Julie Brosterman's most vivid memories have been made around a table. Often, there's a spectacular view — like the one from her Hollywood Hills home — and always fine food and wine.
Ever since her stint twenty-five years ago as a pour girl for Kevin Zraly's illustrious Windows on the World Wine School, wine has been Brosterman's "hobby." It was inevitable that after a career as a business-development consultant, she would create Women & Wine to educate women about the grape. "Many women are too overwhelmed to enter a wine shop, preferring to buy their wine in supermarkets," says Brosterman. "About all they know is white for fish and red for meat."
Since its founding, in 2005, the company has morphed into a lifestyle purveyor — for both women and men. Beyond its Beverly Hills shop, Wine Valet; its wine club; and its online resources, Women & Wine designs wine-related experiences for individuals, groups and organizations. One such weekend was orchestrated in California's Santa Ynez Valley wine country for a sextet of friends. The group met women vintners and sampled their wares; visited the Wine Cask, a restaurant and bar in Santa Barbara, to learn about building a relationship with one's wine merchant; and even practiced spitting wine — out the barn door of the Sanford-Benedict Winery — during a tasting.
Women & Wine has planned a trip to Mendoza, Argentina, from February 11 through 18 for Masters of Food & Wine, South America, an annual event that celebrates the region's culinary heritage. The itinerary will include visits to area vineyards whose wine is rarely exported. womenwine.com.
—ANDRÉA R. VAUCHER
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