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MANAGEMENT Alta Vista Vineyards in Sonoma, Calif., as well as her position as North Coast wine manager for the distributor Southern Wine & Spirits. "I've been selling wines for over 30 years, and in that time I've had a chance to observe many differ- ent things about the way women sell wine," she explained. "Women tend to have more patience, and to be more detail-oriented when dis- cussing things like the vinification of wine. It's also been my experi- ence that women have a better sense of when to cut to the chase and get in there to actually sell the wine." Julie Brosterman of Women & Wine points out that women want to know the stories behind the wines they drink. Liz Thach, a management and business professor at Sonoma State University in its Wine Busi- ness Institute, pointed out that women's sense of taste also sur- passes men's. "This has been prov- en in several studies," she said. Thach recently completed a study which demonstrates the way the two genders sometimes have a very different approach to wine. "Men and women often drink wine for the same reasons," she said. "They enjoy the taste, it goes well with food, and it helps them relax. Women, however, prefer to drink wine more for social reasons, whereas men like to talk about the technical aspects of wine – how it is made, how it's scored, and so on." And by the way, she added, men are generally willing to pay more for a bottle of wine. SALES TECHNIQUES The ability to market wine suc- cessfully may call on certain charac- ter traits that are associated more with women than men. Carolyn Mulas has a particularly broad view of the subject thanks to her involve- ment in diverse aspects of the wine world. The numerous professional hats Mulas wears include a part- nership in Mulas Family Wines and WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM Carolyn Mulas evaluates a flight of wines during the International Women's Wine Competition. What explains these gender- related differences in behavior? "Well, this is strictly my personal take on it, but I think a lot of women try to please, and this is a trait that can make someone a good sales- person," Mulas said. "Something else that makes women different is that we're not so hell-bent on being right all the time!" She also pointed out that women don't give up easily. "A man is apt to say, 'Oh well, I went there and did my thing and it didn't work out, so that's that.' A woman in the same position will more likely persevere. Maybe it's just that we have a point to prove, but whatever JAN - FEB 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 127