On August 9th, the “Virginia Women in Wine” (VWW) professional organization launched its inaugural event at Eastwood Farm Winery in Charlottesville. The soiree was equal parts an award ceremony for a trio of women trailblazers, a networking event, and a celebration of the hundreds of women who work in Virginia’s wine industry.
The group traces its beginning to the unlikeliest of places; a movie night for a small group of women who share a passion for Virginia wine but might otherwise may never have met.
In explaining the origins of VWW, founder Nancy Bauer told the audience of 160 attendees, “What started five years ago at a movie night at Glass House Winery is now hundreds of women across the state. Since then, an ever-growing passel of wine women – most of whom hadn’t met each other before – has been getting together at informal wine dinners. That movie was awful but the company was amazing. It was just for fun – but when women get together, electricity happens.”
Nancy was initially reluctant to turn these casual gatherings into a professional organization. After all, the local wine industry already has a number of industry associations, albeit ones focused on marketing or research.
Yet none of these organizations focus on the ‘human capital’ side of the wine industry, much less one specifically for women. The dearth of such an organization seems especially ironic considering two-thirds of the workforce at Virginia wineries are women, yet this demographic has traditionally been underrepresented in leadership positions.
Nudged on by her friends, Nancy slowly explored the idea. As she wrote on the group’s website, “Buzzing from each of those memorable evenings, the group asked: How to capture this energy? How to channel it? Make it meaningful and lasting?”
Understanding Why “Virginia Women in Wine” Is Important
Even a quick look at the wine industry demonstrates the need for organizations such as VWW.
According to 2021 data from the Zippa career website, only 17.8% of winemakers nationwide are female, and there’s a significant pay gap between male and female winemakers. Not only that, female entrepreneurs who might otherwise enter the wine industry are less likely to find support, for reasons ranging from a lack of networking opportunities, difficulty securing bank loans, or outright discrimination.
Even finding a full-time position in the wine industry is difficult. Most Virginia wineries are small, family-owned businesses with slim profit margins. While this makes landing a job difficult for both men and women, female talent face additional obstacles to stay in their chosen profession.
Winemaker Chelsea Blevins of Fifty Third Winery shared her own observations on these challenges.
“On top of the financial difficulties of getting into this industry, there are very few local wineries that can afford to offer real benefits to their employees. This is a dangerous job; I’ve gotten hurt multiple times and without insurance, it’s just too risky.
The wine industry also needs to learn how to handle pregnancies. I’ve known many talented women leave the industry because they wanted to start a family and the winery just couldn’t afford to handle the maternity leave or function without them being out for that long.
Add in tasting wine, climbing ladders, and running industrial equipment, this job isn’t ideal for expectant mothers.
If we want to bring in more women and keep them in the industry, we really need for more wineries to be able to offer a real career level position.”
The Mission of Virginia Women in Wine
Chelsea was able to obtain the support of fellow winemakers during times of injury and pregnancy, but not all are so lucky. Scenarios like these are exactly when a professional network like VWW most comes in handy.
According to their website, “The mission of Virginia Women in Wine is to strengthen the Virginia wine industry by creating women-led media and marketing ventures, by providing networking opportunities that lead to improved winery operations and career advancement of its members, and by funding projects that generate important discussions and raise the bar for the continued advancement of Virginia wine.”
Fundraising has already gotten off to a strong start. Twenty-six wineries and businesses have contributed as Patrons and Founders to the launch of Virginia Women in Wine, raising $52,000 thus far.
The organization has a few upcoming initiatives, including:
- The VWW Trailblazer Award, which so far has recognized Lucie Morton, Emma Randel, and Felicia Warburg Rogan for their work in viticulture and founding some of Virginia’s first wineries.
- Drafting a white paper, Closing the Gender Gap in Winemaking.
- A number of retreats, wine dinners, and social events, including a “VWW Weekend” running from November 1st – November 3rd.
- Coming up is the VWW Leadership Institute; an all-expense paid learning retreat for ten of the industry’s next generation of wine women leaders.
Membership is open to all in the Virginia wine, wine-tourism, and wine retail industries. To join, go to https://virginiawomeninwine.com.
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