Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/62507
OCT OBER NEWS Women Winemakers Go Online S New website details career paths for women in the wine industry anta Clara, Calif.—According to Dr. Lucia Albino Gilbert, a professor of psychology and counseling at Santa Clara University, women serve as the lead or primary winemak- er at only 9.8% of California wineries. Gilbert's new website, womenwinemakers.com, intends to illuminate the career path- ways of California's female winemakers and their contributions to the wine industry. The searchable, web-based resource claims to represent com- prehensive and accurate information about the number of female winemakers in California, their locations, their accomplishments, the wineries they work at and the evolution of their careers. Material on the nonprofit educational site is continuously up- dated. Its goal is to assist women interested in winemaking and help those already in the industry to progress in their careers. As an academic psychologist, Gilbert studied women's career paths with emphasis on dual-career families and the balance be- tween work and family life. Early in her research, Gilbert was surprised when she asked col- leagues who were knowledgeable about wine or tasting room per- sonnel if they knew of any female winemakers. "Time and again the response was, 'Hmmm, women winemakers. I am sure there are some, but I just don't know of any.'" Winemakers Shannon Gustafson, Amanda Cramer and Dorothy Schuler (from left) attend a summer gathering in Paso Robles, Calif. This was Gilbert's call to action. "I finally had to resort to check- ing every book I could find that listed the names of winemakers, talking with faculty at UC Davis and using the Wines & Vines list of wineries to search winery websites and create my own list." In the future, the project may expand its geographical focus to include women wine- makers in Oregon and Washington. —Kerry Kirkham winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "women online." Wines & Vines OCTOBeR 2011 21