The wine industry's top leaders worked from the bottom up

A woman felt her palms get sweaty as she walked into a traditional fine wine store, with dark, beautifully carved wooden shelves lined with expensive wine bottles from around the world. She had read about a particular bottle from Burgundy, France, and wanted to buy it, but being a wine novice, she began to feel anxious about having to ask for the bottle. As one of the store associates, decked out in a jacket and tie, approached her, she began to question her outfit: jeans and a T-shirt. “Can I help you?” the man asked, and the woman yelled, “Sorry, I'm in the wrong store!”, running out of the corner, catching her breath. This was a moment many people, male or female, have experienced when visiting a fine wine store or having to deal with an overwhelming wine list at a restaurant.

But interestingly, one of the top leaders in the U.S. wine industry is breaking down many of the stereotypes about what a traditional wine professional should be and what path one must take to achieve such status.

Work first, then dreams

Annette Alvarez Peters began working in the audio merchandising department at Costco almost 40 years ago. Instead of going to college, she went straight to work after high school and found a company that promoted employees willing to work hard and make sacrifices to become one of the best in the specialty retail industry. Of the 37 years she worked there, she spent 25 years as vice president and general merchandise manager in the beverage alcohol division, eventually leading a team in the U.S. that generated $4.8 billion in sales worldwide (2019). At the time, wine information was not as readily available to the general public through the internet as it is today, so she felt she needed to “level up” and took wine classes at WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) and the Wine Education Institute.

Over time, she became one of the most influential wine buyers in the world, playing a key role in introducing wine to a wider consumer base and making the United States one of the most important wine-consuming countries in the world. But from the beginning, Annette worked consistently for decades, and over time, she became part of a retailer that was creating a more approachable and comprehensive wine-buying experience for American consumers.

Don’t get boxed in

Others have found their way into unconventional wines, each with their own map and suited to different situations.

Wanda Mann, East Coast Editor of The Somm Journal and Founder of Wine with Wanda, attended prestigious schools such as Phillips Academy (Andover) and Pomona College, which has one of the lowest acceptance rates of any liberal arts college in the United States, and had different expectations than the path she ultimately chose. While some thought she would become a lawyer or pursue a corporate executive position, she pursued her passion creating and promoting high-profile events in New York City, eventually becoming one of the leading figures in the wine industry. “Everyone's path into wine is different, but our paths shouldn't be the same; that's what gives this industry its richness and texture,” Wanda explained.

Another leading woman in the wine industry tried to become a lawyer, but after college, she says, “the pace of that kind of work just wasn't for me.” Currently, Mandy Osar has been the owner and wine director of Ardesia Wine Bar in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, for 13 years. She encourages people to talk to as many people as possible in different areas of the wine industry to find where they belong, whether it's sales, retail, restaurants, writing, or anything else, as each has its own unique qualities, and points out that even just 15 minutes of honest conversation with someone who works in that field will give you an idea of ​​whether it's the right fit for you.

Mandy was able to learn the inner workings of the restaurant industry through her former boss, who served on the board of City Harvest, a local food rescue organization. Although she never imagined working in that environment before, she quickly realized it was a “great fit.” There was something about being surrounded by “food, wine and hospitality” that really drew her to it, Mandy explains. Prior to opening Ardesia, Mandy worked alongside Chef Eric Ripert and co-owner Maggie Le Cosé at Le Bernardin, a four-star restaurant rated by The New York Times. As Director of Strategic Partnerships, she oversaw and managed Chef Ripert's business operations for over nine years.

As a business owner, she has always valued her staff very much, but during the pandemic, she realized she wasn't making the most of the talents of each and every one of them. When the chef was unavailable, she and her manager had to take over the kitchen duties, and when staff were absent for weeks, she would have someone from the kitchen take over the front of house duties. The biggest lesson she learned from the pandemic was that as a company, they had a “pretty rigid view of how roles should be set up and what people should do,” which Mandy believes is not only bad for creating a dynamic environment, but also terrible for overall morale. She believes that employees are more likely to be “happy” and “more satisfied” with their jobs if they aren't boxed in.

Raised in an alcohol-free household, Jirka Jireh moved to New York to dive into the world of hip-hop, initially working as a food runner in a restaurant. Luckily, she was invited to wine tastings by a few wine directors, and gained some wine knowledge. Over time, she realized that wine had everything she loved about hip-hop: creativity, rawness, and real stories. A few years ago, she left New York and headed to the West Coast to become an advocate for “BIPOC and LGBTQIA+.”¹ She advocates for “representation among the nation’s natural winemakers” and is also the co-founder of Industry Sessions, a digital wine education program exclusively for marginalized populations in 14 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

“Seeing a room full of people who look like me and have the same passion as me, my heart filled with love,” Zilka enthuses, because she knows firsthand that if you don't see yourself in the wine world, it's never even considered as an option. While her main mission is to seek representation for underserved communities, her overall passion is to connect deeply with people who don't look like me or come from different backgrounds, and to create a healthier and more equitable wine industry where people's fates are no longer decided by a handful of gatekeepers. The old idea that you have to struggle for the gatekeepers in the wine world, which sometimes forced people to choose between their dignity and their career, is being broken by the younger generation. Zilka points out that you can learn anything on the internet, and platforms like TikTok can provide a safe way to learn about wine without feeling humiliated, so you don't have to go to a wine class where you feel inferior because of your background.

With recent investigations revealing that some gatekeepers in the wine industry demand sexual favours from women in exchange for educational opportunities and career advancement, it has become imperative to create alternative paths to success, not just for women but also for the men who have been ostracised for speaking out against such egregious behaviour.

Allowed to dream

The path to a wine dream varies greatly from person to person, some starting at a young age with no formal education, others starting a second career after 20 years working in a completely different industry, and still others never dreaming of it in the first place because they just couldn't see themselves in that world.

Annette Alvarez Peters is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow at Costco, ultimately becoming one of the most influential wine buyers in the world. “Working at Costco was the best time of my life,” Annette said, noting that it was a big decision to leave a few years ago after 37 years there. She loved it, but the long hours and the many sacrifices on weekends and holidays meant she had to prioritize her personal life. However, as she embarks on a new phase of her life by founding her own wine consultancy, Annette AP Wine and Spirits, Inc., and taking on a mentor role on the advisory board for Wine Unify, a nonprofit that promotes and celebrates diversity in the wine industry, she begins to rethink how her dream came true. It was because she was empowered and educated by Costco that it came true, and in return, she was a loyal employee who always gave her what the company wanted from her.

But now she has time to reflect and understands how important it is for the wine industry to be open to all, not an exclusive club, and to build an infrastructure that rewards hard work and passion. She still remembers how “intimidating” and “overwhelming” wine seemed, so she wants to be a part of making it more accessible to those willing to put in the work. And in the long run, it will not only create a more ethical work environment, but it will also help companies find the ideal candidate who will eventually take the position of power. As in the past, the perfect candidate may have been stuck in a dead-end job, working hard, because they never imagined themselves in that world, in that position. The person loses, the company loses, and the wine industry loses because of a situation that doesn't allow them to dream.

This article was inspired by a discussion at Winebow Imports’ Women in Wine Leadership Symposium (WWLS) held on January 24th.^NumberIn 2022, it will be held via Zoom.