SIPS & TIPS
WINE IS FOR THE PEOPLE
SOMMELIER RAE WILSON SHARES HER THOUGHTS ON WINEMAKING AND HOW TO MAKE IT TRULY ACCESSIBLE FOR EVERYBODY. BY TORI KLEIN
When reflecting on her career in winemaking, Rae Wilson says, “Life can surprise you in a lot of ways.” The sommelier, photographer and former musician shares, “I definitely had some surprising turns that I just embraced. You can end up where you never thought you might be, but that’s some of the beauty in life.” Wilson started her company Wine for the People in 2014, originally functioning as a consulting business and now solely focusing on producing wine.
What has it been like to be a woman in wine? It’s been a challenge, especially on the production side. The wine industry is incredibly vast, but generally where you see women is in marketing and sales. While that’s great, it would be ideal to have women in every part of the industry. We have been greatly underrepresented and haven’t been given the same opportunities. In the first couple places I worked, I was met with a lot of resistance. I had to fight for my spot—I couldn’t just show up and do my job but had to spend a lot of time proving that I deserved to be there. Now, with being my own boss, I get to define how I work and how I do things. I’ve actually found a really great supportive and open community here in Texas and feel like I can see the contributions we make to this fresh, young market. 56 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2021
Photos by Manda Levy of A Fine Grain.
What inspired you to start Wine For The People? At that point, I had a lot of experience studying wine and winemaking. Seeing restaurants that needed professionals to consult with them and train their staff was a driving force. Also, on the consumer level, there is a lot of formality around wine, which is very different from the most traditional regions associated with winemaking. It’s not an elitist beverage in Europe or associated with an upper class in other parts of the world. Because of that association in the U.S., people here often feel overwhelmed or intimidated by wine. I wanted to find ways for people to be able to approach it more openly. Making wine more accessible, whether in a restaurant or in a consumer fashion, was really important to me. I wanted to show people that yes, winemaking is a fascinating process and can be endlessly interesting, but enjoying wine can also be as simple as “Do you like it? Great.” If you enjoy it, we don’t have to talk about its origin or its history or its climate. But if you want to turn it into a lifetime obsession as I do, then you can.
