Wine entrepreneur Angela Mount is used to sexual discrimination in her
business – she was once given just a few glasses to taste at a winery
because the owner thought that would be enough for a woman.
“I went to Italy on one of my first buying trips. The owners have about two
hours to impress you and it’s standard for them to bring out between 25 and
130 wines for you to choose from,” she said.
“I walked into the third winery, which was a fairly large producer, and they
only had eight wines out there. I said ‘is this all you produce?’ The reply
was: ‘We didn’t think you’d want any more because you’re a woman.’ Needless
to say, they didn’t get my business!”
Mount, 42, famously had her taste buds insured for £10 million when working
for supermarket giant Somerfield, and was widely credited with
revolutionising wine on the high street by making quality wine accessible to
the masses. She now runs her own business, which includes independent wine
information website www.lovethatwine.co.uk,
consultancy for major companies and television presenting. She regularly
works with top chefs, including Gordon Ramsay and Antony Worrall Thompson.
Mount travels around 20 times a year to areas of the world that produce wine
– particularly South Africa, California and South America – to test wines on
behalf of clients.
Have you had any more difficult situations?
I was once in South Africa with a male wine writer. We’d both been to a very
remote winery four hours north of Cape Town and were staying with the owner
and his wife. At breakfast the next morning, the writer got up to help with
the plates and was told very firmly ‘sit down, that is women’s work!’ The
poor man looked very embarrassed and I just kept my head down.
It sounds like an industry in the dark ages
These episodes are some time ago and it is different now because there are
more women in the industry. Those of us who have a high profile in the
business have earned our spurs and are respected. But when I was in my early
20s, going on buying trips and telling producers that I basically didn’t
like their wine, then it was difficult.
What other adventures have you had?
When I travel to South America, I tend to get stuck in countries that I’m not
meant to be in. I went from Chile to London after a 10-day trip and had to
refuel in Sao Paolo, Brazil. An engine then exploded on take off and we had
to spend the night in Brazil. They were offering to take us to Rio de
Janeiro for the weekend and I just wanted to go home! I rang from Brazil and
my husband thought I’d arrived early at London – he didn’t even know I was
going to Sao Paolo. There were a few expletives on the phone! Then my
four-year-old came on the line and said ‘Don’t worry Mummy, we’ll come and
get you from Brazil in the car’, and I burst out crying. Another time, I was
meant to be flying Santiago-Buenos Aires-London, but got diverted to Uruguay
because there was a fire in the control tower at Buenos Aires and we
couldn’t land.
How do you travel to Europe?
I use the Eurostar, the Tunnel and often
get no-frills flights from Bristol. You don’t need much for a short trip.
