“Wine, Women, and Song”

Post-World War II Americas grew up with the hilarious television image of Lucille Ball crushing grapes with her bare feet. Audiences of all ages, to this day, continue to laugh as they watch Ball walk, run, fall, and fight her way through a grape-filled vat. Remarkably, this classic episode of I Love Lucy can also be used as a comedic parody of the role of American women in the economic, cultural, and social persona of wine. Across the centuries, male winemakers and enthusiasts relegated women to roles in food service and hospitality that enhanced viniculture. More importantly, this combination of wine and women took on a sexual guise whereby men [Page 290]entrenched women into wine roles as servers, hostesses, and seductresses that can be best ...