Cheers, it’s finally wine o’clock, thinks single mum Katarina as she tucks her son into bed with his favourite story, then reaches for the prosecco bottle to get her through the lonely night ahead. During the global pandemic, working mum Dianne joked with her girlfriends about taking up daytime drinking to help her cope with home schooling her tribe of three. These women are not alone.
Many women, particularly those who are middle-aged, are pouring glasses of wine to signal the end of the workday. A ritual, they say, that helps them to relax and unwind.
There’s no doubt the wine market is skewed to the feminine palate — blokes will pour a beer while slapping each other on the back and cheering on their favourite footy team. Wine for women, on the other hand, is often about a get-together with the girls or a reward after a tough day of juggling their responsibilities. For some, it’s a soothing balm for sadness.
The mum wine culture has an underlying premise that a glass or two of wine will help to solve problems, ease burdens and numb feelings of failure when a woman may have dropped one of the many balls she’d been juggling that day.
A brew or few?
Across the board,
