Comments on: A bit on Sarah Valor of Oakland’s Commis restaurant

By: jyadegaran

jyadegaran — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:32:10 +0000

If we don’t highlight the differences in gender lines in the work force, then when will women make the same salary as men for performing the same job?

By: ~Steele

~Steele — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:32:35 +0000

Dear Jessica,

I know many AND since African Americans and Blacks account for 13.5% (+/-) of the population mainly concentrated in the South and South East, it’s no surprise that here in the West there aren’t a plethora of African Americans and Blacks in the local wine industry.
Again, my point to you is that by focusing your articles on racial or gender lines is to perpetuate a division between people. Wine is one subject matter that is almost universal and is a great uniter of people. I have been intimately involved with wine for 23 years and have never seen anyone who wanted to learn pushed away because of thier race or gender and I take issue with people re-hashing the sins of our grandfathers.

By: jyadegaran

jyadegaran — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:50:44 +0000

Let me ask you this. How many African American wine industry people do you know?

By: ~Steele

~Steele — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:52:00 +0000

O.K. so HOW is it newsworthy? If female applicants are up, that means that the industry isn’t discriminating against women en masse – my point. So, you choose to focus on a group that has broken through a proverbial “glass ceiling” that really wasn’t there in the American wine industry after the early 80′s anyways. So, to do a story on women sommeliers is just as relevant as doing a story on male sommeliers – both non-issues as to “gender-fy” wine industry participants is irrelevant. Further to the point, wine is worldwide and ethnically diverse already. So, again, segmenting in this manner (gender, race) is moot.

By: jyadegaran

jyadegaran — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:23:17 +0000

Because it’s newsworthy. The number of female applicants for the wine exams has quadrupled in the past 10 years. It’s newsworthy and timely to ask why. When we used to think about ethnic and racially diverse leaders in the wine industry, particularly in California, the image of an Italian guy coming over to make cheap Zin was what most people imagined. Those days are over. People from different backgrounds bring different food experiences and palates to the scene, which keeps it interesting.

By: ~Steele

~Steele — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:14:21 +0000

So, why the subsets? Will you do a subset on white men in the wine industry? My guess is “no.”

By: jyadegaran

jyadegaran — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:30:39 +0000

The next one will be on African Americans in the wine industry.

By: ~Steele

~Steele — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:03:50 +0000

Dear Jessica,

I look forward to your next series on Gay, Albino, one-legged sommeliers as I suppose that would be the next feature for someone who likes to gender-fy wine issues!

~Steele

By: jyadegaran

jyadegaran — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:49:18 +0000

Rosanne – thank you very much for your comment!

By: Rosanne LaVoy

Rosanne LaVoy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:15:33 +0000

As a female Certified Sommelier and restauranteur I especially appreciate your closing statement in the article. A true wine professional on the floor is not about ‘selling’, we are there to gently guide in order to enhance the experience of the customer. My wine mentor/teacher (a Master) instills in his students the importance of removing the fear and intimidation customers experience when ordering wine at a restaurant. In my experience, women sommeliers excell in this arena.