After writing a collection of profiles on women in the wine industry, Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste and Enjoy Wine, Brenner founded the Women of the Vine wine brand, a collective of women winemakers from California, but none of this really pushed the needle to the degree she’d envisioned.
According to the Women in the Workplace 2019 report by McKinsey Insights, men occupy 62 percent of manager-level positions, while women hold just 38 percent, according to survey participants. While this isn’t a figure tied specifically to the alcohol beverage industry, Brenner wanted to raise awareness on this reality, but she says it’s “not something that’s necessarily talked about.”