L'art de vivre est souvent lié au vin et aux voyages. Et fabriquer un grand vin c'est comme construire un beau voyage, il faut du savoir-faire, de la passion et beaucoup de sensibilité. Julie Brosterman, fondatrice de Women & Wine a réussi dans ce domaine l'alchimie du vin, des femmes et des voyages !!! Je vous propose aujourd'hui une interview Julie Brosterman, fondatrice de Women & Wine, un superbe projet autour des voyages et du vin.

Women & Wine, can you tell us the story and some information about you ? Since 2000, I have had my own consulting firm specializing in strategic biz development and start-ups for the mortgage and real estate technology industries. Basically, taking bricks and mortar businesses and bringing them to the web to meet the challenges of the changing environment and the increased use of technology in that space. Very specific - but I had 12 years experience working with major corporations in that arena and decided to leverage my contacts and knowledge to 'do my own thing'. I have lived in LA since 1983 and am married to the same man since 1982. We have no children and one dog. Last Nov. 27, 2004, I read an article in the NY Times that said that women were traveling together in the luxury niche - mostly spa and adventure travel. It intrigued me and I thought why isn't anyone doing this for women to go on trips to wine country where they can learn and share an experience that will create lifelong memories. I did some research and realized that there was an opportunity to create a company that would be the 'go to' source for custom luxury travel to wine country for women. I don't know if it was "Desperate Housewives meets Sideways" but the media just ran with this story. I took a few steps back and realized that while girlfriend getaways were of great interest to everyone, that the story was a lot bigger than this. Statistics were coming out that said that women buy more than 60% of all the wine sold in the US and 80% of that is in the supermarket. Most large wine companies here in the US were starting to create labels specifically targeted to women (White Lies and other sweet, pink, lite wines). I realized that there was no one talking to women on the web about their love of wine and travel and decided to go back to the drawing board and re-launched our website on November 1, 2005 as a lifestyle community for women who love wine and travel. Even if you can't travel with us, you can bring the experience home.

Women & Wine is a « passion business » ? a dream com truth ?
Personally, I love traveling to wine country. There's something about sitting at a table out of doors with a loaf of bread, some good olive oil and other goodies and drinking something that's made in that place that creates a memory for me that lasts a lifetime. We have such a minimal connection here in our daily lives with food - how it's grown, the places it comes from - and we take it all for granted. To me wine is about a person and place that brings a story to what's in the bottle. It's all very powerful.

Starting this business wasn't a dream but it has become one. First, I have met and connected with some amazing women all over the world who like what we are doing and have come out to support our efforts. Second, locally, I've got a great team of women who are dedicated to making this happen - we have a very strong corporate culture - open communication, trust and nurturing of each other to be the best and bring the best of ourselves to this effort. Third, I hate the whole idea of large companies making anything that they think should be specifically targeted at women. I don't mind shaving with a pink razor but the idea of drinking the "Virginia Slims" of wines is really something that raises my blood pressure.

I want women to find their own voice in wine the way they do with everything.

Some american women created cool, great and very special travel web site. I think about Tango Diva , France Monthly and Paris by Design. We donÂ't have that in France, do you think american women have a more business spirit ? I happen to know the person who started Paris by Design and she started the site out of a love and a passion for sharing what she loves - Paris - with other people to make their travel there more meaningful. I don't know the people behind Tango Diva but I think that they have really struck a chord with their site. Women in the US take on a lot of responsibility. Whether they are married or not, mothers or not, they are used to being the nurturers, the care givers - or at a job, the one who takes on more than they should or volunteers to do something that they know needs to be done without necessarily getting paid for it. Starting a business as a woman seems a very natural thing to me - I know that I probably am seen as a super entrepreneur for doing it - but I really think that it more comes down to my own personal confidence that I knew that I could get it done. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to start Women & Wine. "When the shoe fits - wear it!"

For Wine & Food, do you think Men are from Mars and women are from Venus ;-))
When I first started researching whether there was an opportunity in this space, I met with one of the most knowledgeable and well respected people in the wine industry in the US - Karen MacNeil of the Professional Wine Program at the Rudd Center at the CIA at Greystone in Napa. She has her own tv show and also consults to large companies about wine. She described to me how women's taste and smell is much more intense than a man's and that they actually taste wine differently then men do. They have a greater ability to connect taste and smell to a memory. There is scientific evidence that supports this.

Men buy wine because of the score - women buy wine because of the story. Men buy wine to store. Women buy wine to share and enhance an experience. I don't know if that's Venus and Mars but a lot of information that is available in the US about wine is all about the score and W&W will always be about the story.

What is your experience with Women & Wine ? Women drink a lot of wine but they usually claim they don't know a lot about the wine they drink. They are incredibly curious about it and don't like the fact that they feel so insecure in a restaurant with the wine list or in a store making a choice (from the hundreds being presented). Our travels with women has shown us that it doesn't take a lot of time and women feel much more confident about making a choice and knowing what they like and dislike - and it is very empowering. They are also more open to trying different types of wine and are surprised to find that while they might always drink white at home that they like red wine selections better during meals and tastings.

What your are your taste for : Wine : I'm a French red lover - not the big bordeaux wines but the Cote de Rhone, Loire, type, which is why I like Pinot Noir and Syrah more than Cabernet. I'm really a lover of Spanish and Italian Reds and like Sancerre and Sauvignon Blanc for my white choices. Travel : I follow my stomach. We recently did a food lovers tour of Vietnam. Really amazing country - food that knocked our socks off - great people. Travel destination : I'm dying to spend some time in South America - Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay. It's amazing that I haven't been. Also South Africa and Spain...and of course France....we're also doing some trips to British Columbia and Canada with W&W as the wine scene there is really getting some legs and the scenery is spectacular. Cooking : I make dinner at home a lot. Every Sunday my husband and I go to our local farmers market and buy all of our produce and then we can eat home during the week. Our dinners (even the ones we have along) are usually a couple of hours. Our house is Women & Wine headquarters. I love having people over for dinner and I usually make something that can be done in one pot and heated up as the guests arrive - coq au vin, seafood stew, etc. Cheese at dinner is a must. I'm not a sweets person but most of the W&W women are - so I've been learning a bit about chocolate lately.

Do you plan to extend your Wine destinations. I see you have some great place in France but only 4 destinations area. What about the new country or area wine destinations ?
We are going to put up New Zealand, Germany, Hungary next and have added a lot of trips under our Travel Offers section that are already planned itineraries for people to join a group or do on their own.

What about membership, itÂ's only and exclusive for women ?
We actually don't have any restrictions on who can become a member and quite a few men have signed up. They also have inquired through our Trip Planner about traveling with us. We recently did a deal with a villa company in Sonoma and will be partnering with others around the world as I think it's a great opportunity for people to experience a place with either extended family, friends, couples, etc. W&W was never meant to exclude anyone but rather give people another option for travel. And, if women do the work planning the trip, they should get to decide who gets to go!

Do you have international members ?
So far only from Canada. The company is so new that we haven't really set out to make ourselves known abroad yet but we do here from people all over the world that they have found our site and like it so we need to do a greater outreach this year.

You have the micro !!! Planning a trip is a lot of work. Our goal is to take the hassle out of travel and recommend the best trip given the age and personal interests of our clients. So many times you review a travel itinerary in a brochure and say you like what they have planned for about 2/3rds of it but want to revise the rest. This way we can tailor the trip exactly to your specifications and also provide guidance and unique - priceless - experiences that they wouldn't get on their own. We're excited about all of the interest and the most rewarding part of all of this is getting such positive feedback from the winemakers themselves. They like what we are doing and want to be a part of this effort. There's a lot going on so we have a section of the site called Today's Sip that changes regularly to update everyone on new happenings, etc. We're really excited that some very important women in the wine and travel industry have supported what we're doing. It's Sunday here and my husband is impatiently waiting down in the kitchen for me to finish this so we can go off to procure our vegetables and fruits at the Hollywood Farmers Market. It's quite a scene - it goes for about 7 blocks and there's food to eat as well as raw ingredients. In spite of the fact that it's 70 degrees outside today, the produce clearly says winter - great yams and oranges and other root veggies. I think it might be a great night for a North African stew that I make with sweet potatoes and garnish with cilantro, lemon and hot sauce over couscous. I think it's time to go.... Merci Julie de nous faire découvrir les voyages et le vin avec le regard et la sensibilité féminine. Je vous invite à découvrir le site Internet et les services de Women & Wine.