April 19, 2018

Thor’s Well: Devil’s Churn Pinot Noir

I’m learning a lot about Norse mythology.  Adding a valkyrie as a main character to one of my novels has given me a great learning experience. 

It turns out, the Norse have some great stories.  Valkyrie are butt kicking female warriors who put most of my fictional vampires to shame.  Pity I hadn’t discovered them sooner.

On the subject of butt kicking female warriors…being a female business owner isn’t easy.  When I first came into my industry, most of the men I worked with assumed I was there as my husband’s arm charm.  Getting anyone to talk to me (without first talking to my husband) at a trade show was virtually impossible.  And let me tell you what their faces looked like when they realized I understood electrical wiring in amplifiers and tone woods in acoustic guitars.

It’s gotten better over the years, respect is earned, female owners are becoming more common.  I even had a female sales rep for a while – the first I can remember working for a guitar company. 

Sometimes the males in my industry have trouble following the leadership of a lady.  There’s a fine line between high heels and getting your hands dirty cleaning the bathroom.  Be pretty enough to be the face of the business, but not too pretty.

The world continues to get better.  I never felt held back – only that women don’t gravitate to jobs in the music industry.  I’ve never had a door shut in my face, nor been looked over because I’m a woman.  I only had to make it clear that I’m here to do business, not to look pretty while my husband talks about tubes.  This was more a product of groupies than hateful owners overlooking women.

Thor’s Well has a cool name.  Devil’s Churn is even better.  Unfortunately, the wine is a Pinot Noir, and at the end of the day it isn’t to my taste.  I tried, really I did.  But if you love a light, gentle red, then give this one a try.