The night was young, but Diane Ellis Biggs had already sipped a glass of cabernet sauvignon, enjoyed a slice of chocolate cappuccino cake and contemplated having a free chair massage. Now she was standing next to her sister Patricia Ellis in the tasting room at Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, eyeing the paperwork involved with becoming a wine club member.

"So," she said, playfully nudging her sister in the elbow. "I guess this means we're not going to Acapulco's for margaritas?"

No, and those Cosmopolitans are starting to look pretty unlikely in a that's-so-2001, "Sex and the City" sort of way, too.

These days, women are instead doing their just-us-gals conversing, comparing and commiserating over glasses of vino — and, more specifically, over glasses of vino at women-only wine-tasting events.

At least, that would be the logical conclusion drawn by anyone looking at the growing list of places where such events are available. Herzog started offering its once-a-month, Girls Night Out mix of merlot and massage in May. So, too, did the Thousand Oaks shop WineStyles, where attendees of themed, monthly Ladies Night festivities get their wines poured to a retro disco beat. And at Weaver Wines in downtown Ventura, unofficial "members" of MADAME have no trouble living up to the group's name: Marvelously Awesome Divas Associating Mondays & Enology.

"Enology is the study of wine. Some people prefer to spell it o-e-n-o-l-o-g-y, but that o' would have messed everything up," store owner Seana-Marie Weaver explained with a laugh.

And that's just in Ventura County. Inspired by statistics that point to a growing interest in wine among women, those in the business of making and selling the stuff are stepping up efforts to welcome female customers into what has long been viewed as all-male territory.

But for the women who attend them, are women-only tastings and similar events more about friendships and "getting away with the girls" than they are about wine?

Mars, Venus and vintages

Perhaps — and that's not necessarily a bad thing. According to the 2006 Adams Wine Handbook, women now purchase more than 57 percent of the wine sold in the U.S. When doing so, they tend to be less impressed by wine ratings than men, instead judging the product by label design, bottle shape and the philosophy of the winery.

The divide between the sexes is as obvious, and perhaps as anecdotal, as a side-by-side comparison of the Wine Spectator and Girlfriend Getaways. The former includes as a regular feature a column accompanied by a portrait of two middle-aged white guys in suits, standing in the proverbial wine cellar. But almost every issue of Girlfriend Getaways magazine contains a story about bed-and-breakfast options at small, family-owned wineries, illustrated by sunny images of multiethnic, 21-to-40-something women playing amongst the grapevines.

Back at Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, Barbara Suelter was sitting at a table in a room adjacent to the winery's gift shop and tasting area, chatting with her daughters, Becky, 23, and Mina, 22.

The younger women had been asked to show ID at the pouring table. Now they were sipping chenin blanc and cabernet sauvignon with their mom, and with tablemates Lupita Lopez, Hilda Fernandez and Sylvia Garcia, a group of co-workers letting off some fiscal-year steam.

"I have no idea what I'm drinking," Barbara Suelter said with a laugh. "I just wanted to take the girls out for a treat, just for ourselves. The wine is a nice little bonus."

Of matriarchs and merlot

Who needs the Red Hat Society when there is red wine to be had? That might be the rallying cry of Divas Uncorked, widely recognized as the mother of all women's wine-tasting groups.

The self-described "sisters who sip" started with a meeting of 10 African-American women at the Boston-area home of information technology expert Stephanie Browne in 1998. They went on to form a consortium to help wineries better serve, and market themselves to, women and people of color. They also have established a wine-studies scholarship and teamed with Mendocino Wine Co. to produce a chardonnay under their own label. The inaugural Divas Uncorked Wine and Food Festival took place this weekend at Martha's Vineyard.

In Ventura County, women-only wine events are comparatively modest affairs.

Last month, more than 70 women showed up to eat chocolate and sip "Tobin-tinis" (made with Tobin James Cellars' zinfandel and sparkling wine) at WineStyles in the Janss Marketplace.

"It's a chance to have fun and to let your hair down with your girlfriends, without having to get all dressed up," said owner Pia Washington, who opened the woman-founded franchise location in December. Another plus: "It's an atmosphere they can feel safe in. You don't have to worry about getting hit on," she added, laughing.

Seana-Marie Weaver opened her combination wine store, lounge and gift shop in downtown Ventura in July 2005. When female customers asked for a tasting night to call their own, she created MADAME as an antidote to Monday Night Football.

To mark Weaver Wines' shift from open-to-the-public shop to private-party site, Weaver hangs a red-and-white MADAME MONDAY sign on a chalkboard positioned on the sidewalk just outside. She then locks the front door at 6 p.m., the store's regular closing time, and unlocks it again as soon as she sees a woman approach.

Open to experimentation

Once inside, the ladies of MADAME aren't limiting themselves to the usual white zinfandel. During a recent gathering, Weaver and her staff poured Napa Valley cabernet from Twenty Bench and Serenity, a white blend from Brassfield Estate Winery. They also made sparkling wine "cocktails" called "girl-tinis."

The once-a-month focus on women aside, Herzog, WineStyles and Weaver Wines all have regularly scheduled wine tastings that are open to anyone age 21 and older.

At Weaver Wines in particular, patrons have the option of renting a wine-storage locker in the adjacent, temperature-controlled Giordano C-Street Cellar, named for loyal customer Anthony Giordano. With its wall tapestries and atmospheric lighting, the room is the ideal place to open a bottle for some semiprivate sipping with friends, Weaver noted.

But during MADAME, it also is the perfect place to enjoy a chair massage.

Her hair still mussed from her time with the masseuse, Aimee Sanchez summed it up: "Women need this, to be able to relax and get away from their daily life and children and husbands and pets and housework."

No boys, or wine snobs, allowed

Women-only wine tastings are regular events at these Ventura County spots.

Herzog Wine Cellars, 3201 Camino del Sol, Oxnard. www.herzogwinecellars.com or 983-1560. When it takes place at 7 p.m. Aug. 21, the winery's next Girls Night Out event, $15 per person, will include a glass of wine, tea party-style finger sandwiches, a five-minute chair massage and chances to win wine-related door prizes. Additional wines are available by the glass ($5 to $12) and bottle ($15 to $45). You also can order appetizers from the on-site restaurant, Tierra Sur.

Weaver Wines, 14 S. California St., Ventura. www.weaverwines.com or 653-9463. Informal "meetings" of MADAME (Marvelously Awesome Divas Associating Mondays & Enology) take place 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the first Monday of every month — except in September, when the date coincides with Labor Day. (The next MADAME gathering is scheduled on Oct. 1.) Entry is free. Wines and sparkling-wine concoctions called "girl-tinis" are $8 to $14 by the glass; snacks include cheese plates, $12 to $18. Chair massages are $1 per minute.

WineStyles, Janss Marketplace, 193 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks. www.winestyles.net or 371-8400. Wines are labeled by style ("crisp," "mellow," "bold") rather than by varietal or winery at this locally owned franchise, which offers themed Ladies Night gatherings from 5 to 8 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month — in this case, Aug. 28. The $10 fee includes a glass of wine, parting-gift "swag bags" and access to treats both edible and non-edible (a chocolate tasting and salt-scrub hand massages were part of Ladies Night festivities in July). Additional wines are $5 to $8 by the glass, $10 to $25 by the bottle.

— Lisa McKinnon