Wine, Women and Globalization: The Case of Female Sommeliers

This chapter concerns the gendered nature of wine, and does so by considering how wine globalization processes are themselves highly gendered. It begins by considering how over history women’s relationships to wine have been structured in often restrictive ways. Against this background, it goes on to investigate the gendered dynamics of both wine consumption and one particular realm of wine professionalism, namely the changing role of the sommelier. The chapter presents and discusses interview material with a range of women working as sommeliers in different European cities. It shows how globalization processes of various sorts have facilitated the entry of women into this previously strongly male-dominated profession. How these women negotiate ways of dealing with customers wo often operate with gender expectations, including which forms of dress are adopted in professional settings, are considered, as are the complex ways in which trans-national fashions in wine impact upon, and in turn are contributed to through, these women’s professional practices.

Almila co-edited The Globalization of Wine