From Chardonnay Girl To Shiraz Chick

Women are different to what you expect. They like red wine for some crazy reason. The world, and Al Murray, pub landlord, profess shock and awe...

First major women and wine survey overturns perceptions
April 2, 2009

Maggie Rosen and Erica Loi

The first comprehensive survey of women’s attitudes toward wine has overturned several perceptions.

Thank goodness. If we didn’t have these regular surveys we’d surely have to invent them. As it is my sorry ass is far too complacent and my preconceptions need to be shaken and stirred.

Over 4,000 women in the UK, France, Japan, Germany and the US responded to a survey commissioned by Vinexpo, revealing a preference for red wine and skepticism for marketing campaigns that target them specifically.

Local polls were conducted on magazine websites in each country, including decanter.com and livingetc.com in the UK.

Among the more surprising results were that women prefer red wine to both white and rosé

(no!),

drink at least once a week

(NO!),

and consider wine compatible with a balanced diet.

(NO!!)

‘The image we had of Japanese and American women, especially, was that they prefer white wine. It was a surprise that this is not true,’ said Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo.

Bang - there goes my idea of serving you a pint of Pinot Grigio on Monday.

And shatters my graven image of Japanese women preferring sake and American dames subsisting entirely on diet coke, But what do I know about national stereotypes? I derive my opinions of far eastern culture from the Mikado and Americans from watching endless reruns of Friends.

He was particularly pleased with the response of 79% of women who said they drink wine because they like the taste – as opposed to its compatibility with food or fashion status, calling it ‘extraordinary’.

I would say “utterly astounding”.

I can’t believe they drink wine because they like the taste of it. It is beyond the mind of mere mortals to comprehend a theorem of fiendish complexity.

Of the 1300 UK-based respondents, 80% choose the wine for their household, with price as the main criterion, followed by varietal and country of origin; and 54% said they were undeterred by government warnings.

As many as that?!

Ah, the old choosing-wine-for-one’s-household-statistic. And many of those households would be singleton, Bridget Jones-esque pads. I think we should be told. Anyway, it looks like the preferred female quaff is £2.99 vatted Merlot a litre from Transvulgaria.

‘Bang goes the stereotype that women in the UK go for light, white wine,’ said Decanter publishing director Sarah Kemp, who presented the results with Sara Norrman, managing editor of Livingetc, the UK’s leading home lifestyle magazine.

No more Chardonnay girl, it was Shiraz chick all the time. Rather than crying into their Colombard, women are being maudlin in their Montepulciano.

‘But probably the most interesting result was that they aren’t influenced by government health warnings. Clearly the “sledgehammer” approach doesn’t work.’

Ya think? Since government ads seem to portray women turning into incontinent gibbering sluts after a snifter or two when they should be saying: “Yo, woman, yo can’t afford this”.

Shock – women have a mind of their own. Of course, men, the other race on the planet, totally comply with every government health warning.

Consultant and presenter Angela Mount said other results – notably that women continue to be more price-led than brand- or quality-led - were worrisome, with only 10% choosing wine over £9.99 a bottle.

It is because their purses don’t hold enough coins.

‘The UK is a nation of promotion junkies,’ she said.

… And I started that trend!

‘I’ve stood in the supermarket aisle, watching women take wine off the shelf, and if you ask “what did you buy”, they say “I don’t know, whatever’s on offer”.

Or cos it’s a got a pretty label. Women, eh?

To be a woman is something so strange, so confusing and so complicated that only a woman could put up with it.
Soren Kierkegaard

For a more amusing, better-written take on the fluff of surveys please follow the link below:

http://www.timeout.com/london/big-smoke/blog/7235/How_to_drive_a_woman_to_drink.html