If wine competitions gave awards for witty comebacks, Walsh Family Wine’s “What Will The Women Drink?” would win hands-down.

During a 4-wine vertical of previous vintages of WWTWD, Walsh Family Wine co-owners Nate and Sarah Walsh shared the event that inspired this wine.

The story started not long after they got married; at the time, Sarah was working as a wine importer and Nate as the winemaker for Sunset Hills. Around 2013, they started discussing the possibility of a passion project, where she could learn his side of the business and he could learn hers.

Fast forward a number of years, this ‘passion project’ became a full-on winery – Walsh Family Wine, which opened in 2019.

During their opening day, Sarah was confronted by a patron who asked her, “Excuse me, but are you the owner? I have some advice I’d like to give you”… and he proceeded to explain to Sarah how she should run her business, not letting Sarah get in a word.

Eventually this guy looks around and asks, “Exactly where will you be putting your wine slushy machine?”. Sarah tried to laugh it off, insisting they would never get one. Then the man looked at her, and with zero irony asks, “But what will the women drink?”.

This comment would be bad enough if it was an isolated incident…but it’s not. Sarah has heard versions of this story for her entire professional career selling high-end wine. During many of her visits to places like Napa, winemakers almost always cater to a male demographic. Rarely are big, bold reds marketed to women.

Later recounting the story to her family, she told them, “I want to make this big, bold, dark red blend, and I’m going to call it “What Will The Women Drink?”.

Her family was like “Yeah! That’s a great idea!” (she doesn’t think they believed her).

Then Sarah followed up with, “And I’m going to charge men more!” and they’re like….”Well…maybe not this part, but we love the idea of a What Will The Women Drink? wine!”.

WWTWD is not only marketed towards women, but it also supports women in need. Part of the wage gap of every dollar spent on WWTWD goes to a women’s rights group. This year, Walsh is supporting Women Giving Back, a local non-profit.

5 Vintage WWTWD Vertical

Walsh shared 4 vintages of WWTWD. I made it a 5-vintage tasting, as I brought a 2017 of my own.

• 2017 WWTWD (40% Petit Verdot, 40% Tannat, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon): This wine needed time to open up. But once it did, oh boy! The 2017 was hitting that ‘old world’ phase, with notes of forest floor, mushroom, and or/earth the palate. Rich nose.

• 2019 WWTWD (55% Petit Verdot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Tannat): A bit higher in alcohol, with more red fruit on the plate.

• 2020 WWTWD (45% Petit Verdot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Tannat): The nose was more muted compared to the 2019. More black currant on the palate. It was very approachable, probably because of it was relatively lighter year for reds.

• 2021 WWTWD (45% Petit Verdot, 40% Tannat, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon): More bramble fruit on the nose, black fruit on the palate. Notes of graphite and purple flower. Very graceful; my favorite of the evening.

• 2022 WWTWD (67% Petit Verdot, 21% Tannat, 7% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc): This seemed a little young and still tight. This was my least favorite, although my neighbors absolutely loved it.

My rankings (from most to least favorite) were 2021 (because of its approachability), 2017 (because of its old world qualities), 2020, 2019, and 2022.

We also tried some younger wines; a 2024 Bethany Ridge Merlot, 2024 Cab Franc, and a 2024 Tannat. All are potential components of the 2024 WWTWD blend.

Women Giving Back

We also heard from a representative of “Women Giving Back”, a non-profit based in Sterling that provides clothing and other accessories to women in crisis, many of which are survivors of domestic abuse. It was a powerful speech.

Speaking right to the audience, co-chair Dave Baer rhetorically asked, “How do they get their lives restarted? What’s the basic thing to give yourself a little self-respect and dignity?

Where are they going to get their clothing when they are leaving their homes in the middle of the night, being escorted by a police officer?

Women Give Back started by doing clothing drives throughout the DMV, donating gently used clothing to women vetted by social service organizations. These women can come in and shop at no cost to them and pick up anywhere from 50-75 clothing items, ranging from children’s items to professional attire.”

Women Giving Back has recently expanded their footprint, not only servicing abused men but also partnering with Loudoun Hunger Relief and LAWS Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services. This allows this grouping to provide a comprehensive approach to which now includes clothing, emergency groceries, and counseling.

The event also included an auction, which included a Salmanazer of WWTWD (the equivalent of 12 bottles), a 4-wine WWTWD vertical, a magnum of donated from Early Mountain Vineyard, several WWTWD magnums with limited-edition labels, and other gifts provided for the auction.

To top it off, all WWTWD profits from this evening were donated to Women Give Back, including the proceeds from the auction. The event resulted in $4K in donations.