look toward the future of women in the
world of wine.
Throughout, the chapters draw insights from the women and men
 4 / Introduction

who were interviewed for this work. A complete list of the interviewees
is found in appendix 1. In addition, many others responded to a detailed
questionnaire; their quoted responses appear in italic type. No citations
accompany these comments, nor is there a list of respondents, because
these individuals were promised anonymity.
 chapter one

Women Need Not Apply

For centuries, biases, traditions, religious practices, superstitions, phys-

ical characteristics, and social stereotypes have conspired to keep women
from achieving positions of influence in the world of wine. As the wine
industry advanced and spread from the Old World to the New World,
one theme remained constant: “Women need not apply.”

NICE GIRLS DON’T DRINK

In the aftermath of the Great Flood, Noah planted grapes, made wine,
and became intoxicated on Mount Ararat.1 He’s lucky he wasn’t a
woman, because he would have been remembered more for his inebri-
ation than for his ark. Throughout history, gender distinctions have
permeated all aspects of wine—its production, its consumption, its dis-
tribution, and its appreciation.
Wine has been “perhaps the most historically charged and culturally
symbolic of the foods and beverages with which we regularly have con-
tact.”2 Inextricably linked with religious worship, revelry, camaraderie,
and upper-class entitlement, wine has often been a beverage reserved for
men of privilege. Women, regardless of social standing, were associated
with wine’s excesses rather than its benefits: inebriated women were fre-

5
 6 / Women Need Not Apply

quently linked to indiscriminate sexuality, promiscuity, and adultery. The

Roman poet and satirist Juvenal asked, “When she is drunk, what mat-
ters to the Goddess of Love? She cannot tell her groin from her head.”3
Wine, known as “the gift of the gods,” helped the ancient Egyptians
attain a heightened spirituality. It also was the aspirin of its day, used
medicinally to relieve daily stress and alleviate a host of physical ailments.
Jars of wine were among the items placed in the tombs of Egyptian
upper-class men so that life after death would continue to be comfort-
able. The social status of the deceased determined the amount of wine
used for anointing bodies and entombments. Egyptian women, however,
were not entitled to similar benefits for fear they would become intoxi-
cated and act promiscuously in the afterlife.4
In ancient Greece, all men were able to experience the reduced inhi-
bitions, greater relaxation, and enhanced social interactions (including
sexual relations) that accompanied wine drinking. But the Greeks, like
the Egyptians, believed that women had a predilection for drunkenness
and excess and therefore frowned on female drinking. Upper-class Greek
men also considered women who did drink barbaric because, unlike
men, women did not dilute their wine or use additives such as seawater.5
The Greeks established the first great male drinking clubs, called
symposia, in which wealthy men came together to converse and con-
sume wine. Greek women were allowed to participate only as acces-
sories, as musicians, servers, or prostitutes.6 The Greeks understood that
such informal social interaction provided the basis for formal political
and commercial relationships—and when respectable women were ex-
cluded from these interactions and conversations, they were also ex-
cluded from political and economic activities. Fraternization in a single-
sex environment intended for drinking remains a major hindrance to
the advancement of women in all professions to this day.
The Romans replaced the Greek symposia with male gatherings
known as convivia, centered on fellowship and wine drinking. In early
Rome, prohibitions on female drinking were more severe than those im-
 Women Need Not Apply / 7

posed by the Greeks: women were not even permitted to serve wine, and
until 194 b.c.e. any woman found drinking could be put to death or di-
vorced. Over the years, this unambiguous opposition eased, as wine
became a dietary staple. On occasion, women were even permitted to
participate in the convivia. But Roman men, fearful of female adultery,
continued to bar married women from social settings where wine was
consumed, establishing a precedent for gender discrimination based on
marital status.7
Prejudices regarding women and wine continued through the cen-
turies. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, prostitutes were
the only women admitted to male-only drinking establishments such as
French cabarets and taverns. Married women were not allowed to cross
the thresholds even when they needed to speak with their husbands.8
Nothing changed as wine drinking spread to the New World. Private
gentlemen’s clubs and all-male dinner parties were the direct descendants
of the earlier symposia and convivia. The collegiality, intellectual sophis-
tication, and learning long associated with wine consumption remained
identified with male-only environments.9 Additional, more “modern”
biases were added to the longstanding concerns regarding female wine
consumption. The ability to appreciate wine’s nuances became associ-
ated with masculinity. Some assumed that women would spoil tastings
by wearing perfume that detracted from the wine’s bouquet.10
It is not a great leap from all-male private clubs to male-only wine-
growers’ associations. Not until the year 2000 did the oldest and most
prestigious of the Bordeaux confréries (brotherhoods), the Jurade of
Saint-Emilion, finally admit its first two women, after eight hundred
years of exclusion. It was self-interest that eventually opened up the mem-
bership rolls of the Jurade: the organization recognized that its sig-
nificance was being undermined because it did not include some of the
most important wine personalities in Saint-Emilion—who happened
to be women. This change is a great affirmation of the achievements of
women in the wine world. It is notable, however, that the two female
 8 / Women Need Not Apply

inductees, Beatrice Ondet and Françoise de Wilde, declined to be labeled

as feminists. Ondet remarked, “I am not by any means a feminist. . . . It
isn’t a question of sex, but of competence and devotion to the profession.
A woman is just as likely to be able to do certain things as well as a man.”
Not acknowledging the inconsistency between her disclaimer of femi-
nism and her assertion of equality, she also denied “that she and other
formidable women in Bordeaux may have exerted pressure on the gen-
tlemen of the Jurade.” Both women agreed to dress in the same cere-
monial robes as the men and to be called jurat, a masculine term.11

WINE IN RELIGIOUS RITUALS

Both Jewish and Christian religious traditions incorporate wine into

festivities and rituals.12Wine drinking has a long history in Jewish tra-
dition: Noah planted grapes and made wine on Mount Ararat, and the
two spies sent by Moses to scout the Land of Canaan returned bearing
grapes.13 Judaism associates wine with consecration and sacraments, in-
cluding wine drinking in the celebration of the Sabbath and all religious
events and holidays. Both men and women are expected to consume four
glasses of wine at the seder and prescribed amounts at other rituals such
as weddings. Women have a special role at the bris (circumcision) of
eight-day-old boys: the mother consumes the wine used as an anesthetic
when saying prayers for her child.14
Specifically, Judaism requires kosher wine for all religious functions
and for the recitation of the Kiddush, the prayer thanking God for the
fruit of the vine. Written by the rabbi, philosopher, and physician Mai-
monides (Moses ben Maimon), the rules defining kosher wine represent
the first legal code governing wine production. They provide a clear ex-
ample that “patterns of wine use . . . typically reveal a great deal about
how religious groups go about incorporating new members and, in turn,
separating these members from ‘outsiders.’”15
Unlike the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman traditions, Jewish law does
not preclude women’s participation in the winemaking process or den-
 Women Need Not Apply / 9

igrate female wine drinking. Rather, the central stipulation governing

the production of kosher wine is that “the grapes and wine can be han-
dled only by Sabbath observant Jews from grape crushing to consump-
tion, unless the wine is Mevushal (pasteurized).”16 Because women as
well as men can qualify as Sabbath observant, gender is not a requisite
factor in the making of kosher wine or in serving as the mashgiach, the
supervisor who ensures that the wine is made in a kosher manner.17
Historical practice, however, has strayed from gender neutrality.
Kosher wine is made exclusively by Orthodox Jews, who have strict rules
regarding gender separation. Because women cannot be rabbis within
Orthodox Judaism, only men are able to serve as a rav hamachshir, the
person who determines whether a wine is kosher. Orthodox practice also
requires a Jewish man to lead the Kiddush. In practice, then, kosher wine-
making is virtually an exclusively male preserve.
Like Jews, Christians also include wine in their rituals. The great
Christian theologian Paul Tillich explained the sacramental importance
of wine by comparing it to the life cycle: “Only wine of all drinks con-
tinues to live and grow in the bottle. First, it is a baby, then it is a child,
then it enters puberty and becomes a teenager, then it becomes a young
adult, then wine reaches its full maturity, and slowly it enters old age—
some wines gracefully, some harshly, and then it dies. Of all drinks, wine
alone recapitulates life. That is why wine is a sacrament.”18
Christianity attributes symbolic importance to wine for the com-
memoration of Jesus’s first miracle at Cana, where he converted water
to wine at a wedding. The inclusion of wine at the Last Supper led to the
incorporation of wine into the Eucharist as the embodiment of Jesus’s
blood.19
It is wine’s ritualistic importance to Catholicism, in particular, that
caused vineyards and winemaking to be protected after the fall of Rome
and eventually introduced to all corners of the earth. The importance of
the Catholic Church in the spread of winemaking can be seen through-
out the Old World. Great European vineyards on the sites of former mon-
asteries such as Graacher Himmelreich (Germany), Badia a Coltibuono
 10 / Women Need Not Apply

(Italy), and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France) bear ongoing testament to

this tradition. Much of the New World owes its winemaking industry
to Catholic missionaries, primarily male priests, who planted grapes and
made wine for ritual use as well as for daily consumption.20
The association of wine with Catholic rituals and the dominance of
Catholic missionaries in wine production by definition excluded women,
who were not allowed to conduct Mass and who were either absent from
the missions or in subservient roles. In California, for example, this legacy
continued to adversely affect women’s participation in the wine indus-
try until the early 1970s, when the demand for California wine and for
workers to produce it made the continued exclusion of women imprac-
tical. Other New World nations experienced similar phenomena.

FEMININE WINES AND OTHER FICTIONS

As more women entered the wine world, gender distinctions were some-
times transferred to the wines themselves. Enophiles describe wines as
either “feminine” or “masculine,” with the latter often considered supe-
rior. Feminization of wine is intended as a left-handed compliment that
conjures up old social and cultural stereotypes and reinstates the unflat-
tering relationship of women, wine, and sexuality: “Wine itself has many
feminine qualities. It is graceful, it pleases, it needs great care and atten-
tion . . . and, during its variable lifetime, you never know what it will do
next.”21 The attributes assigned to “feminine” wines abound: soft, elegant,
charming, seductive, buxom, sensual, voluptuous, lively, bewitching,
fine, delicate, subtle, restrained, showing breed and finesse.22
Winemaking itself has long maintained a gender-based division of
labor. In many instances, only men were permitted to harvest grapes and
handle the crush. Women were not allowed to stomp the grapes, in the
belief that their physical structure and lack of height would foul the
extract. They were, however, permitted to pick and sort grapes, tasks
that required patience, delicate hands, and almost maternal caring. Vin
 Women Need Not Apply / 11

Santo, an Italian dessert wine made in small quantities, actually came to

be know as “the women’s wine.”23 Still, some proprietors did bar women
from picking grapes, considering females too chatty and inefficient.24
The most serious handicap encountered by women was lack of ac-
cess to cellar work, an essential area of experience for anyone seeking to
be a winemaker. Women were considered too weak to do cellar work,
which involved handling barrels, racking, and working with other equip-
ment. Even with the advent of modern technology that substantially re-
duced the need for physical strength, this “protection” of women became
a subterfuge for discrimination. Rather than being assessed as individ-
uals, women as a class were written off.25
Persistent superstition compounded the problem. In some French
wineries to this day, women are not allowed near fermenting wine be-
cause of the belief that if they are menstruating the wine might turn to
vinegar or referment monthly.26 One French woman winemaker vividly
remembers this biased treatment: “When I started, there wasn’t a field more
sexist than vine-growing and enology! At that time, it was said that a woman
shouldn’t get into a wine cellar, because if she did, her ‘petticoat’ would make
the wine turn sour.”
Ironically, there is at least one physical distinction that should have
worked to the benefit of women: the sense of taste, including the sense
of smell. In two olfactory sensitivity studies, one conducted at the Clin-
ical Smell and Taste Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania
and the other at the Social Issues Research Centre of the University of
Cardiff in Wales, women consistently outperformed men in odor iden-
tification and sensitivity on the Smell Identification Test, regardless of
age, ethnicity, or cultural background.27 Additional research on taste
perceptions conducted by Dr. Linda Bartoshuk, professor of neuro-
science in the ear, nose, and throat section of the Yale School of Medi-
cine’s Surgery Department, established three categories of tasters: non-
tasters (a projected 25 percent of the population), medium tasters (50
percent), and supertasters (25 percent). The group of supertasters, who
 12 / Women Need Not Apply

had the most taste buds and the greatest sensitivity to taste differences,
was made up predominantly of women.28
Wine tasting, of course, is a subjective experience, a skill that is honed
over time. Women may have a natural ability to be better tasters, with
more sensitive palates, but their social exclusion from tastings and judg-
ing panels prevented them from developing their skills to the fullest. Op-
portunity, practice, and training have allowed men to dominate a field
in which women held a natural advantage. In Australia, for example,
women were excluded as judges on the panels of wine shows until 1983.
Judging at the wine shows “was the last bastion of male domination in
the Australian wine industry guided in principle and deed by an agri-
cultural society rooted in rural conservativism.”29

SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

Women continue to face obstacles arising from social stereotypes, psy-

chological factors, and role conflicts. Conventional wisdom, for exam-
ple, holds that women are more averse to risk-taking than men and thus
will be less likely to succeed in the uncertain and competitive enterprises
of grape growing and winemaking.30 Another damaging assumption is
that women cannot manage effectively because men will refuse to work
for them. In fact, the large Medoc (Bordeaux) estates do not hire women
as managers, in order to avoid these sorts of power struggles.31 Even in
some areas of the New World, fewer women are found in viticulture,
for fear that male migrant workers will not accept them as supervisors.
As this book will show, however, the women of today’s wine industry
have given the lie to such generalizations—they courageously take the
risks necessary for success, they manage large enterprises, and they skill-
fully supervise both male and female employees.
Although many male-dominated wine groups have become sub-
stantially more hospitable to women in recent years, there remains an
underlying current of discomfort and a sense of social isolation for many
women in the wine world: “Being a female, I have been underpaid and over-
 Women Need Not Apply / 13

worked. My opinion has not been readily accepted by men with seniority over
me. I cannot socially join the men winemakers’ network.” “Social situations
are still difficult to comfortably infiltrate.” “I often feel I am overlooked or
forgotten about when the ‘boys’ plan an event or a marketing trip.”
Women’s responses to this lingering discrimination are varied. Some
women sulk and become embittered; others feel compelled to deny or
downplay their gender (“I am not a woman winemaker; I am a wine-
maker”), believing that this is the only way they can gain full recogni-
tion for their accomplishments and acceptance on an equal footing with
their male colleagues. Many others fight back, both by resisting dis-
crimination and by pushing themselves to higher levels of achievement;
the vast majority of women interviewed for this book acknowledge that
women must be better at their jobs than men in order to be deemed equal.
Some seek to establish women’s networks such as La Donne del Vino
(Italy) or Vinissima (Germany) to promote equality and provide support
for female wine professionals.
Women’s unease in the industry is apparent in one striking way: the
frequent hesitation of many female winemakers and proprietors to put
their own names on their labels. This may stem from a lack of self-
confidence or from a reluctance to seem self-promoting or conceited.
Most men have no such qualms; they expect to be recognized for their
accomplishments from the outset. For women, however, putting their
own name on their label is a sign of increased confidence and pride. In
fact, one can follow the personal growth of some women by following
the changes in their labels. Sometimes it is a case of overcoming an atti-
tude like the one expressed by an Old World proprietor: “To reach a high
position as a professional remains, in our culture, a male prerogative. One
day I heard a neighbor saying, ‘Be careful not to become a man.’”
As is the case in every profession, ambitious women sometimes find
that their roles as wives and mothers can conflict with their career goals.
Family obligations can still be a major obstacle for women’s advance-
ment. Although some have successfully resolved these competing pres-
sures, many women connected to the wine world express great reserva-
 14 / Women Need Not Apply

tions about combining a career with motherhood. As the following com-

ment of a female British journalist reveals, motherhood and its demands
can create difficulties between women as well as with male employers:
“I suppose there may be women who encounter problems because of their sex.
I think I might tend to say it’s because they ‘opt out’—‘My child is crying,’
‘I’ve got to take little Willy to school’—all that stuff. As I never had children,
I don’t know [about those pressures], but I do know that several of the women
colleagues here hide behind their brats.”

“WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?”

Given this long history of exclusion and discrimination, it is not sur-

prising that women remain a distinct minority throughout the world of
wine. Fortunately for the wine lovers of the world, women’s talent, skill,
and dedication more than compensate for their lack of numbers. But
even the numbers are changing.
The headline of a 1999 article in Wine Spectator by executive editor
Thomas Matthews asked, “Where Are the Women?” Matthews be-
moaned the lack of women in tasting groups (including his own), their
low rates of participation in Wine Spectator’s annual Wine Experience,
and their underrepresentation on that publication’s subscriber list. He
did acknowledge that financial concerns could be a cause.32
But a better way to view the situation would be to applaud the enor-
mously increased presence of women, compared to their numbers thirty
years ago when Wine Spectator was founded. The Wine Experience, in
particular, exemplifies women’s interest in wine. It is a two-and-a-half-
day extravaganza of wine and food costing at least fifteen hundred dol-
lars per person, excluding hotel and travel expenses. Given the substan-
tial earnings gap that still exists between men and women, the fact that
women make up almost one-third of the attendees at the Wine Experi-
ence is extraordinary. Additionally, although only about 20 percent of
Wine Spectator’s subscribers are women, the magazine believes that ap-
 Women Need Not Apply / 15

proximately 40 percent of both the readership and the Web site sub-
scribers are female.33
During the last quarter of the twentieth century, and now into the
twenty-first, women have risen to unexpected heights throughout the
wine world. The real answer to the question “Where are the women?”—
as this book hopes to show—is “everywhere.”
 chapter two

The Changing Face

of the Wine Business

To wine lovers, “complex” is a sensory term conjuring up myriad aro-

mas and flavors associated with great wines. But it also is an apt de-
scription of the wine industry itself. The wine business is one of the
world’s largest, most intricate, and most intriguing commercial ventures:
focused on an exponentially diverse product whose appeal and value
change with production conditions, age, and vineyard location;1 influ-
enced by a dizzying array of social, political, and economic forces; and
engaged in a trade maze encompassing global markets with prices rang-
ing from inexpensive to exorbitant. Its vast economic reach employs 1
percent of the world’s labor force, with vineyards covering approximately
19.5 million acres and production of more than 7.25 billion gallons.2 By
any measure, wine is not your typical agricultural product.

GLOBALIZATION

Produced in only a limited number of countries blessed with the temper-

ate climate and soil characteristics essential for growing wine-producing
grapes, Vitis vinifera, wine has always relied on international trade for
its global reach.3 Old World nations, consumers and producers of a ma-
jority of the world’s wine, dominated the wine trade without serious

16
 The Changing Face of the Wine Business / 17

competitors until the last quarter of the twentieth century. Bound to tradi-
tion and straitjacketed by protective regulations, Old World producers
at that time were the unchallenged global arbiters of quality—exporting,
along with their wine, the mystique of a site (terroir), the unpredictable
romance of each new vintage, and the glamorous pursuit of the “perfect
wine,” their enological equivalent of the Holy Grail.
To New World producers, who were often bogged down within
their own borders and were ill prepared to rise to the Europeans’ chal-
lenge, the Old World’s advantage appeared insurmountable. Reeling
from the havoc caused by Prohibition, Americans were busy re-creating
their indigenous wine industry. Isolated geographically, Australia and
New Zealand were well-kept secrets “down under.” Under the shadow
of dictatorships, unstable economies, and the Andes, Argentina and Chile
were producing few quality wines. And apartheid had made South
Africa an international pariah.
In the mid-1970s, however, New World producers, led by the United
States and Australia, began to be significantly more than a blip on the
global wine trade’s radar screen. Eschewing Old World practice and
preaching, they placed their faith in education and modernization to pro-
duce consistently high-quality wines at lower cost.4 They championed
agricultural innovations such as drip irrigation, canopy management,
and green harvesting (cluster thinning); technological advances such as
temperature-controlled fermentation tanks; and the use of science as well
as art in winemaking. They not only developed a new style of wine; they
created a clash of cultures aimed at the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks
of the world’s wine consumers.
The balance of power between Old World and New World wines was
unexpectedly and permanently upset in 1976 in Paris by a blind-tasting
panel of French wine judges, who selected California wines as superior
to the French competitors.5 No longer would New World wine con-
sumers apologize for drinking domestic wines; no longer would Old
World wines be the only ones flowing through the arteries of interna-
tional trade. The floodgates opened for New World wines to compete
 18 / The Changing Face of the Wine Business

internationally with Old World wines for global dominance. Trade be-
came bidirectional as all producing nations found themselves suddenly,
to some degree, on both sides of the export/import equation.
The struggle between the Old World and the New World quickly
gained immediacy, intensity, and economic significance. Intercontinen-
tal air travel introduced New World consumers to the Old World
lifestyle, in which wine was a normal part of a meal rather than a bev-
erage for special occasions. Wine consumption in the United States alone
rose from 267 million gallons in 1970 to 595 million gallons by 2002. Dur-
ing this period, U.S. per capita wine consumption rose from 1.31 to ap-
proximately 2 gallons per year.6
Television made culinary celebrities such as Julia Child into icons who
touted the pleasures of wine and expanded its popularity. Specialized
publications, including Wine Spectator, Decanter, and The Wine Advocate,
and syndicated wine columns written by such luminaries as Frank Prial
in the New York Times and Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times (Lon-
don) introduced wider audiences to wine and guided readers in selecting
wines from the seemingly endless assortment being offered.7 Consumers
gained sophistication and confidence in selecting wines and matching
them with foods, often gathering information from the Internet, where
a plethora of Web sites covered every wine-related topic from Amarone
to Zinfandel. Globalization, ordinarily credited with making the world
smaller, conversely made the wine world larger, more interconnected,
and competitive. In the words of Robert M. Parker Jr., the world’s most
influential wine critic, “In less than 25 years, there has been nothing less
than a complete reorganization of the wine universe.”8
Modern medicine was also a major force in promoting wine drink-
ing and expanding the industry’s consumer base. Following in the foot-
steps of Hippocrates, who considered moderate amounts of wine to have
health benefits,9 recent scientific research has extolled the virtues of wine,
especially red wine, consumed in moderation. Studies of the “French par-
adox”10 theorize that red wine consumption may be one of the factors
 The Changing Face of the Wine Business / 19

responsible for the low incidence of heart disease among the French de-
spite their penchant for cheese and cigarettes, while other studies con-
sider wine a source of antioxidants that may prevent or alleviate a host
of ailments associated with the aging process.11 In a professional version
of “a glass a day keeps the doctor away,” one physician has asserted: “In
summary, if there is no contra-indication, consuming wine in modera-
tion is the single most important preventative health measure one can
do other than giving up smoking.”12
In addition to increasing wine’s worldwide audience, augmented
trade created two distinct market segments: a mass consumer market
for wines of reliable quality at reasonable prices at local supermarkets;
and an elite market for fine wines among connoisseurs, collectors, and
social climbers hunting for rare wines at specialty stores, boutique winer-
ies, and auction houses. In different ways, both markets provided new
opportunities for women to influence the wine industry.

SUPERMARKETS AND BOUTIQUES

The introduction of New World wines onto the international scene co-
incided with the global expansion of liquor and beer companies into the
wine business, the consolidation of firms within the wine industry, and
the increased importance of supermarkets as outlets for wine sales. Con-
fronted with stagnation and decline in the sales of their traditional prod-
ucts, liquor and beer companies transformed themselves into alcoholic
beverage firms by buying wineries throughout the world. Diversifying
their products, they moved into new market segments and took advan-
tage of the new and burgeoning popularity of wine. As they extended
their reach globally, they also conformed to consumer preferences for
consistent quality, availability, variety, and reasonable prices. The alco-
holic beverage firms benefited immensely from these moves. They in-
creased market share, reduced agricultural and political risk, guaranteed
a steady supply of quality wines, circumvented outdated local regula-
 20 / The Changing Face of the Wine Business

tions, gained access to local expertise as well as international distribu-

tion networks, and thwarted consumer parochialism that had favored
domestic wines over imported ones.13
Despite concerns that they might dilute their brand image through
expansion, certain large, well-known wineries also entered the moder-
ately priced sector and built their international presence. Relying on a
“halo effect,” premier wineries such as Mouton Rothschild and Mondavi
capitalized on their highly regarded names to expand their product line,
foster global partnerships, and utilize economies of scale and scope
through mergers and acquisitions.14 Large firms starting at the lower end
of the quality and price spectrum, such as Gallo, also sought to gain ad-
vantage in the new market segments, although they experienced more
difficulty than the upscale firms. As one observer noted, “It is much
harder to build a brand from the bottom up, starting with relatively hum-
ble stuff and then trying to convince consumers that you can also make
top-of-the-range wines.”15 Although the fragmented labyrinth of small,
individual wineries did not disappear,16 their importance diminished as
the new wine conglomerates collectively replaced them as the preferred
suppliers of supermarket chains.
Women, who were a majority of supermarket customers, became the
core group of wine buyers targeted by corporate advertising campaigns,
particularly women who were newly independent, health conscious, bet-
ter educated, and career oriented. Capitalizing on wine’s medicinal
benefits, its symbolic status and cachet, and its growing public accept-
ance, wine ads created brand recognition to assist uninitiated consumers
in selecting products, to gain customer loyalty, and to differentiate prod-
ucts on crowded grocery shelves. Still excluded from male-only social and
drinking clubs, women appeared in wine ads to attract female consumers
and to project a fresh, upscale image that appealed to both sexes. A clas-
sic example is the appearance of Gina Gallo in ads for Gallo of Sonoma.
In addition to creating a brand image for these new wines, her appear-
ance distanced them from the more humble wines for which her fam-
ily’s company was famous.17 Ironically, “macho” alcoholic beverage
 The Changing Face of the Wine Business / 21

firms and premium wine companies had to broaden their appeal to

women in order to rescue the wine industry.18
Women’s collective influence on the mass market, however, pales in
comparison to their individual and collective impact on production at
the high end of the business. In the late twentieth century, Old World
and New World female proprietors and winemakers migrated to the pre-
mium wine sector, the best place to be because “growth [was] fastest and
margins [were] fattest.”19 Some ended up there by chance, following the
vagaries of birth or inheritance; others gravitated there as part of the
influx of highly qualified winemakers from university enology programs
such as the University of California at Davis, which graduated its first
female enology student, MaryAnn Graf, in 1965; and Australia’s Rose-
worthy Agricultural College, now part of the University of Adelaide,
which admitted its first female student, Pam Dunsford, in 1972.20
Profitability was only one lure that drew women proprietors and
winemakers to the premium wine sector. This sector had the greatest
need for educated, skilled, and capable people, regardless of gender, to
help meet skyrocketing demand. It also provided an alternative to the
alcoholic beverage companies, most of whom came from a hard liquor,
anti-female tradition that made it difficult for women to advance. In
truth, women had few options other than the premium wine sector to
gain recognition, a stellar reputation, and riches. With society still skep-
tical of their business savvy and still ambivalent about the propriety of
women drinking, female wine professionals associated themselves with
fine wine because they could depend on the quality of their wines to set
them apart and give them status. As Parker put it, “They had no wiggle
room.”
Women thrived in the premium wine sector. Those who inherited or
were in line to inherit prestigious Old World estates in select regions,
such as Corinne Mentzelopoulos at Château Margaux, gained automatic
admission to this sector. Through association with their high-quality, ex-
pensive wines, they attained instantaneous celebrity status with buyers,
predominantly male, who linked a wine’s quality and desirability with
 22 / The Changing Face of the Wine Business

its scarcity and price.21 Initially reliant on their excellent wines to make
them famous, their names and personal marketing appeal eventually
grew to enhance the fame of their wines.
Some women in the New World also inherited wineries of distinc-
tion. Unlike the Old World, however, the New World afforded oppor-
tunities for women entrepreneurs, such as Sandra MacIver at Matanzas
Creek, to establish their own wineries. Male and female owners of bou-
tique wineries hired women as consultants and winemakers. These
wineries avoided the normal retail distribution channels still dominated
by hard liquor firms. Instead, by skillfully limiting supply (artificial
scarcity) and using sales-restrictive subscription lists to sell their highly
rated “cult” or “trophy” wines22 at sometimes absurdly stratospheric
prices, they created a demand frenzy, especially during the economic
boom of the 1990s. Their wines became luxury goods that turned elas-
ticity of demand on its ear—limited supply drove demand upward, along
with prices. Women boutique winery owners became richer; and women
winemakers, particularly the high-profile consultants associated with
wines from several boutiques, became so famous that “now when some
aficionados select wine, they look at the consultants involved as well [as]
the vintage and the winery.”23
The wine world was certainly changing: it now had a more scientific
bent; it had become global; it had developed a mass market, which re-
quired branding and differentiation; and wine had become a collectible
commodity. These changes combined with advancements in society at
large, such as legislation supporting women’s rights and greater educa-
tional opportunities, to benefit women who were in professions outside
the wine industry but were nonetheless positioned to influence it. In the
wine revolution after the mid-1970s, female academics received profes-
sional appointments in enology departments, where they conducted im-
portant research and helped to train and mentor a new generation of
winemakers.
Often educated in the liberal arts, women learned to adapt their
knowledge and talents to the needs of the global wine community. Com-
 The Changing Face of the Wine Business / 23

bining linguistic skills with marketing acumen, many women were able
to bridge the gap between the Old World and the New World to sell
wines globally. Journalists, critics, and experts with superb professional
wine credentials as well as exceptional writing skills educated global con-
sumers with newspaper and magazine columns and with books such as
Wine for Dummies, by Mary Ewing-Mulligan and her husband, Ed Mc-
Carthy; and The Wine Bible, by Karen MacNeil.
Wealthy wine collectors and connoisseurs, mostly male, bought rare
wines for the pleasure of consumption, ego gratification, or snob ap-
peal. Collectors hoping to recoup their costs by reselling wine that had
appreciated24 spurred the growth of auction markets for older or rare
vintages. Such events became a popular way to raise money for chari-
ties. They simultaneously helped to underwrite the careers and enhance
the influence of several women such as Serena Sutcliffe and Ursula
Hermacinski.
Parker states that the revolution in wine was accompanied by a con-
current revolution in restaurants.25 Realizing that great wine lists at-
tracted customers and also added considerably to the cost of the average
meal, restaurants upgraded their lists and hired sommeliers to help din-
ers select the wine that best matched their meal. Upscale restaurants that
once hired only male waiters soon realized that women could also ef-
fectively sell wine to customers (and that female customers might even
appreciate having the wine list offered to them instead of to their male
companions).

. . .
The June 25, 2004, Master of Wine (MW) examination contained the
following compulsory essay topic as part of “Paper 4,” Contemporary
Issues: “In wine, women are more influential than men. Discuss.”26 A
topic that would have been unthinkable twenty-five years earlier could
be addressed in 2004 in a multitude of ways. Women are a force to be
reckoned with as consumers, the backbone of supermarket sales world-
wide. They are on the global wine map in virtually every profession re-
 24 / The Changing Face of the Wine Business

lated to the wine industry. Women are proprietors of great wineries. They
make phenomenal wines. They consult domestically and are in the in-
ternational ranks of the “flying winemakers,” university-trained con-
sultants who export state-of-the-art knowledge and set trends through-
out the world.27 They are distinguished educators, researchers, writers,
and critics. They are successful marketers, auctioneers, and sommeliers.
The wine industry’s growth at the end of the twentieth century not only
opened new avenues for women; it forever altered the relationship of
women and wine.
 chapter three

A Toast to the Past

At first glance, women’s influence in the wine industry seems to be of

recent vintage. Hindered by nineteenth-century traditions that excluded
them from the world of commerce, women did not achieve worldwide
visibility in the wine business until the middle of the twentieth century,
most notably during the past thirty years. Women who worked in the
industry before that time did so behind the scenes in family businesses
and received little, if any, recognition for their efforts.
But a few women did succeed in establishing independent reputations.
Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, A. A. Ferreira, and Penfolds are not just
names on the labels of great wines. They are the names of women who
left an indelible mark on the wine industry in earlier years. These women
were remarkably similar: strong, self-reliant risk-takers with demon-
strable business acumen. Committed to quality and willing to venture
overseas, they had an uncanny understanding of marketing, which en-
abled them not only to recognize new opportunities but also to capital-
ize on them. Although some historians have unjustly attributed their suc-
cess to excellent male personnel, these women deserve to be remembered
as skilled employers with an eye for good talent and as consummate en-
trepreneurs who led their firms from modest beginnings to international

25
 26 / A Toast to the Past

prominence. Their stories provide the historical backdrop for the women
who influence the wine industry today.
Overcoming personal tragedy and simultaneously breaking free of so-
cietal restrictions are themes in the experience of all four of these ma-
triarchs. It is a tragic irony that they had to be widowed in order to
demonstrate their entrepreneurial and commercial talents, sparking the
observation that “far from being half a woman, a widow is the only com-
plete example of her sex. In fact, the finished article.”1
No region of the world has exemplified this better than Champagne.
It has been said that “no business in the world can have been as much
influenced by the female sex as that of champagne.”2 Even if it is not true
that “something in the air of Champagne . . . kills the men off early, and
then infuses the women with this androgynous potency,”3 there is no
doubt that modern Champagne owes an enormous debt to the women
known collectively as the “Champagne Widows.”
The development of modern Champagne is most often attributed to
the blind monk Dom Perignon, whose heightened tasting sensibilities
helped him blend different grapes to enhance the flavor of the wine. But
the clarified bubbly liquid we think of as Champagne owes just as much
to two of the fabled Champagne Widows: Nicole-Barbe Clicquot-
Ponsardin, known as Veuve (Widow) Clicquot; and Jeanne-Alexandrine
Melin Pommery, known as Madame Pommery. Their innovations trans-
formed Champagne from a pale, flat red wine to a clear, sparkling white;
and their sales instincts, public relations flair, and courage made Cham-
pagne the most recognizable and celebrated wine in the world.

VEUVE CLICQUOT

Born in Reims in 1777 to a politically influential family (her father was

the mayor), Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin seemed destined for domesticity. At
twenty, she married François-Marie Clicquot, the heir of the House of
Clicquot, which had been founded in 1772. She became a widow with
a three-year-old daughter in October 1806, when her husband died at
 A Toast to the Past / 27

the age of thirty after a brief illness. Her father-in-law, Philip Clicquot
Muiron, was prepared to abandon the business, which had been experi-
encing financial difficulties. Her first achievement was convincing him
to allow her to continue the House of Clicquot.4
From that time until her death on July 29, 1866, Veuve Clicquot
headed the House of Clicquot. She is credited with three major contri-
butions to the improvement of her firm and the Champagne industry:
developing the process of remuage sûr pupitre; internationalizing the
Champagne market; and establishing brand identification.
The making of Champagne involves several stages of production, in-
cluding two stages of fermentation in order to create its unique effer-
vescence. During the second fermentation, sediment builds on the side
of the bottle that can diminish the clarity and, ultimately, the pleasure
of the wine. The winemaker must remove this sediment before the final
corkage. Veuve Clicquot became concerned about the decanting method
used to accomplish this, believing that it was time consuming and en-
dangered the wine’s effervescence. In 1816, in conjunction with her cel-
lar master (chef de caves), Antoine-Aloys de Muller, she developed what
is known as remuage, or riddling.
In this process, the Champagne bottles are placed neck first (sûr pointe)
into two racks (pupitre) united at an acute angle to form an A or upside-
down V. Each rack contains sixty holes cut to allow the bottles to be an-
gled slowly upward from their original horizontal position to rest at a
45-degree angle. Daily over the course of six to eight weeks, the bottles
are given a succession of quarter turns that force the sediment to loosen
and move slowly toward the cork. Then the neck of the bottle is frozen,
allowing the ice pellet containing the sediment to be disgorged (dégorge-
ment). Subsequently, a combination of sugar and wine or brandy (dosage)
is added to the remaining clarified wine before corkage, to create mod-
ern Champagne.5
There is disagreement regarding the degree of Veuve Clicquot’s per-
sonal involvement in developing this process. Her detractors, including
her male winemaking contemporaries who dismissed her experimenta-
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ad astra!
Abb. 1. 1 Crocus vernus Wulf., f. drebachensis mit Blüte
bis zum Fruchtknoten, frk., längs durchschnitten; s1
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 Die Blüte der Krokusarten ist eingehüllt in ein bis zwei weiße,
hautartige Hochblätter, sogenannte Blütenscheiden (Abb. 1 s1), und
auch die alsbald erscheinenden grünen schmalen, doppelrinnigen,
lanzettlichen Laubblätter sind von einer Scheide (Abb. 1 s2) umhüllt.
Die von altersher bekannte Krokusart: der »Safran«, (Crocus
sativus, L.) besitzt aber zahlreiche solcher scheidiger Hüllen. Nach
dieser heilkräftigen Art Südeuropas hat man alle Krokusarten als
»Safran« bezeichnet, ohne davon zu wissen, daß safara auf
arabisch »gelb färben« heißt. Unser so naturbewanderter Victor von
Scheffel, der »eine kluge Römerfrau ihr Safrangärtlein pflanzen
läßt«, wirft diesen Herbstblüher des Färbesafrans durcheinander mit
dem Lenzesherold des Frühlingssafrans (Crocus vernus Wulf.),
wenn er singt:

Krokus, Sproß des Morgenlandes,

Seltner Gast auf Schwabens Flur,
Zeugnis ewig jungen Frühlings
Und uralter Weltkultur!

Jetzt muß ich einmal »botanisch« kommen!

Lila in allen Tönungen bis zum Violett, auch gelb und weiß sind die
Hauptfarben der über hundert Krokusarten.
 Abb. 2. Krokuswiesen bei Drebach im Erzgebirge

Die schmal-lanzettlichen Blätter und die Dreizahl im Blütenbau

beweisen die Zugehörigkeit der Gattung Krokus zur Klasse der
Einkeimblättrigen, die auch viele andere frühblühende
Gartenstauden mit lineal-lanzettlichen Blättern in sich begreift.
Alles weist auf die Verwandtschaft mit Tulpe und Lilie hin, und der
Botaniker, welcher auf »Ordnung« in seinem Reiche sieht, hat auch
unseren Krokus in die Ordnung der »Lilienblütigen« (Liliiflorae)
eingestellt. Dabei hat er aber bei der Fülle der Gattungen und Arten
in allen Erdgebieten und bei gelegentlicher Abweichung vom
eigentlichen Bauplan drei verschiedene Verwandtschaftskreise,
sogenannte Familien, aufgespürt: Lilien-, Narzissen- und
Schwertliliengewächse (Liliaceae, Amaryllidaceae und Iridaceae).
Während wir bei den Liliengewächsen den grünen mittelständigen
Fruchtknoten im Innern einer jeden Blüte leicht wahrnehmen
können, haben die beiden anderen Familien zum Schutze vor
schädigenden Insektenbesuchern dieses Gebilde unter die
Blütenteile gestellt, so daß wir in dem unterständigen Fruchtknoten
einen Entwickelungsfortschritt sehen dürfen. So tut es auch unser
Krokus, und an genügend entwickelten Blüten kann man den
unterständigen Fruchtknoten an kurzem Blütenstiel, zwischen den
grünen Blättern versteckt, auffinden. (Abb. 1 frk.) Auf ihm sitzt die
langröhrige, sechsteilige lilae Blütenhülle, von denen die drei
äußeren Zipfel schmal und etwas dunklerlila sind, als die inneren
(Abb. 2). An ersteren ist etwa in Höhe der Kronenröhre innen je ein
Staubblatt angewachsen, so daß die Krokusblüte wie all die
schönblütigen Schwertliliengewächse, nur drei Staubgefäße zeigt,
während die verwandten Narzissengewächse deren sechs besitzen.
Vom Fruchtknoten aus erhebt sich, die Kronenröhre durchwachsend,
ein langfädiger Griffel bis an die Staubbeutel oder darüber hinaus
(Abb. 1), welcher an seiner Spitze eine dreiteilige orangegelbe, keilig
verbreiterte Narbe (Abb. 1 n) trägt. Die hellgelben, am Grunde
pfeilförmigen Staubbeutel sind einem weißen Faden angeheftet.
Als nahe Verwandte der Gattung Krokus sind auch die als
Beetschmuck gepflanzten Gladiolen anzusehen.
Diese ganze Verwandtschaft weist hin auf den Süden und Osten
Europas als Ursprungsland, und es gibt tatsächlich im
Mittelmeergebiet und Orient etwa achtzig verschiedene Krokusarten.
Von hier aus haben sie wohl den Gebirgsbogen vom Balkan bis zu
den Pyrenäen besiedelt. Hierunter gehört auch der oben erwähnte
Heilsafran (Crocus sativus), dessen orangefarbene Narbe sogar die
Blütenhülle überragt und unter dem Namen »Safran« von alters her
zum Färben benutzt wurde. Er ist auf Dörfern heute noch ein Mittel,
die Kuchen schön gelb zu färben und ihnen infolge eines
ätherischen Öles einen eigenartigen Geschmack zu verleihen:
»Safran macht die Kuchen gäl!« Zu einem Pfund Safran gehören die
Narben von vierzigtausend Blüten.
Der Name Krokus ist chaldäischen Stammes, wo Kroke »der
Faden« heißt. Dies beweist, wie schon in frühester Zeit die fädigen
Narben bekannt und geschätzt waren, aber nicht bloß in ihrer
färbenden Wirkung; auch eine gewisse Heilkraft schrieb man diesen
Narben zu, und noch immer wird der »Safran« in den Apotheken zu
Salben und Parfüms verwendet. Nannte doch der alte Römer den
Safran »das einzige wirklich gut riechende Ding«. Plinius rühmt von
ihm sogar, daß nach Genuß von Safran der Wein nicht trunken
mache. Daher wohl auch die Gewohnheit, bei Trinkgelagen Kränze
von Krokusblüten zu tragen!
Dies alles gilt von dem im Herbste blühenden südeuropäischen
Crocus sativus.
Es wird uns nun interessieren, welcher Art unser Drebacher
Krokus angehört, und da hat sich nach meinen Ermittelungen etwas
eigenartiges herausgestellt: Infolge der frühen Blütezeit und der
einzigen Blütenscheide (Abb. 1) gehört der Drebacher Krokus
sicherlich in den Formenkreis des Frühlingssafrans (Crocus vernus
Wulf.). An der Stelle, wo die trichterig-glockige Blütenhülle in die
schmale dunkelviolett gefärbte Röhre übergeht, befindet sich innen
ein Safthaarbüschel; die Röhre besitzt also einen bärtigen Schlund
(Abb. 1 sh), im Gegensatz zu dem Krokus des Riesengebirges:
Crocus Heuffelianus Herb. mit glattem Schlund. Nun bleiben noch
zwei Unterarten der Vernus-Gruppe: einmal unsere hauptsächlichste
Gartenform mit ansehnlicher Blüte und einer die Staubbeutel
überragenden Narbe: Crocus neapolitanus Gawl, das andere Mal die
Alpenform mit kleinerer weißer oder lilaer Blüte und einer nicht über
die Staubbeutel reichenden Narbe: Crocus albiflorus Kit.
Unser Drebacher Krokus ist sicher eine von der Gartenform
»neapolitanus« abzuleitende Lokalrasse, hat aber, wohl infolge der
Selbstverbreitung innerhalb bald dreier Jahrhunderte, besondere
Merkmale angenommen.
Er ist durch kleinere Blüten und schmälere Blütenzipfel der
Alpenform ähnlich geworden, und er besitzt nicht die von
»neapolitanus« angegebenen »am Grunde weichhaarigen
Staubfäden«, seine Staubfäden sind kahl. Seine Färbung ist ziemlich
gleichmäßig: Von der dunkelvioletten Kronenröhre zieht sich an
jedem Kronenblatt ein dunkler Fleck nach oben (Abb. 2). Dunkler
sind auch die Spitzen der schmäleren äußeren Zipfel. Ich fand bei
den meisten der untersuchten Pflanzen nur drei grüne Laubblätter
vor, während der eigentliche vernus meist mehr als drei entwickelt!
Die grünen Laubblätter zeigen auf der Unterseite parallel dem
Rande zwei auffallende Rinnen, über welche uns ein Blattquerschnitt
(Abb. 3) am besten Auskunft gibt. An diesem sehen wir, daß das
Blatt in eigenartiger Weise mit seinen Rändern nach der Unterseite
eingerollt ist. Solche Rollblätter deuten auf das Streben hin, das
Innenwasser möglichst wenig nach außen verdunsten zu lassen. Es
ist eine Art Verdunstungsschutz, der für trockene Sommer, aber
auch für den scheinbar feuchten Vorfrühling angebracht ist. Ich sage
»scheinbar« feucht! Die Bodenkälte verhindert nämlich die
Wasseraufnahme durch die Wurzeln, hält also die Pflanze trocken,
so daß die Blätter gezwungen sind, mit ihrem vorhandenen
Lebenswasser möglichst sparsam Haus zu halten.
Nach all dem vom Drebacher Krokus gehörten, ist es wohl
angängig, ihn als eine besondere, im Laufe der Jahrhunderte
herausgebildete Lokalform anzusprechen und ihn botanisch als
Crocus vernus Wulf. forma drebachensis zu bezeichnen.
 Abb. 3. Zwei botanische Seltenheiten in Drebach:
Frühlingssafran, im Volksmunde »Nackte Jungfer«
genannt, darüber die 400jährige »Eibe«.
Aufnahme des Erzgebirgszweigvereins in Drebach
Nun noch einige Worte zur Frage der Verbreitungsmöglichkeit.
Auch die Krokus pflanzen sich, wie andere Pflanzen, durch Samen
fort, welche nach einem Befruchtungsvorgang entwickelt werden.
Zur Befruchtung muß der Blütenstaub aus den Staubbeuteln auf die
dreiteilige Narbe gelangen. Hier muß dies Stäubchen auskeimen
und einen seidenfeinen Keimfaden (Pollenschlauch) in den mit
Samenknospen erfüllten Fruchtknoten senden.
 Abb. 4. Vorfrühling in Drebach
Beim Eindringen in die Samenknospen spielen sich noch
geheimnisvolle Teilungsvorgänge ab, und erst dann ist die zur
Frucht- und Samenbildung nötige geschlechtliche Vereinigung
erfolgt. Wie aber gelangt der Blütenstaub auf die meist höher
stehende Narbe? (Abb. 1 n). Bei unserem Krokus könnte es nur
durch Zufall mit eignem Pollen geschehen. Die lange, honigerfüllte
Kronenröhre deutet darauf hin, daß die langrüsseligen
Schmetterlinge beim Saugen des Nektars die Übertragung des
Blütenstaubes besorgen. Aber bei der frühen Blütezeit sind die
erwarteten Falter wohl ganz seltene Blütengäste, so daß eben eine
Samenbildung meist unterbleiben wird. Allerdings kann die lange
Kronenröhre bis zum Überlaufen mit Honig gefüllt sein, so daß auch
Bienen und Hummeln, die ersten Frühjahrsbummler der
Insektenwelt, mit ihrem kürzeren Rüssel zu Gaste gehen können.
Trotz alledem wird wohl eine Samenbildung, sicherlich aber auch
eine richtige Samenreife äußerst selten sein. Es wäre jedoch
wertvoll, wenn Drebacher Ortsbewohner Beobachtungen anstellen
würden, ob etwa im Juni die dreiklappige häutige Kapsel mit ihrem
schlaffen bleichen Stiel und ihren zahlreichen kugeligen Samen im
Grase dieser Krokuswiesen aufzufinden ist. Undenkbar ist es nicht,
zumal ja auch Selbstbefruchtung in den Blüten eintreten könnte.
 Abb. 5. Teilaufnahme der Drebacher Krokuswiesen
Die im vorhergehenden Aufsatz ausgesprochene Vermutung, daß
eine Verbreitung der Pflanze auf ungeschlechtlichem Wege durch
die Knollen erfolgt, ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen.
 Abb. 6. Krokuswiese in Stürza bei Stolpen
Die neue Knolle, sogenannte Verjüngungsknolle, sitzt der
abgeblühten Knolle obenauf (Abb. 1 Ek) und müßte sich derart der
Bodenoberfläche immer mehr nähern, wenn nicht Wurzeln sie
herabziehen würden. Es ist aber möglich, daß einige so nahe der
Oberfläche gelangen, daß sie beim jährlichen Rechen der Wiesen
oder durch reißende Niederschlagswässer herausgerissen und über
die Wiesen verbreitet werden.
 Abb. 7. Krokusblüte im Schloßgarten zu Moritzburg

Daß auch Maulwürfe zur Verbreitung beitragen können, zeigt eine

Bemerkung von Schoenach, der bei Bad Schartl (Vorarlberg) auf den
Maulwurfshügeln Hunderte herausgewühlter Krokusknollen sah, die
beim Breitziehen der Haufen oder auch durch Regengüsse
weitergeführt werden und derart zur Verbreitung der interessanten
Pflanze beitragen.
 Abb. 8. Krokuswiese in Langenwolmsdorf
Auch anderwärts hat in Sachsen durch gelegentliches Anpflanzen
einzelner Krokusstöcke im Laufe der Zeit eine starke Verbreitung
stattgefunden, so daß wir auch außer Drebach ganz nette, wenn
auch nicht so umfangreiche Krokuswiesen besitzen. Wir finden
solche noch im Moritzburger Schloßpark und auf einer Gutswiese
von Langenwolmsdorf sowie von Stürza. (Abb. 6–8.) Vor kurzem sah
ich eine Krokuswiese an der Grenze zwischen Ober- und
Niederbobritzsch bei Freiberg, welche ebenfalls eine recht
kleinblütige Form führte. Bei der sehr interessanten, etwas
legendenhaften Erzählung von den, Herrn Pfarrer Rebentrost in
Gnaden gewährten drei Pflanzenarten: Krokus, Eibe und Vogelmilch
(Ornithogalum umbellatum) würde es von Wert sein, zu wissen, ob
noch Aufzeichnungen, Briefe oder Urkunden bestehen, welche diese
Mitteilung stützen könnten.
Es will mir bedenklich erscheinen, daß Professor Reichenbach in
seiner vor etwa hundert Jahren erschienenen Flora Saxonica den
Drebacher Standort nicht nennt. Unwahrscheinlich mutet es mich
auch an, daß in dem kurfürstlichen Garten unter den Heilpflanzen
die Vogelmilch aufgenommen war, von welcher mir bisher keine
Heilwirkung bekannt geworden ist[1]. Im östlichen Erzgebirge steigt
diese Pflanze nach meinen Beobachtungen zu Höhen von 450 Meter
empor, im westlichen Erzgebirge scheint sie allerdings seltener zu
sein, doch gibt Reichenbach einen Chemnitzer Standort und Frisch
in der Flora des Pöhlberggebietes einen solchen vom Geyersdorfer
Weg an.
Mag sich nun die von Herrn Ficker gebotene wertvolle historische
Anmerkung durch Urkunden bestätigen lassen oder nicht, sie macht
uns den reizenden Lenzesboten des Drebacher Krokus sicherlich
noch lieber, und die Freude an dem lilaen Blütenteppich der
»nackten Jungfern« des lieben Erzgebirgsdörfchens soll uns kein
Zweifel verkümmern!

Fußnote:
[1] Die früher zu Heilzwecken gebrauchten »Wurzeln von
Ornithogalum«: radix Ornithogali waren von Gagea, dem
Goldstern, und zwar von den Arten lutea und arvensis.
 Grenzland
Von Dr. Alfons Diener von Schönberg
Bilder von Max Nowak, Dresden

Wenn die Eisenbahn von Flöha flußaufwärts sich durch das enge
Tal gewunden hat – so eng, daß nur auf kurze Strecken noch Platz
für eine Fahrstraße neben den Schienen zu finden war –, tut sich
plötzlich kurz vor der Haltestelle Blumenau ein weiter, lieblicher
Talkessel auf. In vorgeschichtlicher Zeit ist er ein See gewesen,
dessen Wogen weithin an waldige Ufer schlugen. Aber im Laufe der
Jahrhunderte hat sich sein Abfluß immer tiefer in den dammartig
vorgelagerten Gneisfelsen hineingefressen, sein Spiegel sank, und
heute bedecken Wiesen und Felder den Grund, während grüne
Wälder die Höhen säumen.
Inmitten so geschenkten Bodens hat sich dann bald der Mensch
angesiedelt, und die windgeschützte Lage hat ihrer immer mehr
hierher gelockt. Bei einer Windung des Zuges sieht man zwischen
Bäumen schon Gebäude hervorlugen, ein Dach hinter dem anderen
hebt sich empor, die Häuser rücken enger zusammen, ein Kirchturm,
behäbig und stark, reckt sich zum Himmel und fleißige Essen lassen
weißen Rauch in die Lüfte wehen: Olbernhau. Das streckt sich
weithin talauf, aber da nimmt den Blick die ferne Höhe gefangen, die
im Südosten das Tal zu schließen scheint. Winzige weiße Häuschen
schimmern enggedrängt vom Kamme herab, und nadeldünn sticht
ein Turm in den blauen Himmel: Katharinaberg mit der Franz-
Joseph-Warte. Aber so eng das völkisch mit unserem deutschen
Lande verbunden ist, wir wissen: Dort herrscht schon der Tscheche.
Jäh überkommt einen das Gefühl von der Bedrängnis deutscher Art,
und man senkt den Blick, ihn ausruhen lassend an dieser Stätte
deutschen Wesens und deutschen Fleißes hier. –
Der Zug strebt weiter flöhaaufwärts, Neuhausen zu. Aber der
Wanderer, der hier in Olbernhau aussteigt, findet eine Fülle des
Lockenden, so viel, daß er erst kaum weiß, nach welcher Richtung
des weiten Tales er die Schritte lenken soll.
In solchem Schwanken gibt es nichts besseres, als sich des
schönen Wortes zu erinnern, das Gerhard Platz geprägt hat: Vom
Wandern und Weilen im Heimatland. Nur wer zu weilen versteht,
wird recht wandern und nichts abseits liegen lassen, was des
Anschauens wert ist.
Also verweile man hier, bis talauf und talab der weite Grund
durchwandert ist. Das rührige Olbernhau zeigt so recht, wie neues
Leben sich neue Form geprägt hat. Noch vor dreißig Jahren eine
kleine beschauliche Landgemeinde, die sich eng um das den Kern
bildende Rittergut am Markt schmiegte, ist es jetzt eine Stadt von
zwölftausend Einwohnern, die ihre Arme in Gestalt langer Straßen
an den Hängen hin schon bis zu den Nachbardörfern ausstreckt.
Schade, daß bei der Stadtwerdung im Jahre 1902 die prächtige
Baumallee der Freiberger Straße dem Ehrgeiz, eine »städtische«
Straße darzustellen, zum Opfer fiel. – Die unschönsten Gebäude
sind, wie überall, wo der Aufschwung in den neunziger Jahren
einsetzte, Amtsgericht und Reichspost: Aus rohen Ziegeln nach
rohem Schema roh erbaut. – Von Altem ist nicht viel mehr
vorhanden, nur wenige der alten Häuser stehen noch, so besonders
am Markt, wo aus steilen Dächern lustige Reihenfenster blitzen. Und
der Kirchturm steht noch so rund und gemütlich da, wie er um 1590
erbaut wurde, und wie ihn Theodor Körner beschrieb.
Der kam als junger Bergstudent von Freiberg gar oft hier durch,
um im kurfürstlichen Kupferhammer Grünthal, der alten
»Saigerhütte«, Studien zu machen. Eine halbe Wegstunde
talaufwärts liegt dieses alte Werk, heute zu einer bedeutungsvollen
Anlage erweitert, und vom alten Eingangstor, mitten zwischen
kleinen Häuschen und großen neuen Gebäuden, grüßt noch das
kursächsische Wappen. Aber wo Körner einst durch einsame
Wiesen und Felder wanderte, begleiten heute Reihen von Häusern
den Weg.
Dicht hinter dem Kupferhammer steigen Felsen steil empor, und
von hohem Hange grüßt eine Kirche weit ins Tal, den Blick auf sich
ziehend. Unwillkürlich kommt es einem in den Sinn: »Droben stehet
die Kapelle«. Steigt man hinauf, so lohnt ein Blick von lieblichster
Weite: Nach Westen das Tal mit Olbernhau, darüber dunkle
Fichtenwälder in immer höher sich schiebenden Kulissen, im Süden
der Eingang zum Natzschungtal, unweit dessen die schwarzen
Türme und Halden des Anthrazitwerkes herüberdrohen. Nach Osten,
zu Füßen der Waldberge von Rothenhaus, leuchtet aus grüner Matte
das seltsam langgezogene Reihendorf Brandau, und weiter oben
thront wieder Katharinaberg. Aber schon Brandau ist böhmisch und
sein guter alter Name heute in Brandovo umgewandelt. Die Flöha,
die hier unten dicht am Berghange fließt, ist Reichsgrenze.
Ein Gefühl, als ob man hier oben unabhängig von Grenzen sei, die
Menschenhand gezogen, überkommt einen an der Kirche, die so frei
hinüberschaut ins andere Land. Und dies Gefühl mag auch die
Männer beseelt haben, die als erste sich hier niederließen.
Emigranten aus Böhmen waren es, die um ihres protestantischen
Glaubens willen die Heimat verlassen mußten, da ihnen der
Westfälische Friede dort keinen Glaubensschutz gewährte. Mit dem
breiten Strome heimatloser Flüchtlinge, der sich damals nach
Sachsen und weiterhin ergoß, kamen auch acht Familien aus der
Herrschaft Dux herüber. Sie fanden in dem Besitzer des Rittergutes
Pfaffroda, dem Berg- und Amtshauptmann Caspar v. Schönberg,
einen gütigen Förderer, der ihnen kurz entschlossen hier ihm
gehöriges Land gegen eine geringe Summe (wir würden heute
sagen: ein Bezeigungsgeld) abtrat. So entstand hier im Jahre 1651
die erste Siedlung, die zum Danke für ihren Gründer und Förderer
den Namen Oberneuschönberg erhielt. 1658 und 1669 erhielt sie
weiteren starken Zuzug aus Böhmen, was den Erzbischof von Prag,
Fürst Waldstein, so verdroß, daß er sogar dem Kurfürsten Johann
Georg mit Repressalien drohte. Aber hier, jenseits der böhmischen
Grenze, galten die glaubensschützenden Bestimmungen des
Westfälischen Friedens. So konnten die Heimatlosen Heimat finden
und 1659 erst eine hölzerne, 1692 dann an gleicher Stelle eine
steinerne Kirche bauen. Mit Absicht mögen sie sie so hart an die
Grenze gestellt haben, daß sie wie eine Burg ins böhmische Land
hinüberragte, und ehern mag zum erstenmal von hier das Lied
hinübergeklungen haben: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott! –
 Abb. 1. Olbernhau. Kirche am Marktplatz
Talab von Olbernhau liegen zwei Dörfer ähnlichen Namens:
Nieder- und Kleinneuschönberg. Auch hier gab Caspar v. Schönberg
das Land an Exulanten, auch hier bewies er die gleiche Fürsorge für
ihr Wohl, indem er alle drückenden Abgaben fernhielt und sogar
(1655/59!) Gewerbefreiheit und Freizügigkeit gewährte. Noch stehen
in den drei Neuschönbergischen Dörfern mehrere der alten
Wohnstätten, die die ersten Ansiedler errichteten, kleine Häuschen,
die grad Unterkommen für eine Familie boten. Und es ist
charakteristisch, daß sie fast alle dort errichtet sind, wo ein Felsen
zutage tritt – kleine Burgen endlich gefundenen Friedens – eine
Versinnbildlichung des Wortes:

Wer Gott dem Allerhöchsten traut,

Der hat auf keinen Sand gebaut.

In sanftem Bogen windet sich durch Kleinneuschönberg die Biela

der Flöha zu. Ihr Name verrät, daß, wie so oft im Gebirge, ehe dort
Ansiedlungen entstanden, die Slawen den Wasserläufen die Namen
gegeben haben. Man sieht es dem unscheinbaren Bächlein nicht an,
daß ehemals Perlen darin gefischt worden sind. Noch 1912 wurde
eine Muschel mit einer rosa Perle hier gefunden, und wenn ihr Wert
auch von Fachleuten nicht hoch geschätzt wird, dem Heimatfreund
ist sie zehnfach wert. Die alten Valen sollen diesen Reichtum genau
gekannt und auch nach goldreichem Sand gesucht haben. Aber die
Nachrichten darüber verlieren sich in sagenhaftem Dunkel.
Es lockt, der Biela zu folgen und nicht gleich nach Olbernhau
zurückzukehren. Freilich führt ihr Lauf durch feuchte Wiesen, und
man tut besser, der nahen Straße zu folgen, die abwärts nach
Reukersdorf führt. Da steht man dann erfreut vor dem dortigen
Gasthof »Zum Erbgericht«. Ein prächtiges Beispiel heimatlicher
Bauweise in Fachwerk, an dem auch die echten erzgebirgischen
Schiebefenster, für jeden Wind unangreifbar, aus Gründen der
Heimatliebe noch erhalten sind.
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