Cynthia Coutu is on a mission: to teach women what wine they like and why.
The Quebec native moved to Paris in her twenties to pursue a series of careers including art history, coding, and the OECD. But all the time, she was nurturing a love for and understanding of fine wine, after being taken under the wing of a local caviste, or wine seller. Her “wine epiphany” came on a fishing trip to a remote part of Canada, while drinking a bottle of Château Haut Brion specially selected by her caviste, and drank it under the Northern Lights, with a belly full of fresh-caught trout.
After losing her job at the age of 50, tired of corporate shmos, Coutu decided it was time for her and wine to make it official. She turned to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, which provides a 4-level globally-recognized certification in wine education, paving the way for sommeliers and wine experts worldwide. “The more you learn about wine,” she says, “the more you realize there is to learn. Because it touches on everything: culture, chemistry, agriculture, history, you name it.”
At a tasting hosted by Femmes et Vins de Bourgogne, the subtle gender dynamics of wine were explained to her. “Men tend to be more interested in the technical information, like the methods of vinification, the grape varieties, and they use their knowledge as power.” Whereas women, in mixed company, are “either intimidated or bored.” This distinction gave Coutu the idea to host women-only tastings, to see if this could be remedied. When teaching young women looking for mentorship, and befriending empty nesters looking to give back, she realized that wine could be a great excuse to bring these women together in an informal networking environment.
Hence, Delectabulles was born, Paris’s first women-only champagne club.
The more she delved into it, the more sense it made to set aside a space just for women. About three-quarters of all wine is purchased by women, yet women make up only about a quarter of the world’s wine experts. So by educating women in this sector of the economy that they are the driving force behind, Coutu jokes, “I empower women one bottle of champagne at a time.”
So why champagne? Well, aside from being the most technical subcategory of wine, and a favorite of women everywhere, it’s all about the terroir. Spanish cava, she explains, is made the same way, yet the land is what makes the difference, with France’s colder climate producing a crisper, more acidic product.
Of Champagne, she notes that, “Every single war that’s been fought on French soil has impacted the region, and it’s created people who are very resilient… There’s a lot more history, and learning about it has made me respect the region and the wine even more… A lot of the other sparkling wines, especially those from the New World, don’t have as much history.”
Though champagne is her specialty, she does give a shoutout to some other favorite sparkling wines, like France’s crémant, or those produced by Benjamin Bridge, in her home country of Canada.
After kicking off, Coutu started hosting Delectabulles events like a “50 Shades of Pink” rosé class, and “Yoga and Champagne” (she claims that yoga “opens you up” to tasting). Next came weekend retreats at Michelin-starred chateaux with visits to small women-owned vineyards.
When COVID-19 hit, she had to adapt to Zoom classes, like the popular “Bubbly Badasses: Women in the History of Champagne,” before moving to summer outdoor events like “Bulles et Boules,” a champagne tasting/pétanque outing, and vineyard hikes and cycling trips in harvest season. Quarantine, though a trying time for all, has helped her build her online presence among those not able to travel currently, but who have definitely bookmarked her company for future visits to France.
Coutu makes clear the difficulties of being taken seriously among men in the wine industry, and sometimes literally being the only woman at the table. “I think the average older French man would have a hard time with what I do,” she says, noting the importance of instilling self-awareness in the young men she teaches so that they don’t take the same attitude. She explains the importance of representation in these fields, saying, “The more women you see publicly, the more you learn about stories about the women behind the bottles and wine companies, the more you realize oh, okay, they can do it.”
Some favorite women-led wine organizations of hers are La Transmission, a group of 9 women estate owners and leaders in the Champagne region; the Belgian group Women Do Wine; and The FIZZ is Female, an event series organized by the founder of New York Champagne Week, Blaine Ashley.
Stay tuned for more Delectabulles events on their website, with upcoming webinars including lessons on holiday-centric food pairings for champagne, as well as “Sparkling Wines from Around the World.” Gift certificates will also be available soon, for anyone looking to get something special for a traveller or wine lover to put towards online events or future trips.
And one last tip from our champagne guru: when debating over a flute or a coupe this holiday season, opt for a white wine glass instead to get the most out of your bubbly.
