The Wine Collector

Another theory?
'Collecting' is a male pastime, whether it's baseball cards, stamps or wine. Women buy wine to share with friends and family, so storing it away seems wasteful when you can enjoy it.

although how does that fit into the ancient theory of men being hunters and women being gatherers?

Thoughts:
I think it's tied into culture,money and age. We in America don't have a history of wine as part of our socio-cultural norm. It would be intersting to see statistics on female collectors in countries that have had wine as a part of eveyday life. Wine is still considered a luxury in the U.S.. Women still don't make as much money as men, therefore have less disposable income.Lastly,by your own information, the age range for collecting is "male, 40>. Women of previous generation historically have not had financial control. As younger women are increasingly learning more about wine and attaining financial independence, I think we will see more women entering the realm of wine collecting.

Being a female collector under 40, I can attest to the lack of other women wine collectors. It appears to be jointly related to prestige/wealth and to a lesser degree lack of role models. As one blogger noted, women tend (still) to make less then men of comparable age therefore, disposable income is less available. Also noted was how women also prefer to display their wealth in other ways: jewelry, designer clothes/accessories, plastic surgery. Both these points have been made above.
However, one missed point is that women have fewer role models in the oenophile world. Perhaps similar to the historically male culinary arena, women are only beginning to be seen in numbers in wine circles...not as drinkers but as serious players, competitors and influences. The very few female Master Sommeliers is a testament to this. Yet, as more women see other women chose the field, not as a dalliance but as a serious occupation and interest, they will follow in each others' footsteps.

Woman with the means to collect wine would be too busy spending time organizing their closet full of shoes and dresses. Their closet is their wine cellar. I.E. their first love (refering to a hobby)

I started a wine group in Boston a few years ago for women and it grew to 40+ members since. We were mentioned in food and wine mag as well. this month i started my second group Salem MA wine women and run both I also this week launched my website bostonwinewomen.com I am looking for women to talk about their wine experiences on the forum on this site and their collecting experience since I just started my wine cellar.