The Ladies of Wine

I don’t think it’s true that men never understand women. The truth is that when they do it is generally too late. For years this was the case with Donne del Vino (Ladies of Wine), an association created at the start of the 1980s which was first led by the late Franca Maculan and later by Anna Gregorutti Jermann and Betty Togna. The other day was March 8, International Women’s Day, and I would like to congratulate all the women involved not only with Italian wine but wine the world over for how they have grown in number and for the progress they have made, for the way they have brought a breath of femininity to a world that had always been dominated by men. Thirty years ago, any and every women working in wine was almost considered a curiosity, a novelty, and remarks made about them were at best ironic. Today any such comments would be totally out of place because women are in the forefront of the national wine scene.

Among them are: Valentina Argiolas, Arianna Occhipinti, Francesca Planeta, Vinzia Firriato, Mariangela Cambrìa. Simona Fino, Elena Fucci, Elisabetta Musto Carmelitano, Emanuela Mastrodomenico. Cristiana Tiberio, Adriana Galasso, Federica Morricone, Marina Cvetic Masciarelli, Dominga, Marta and Enrica Cotarella, Paola Di Mauro, Marcella Giuliani, Noemia d’Amico, Chiara Lungarotti, Maria Teresa Severini Lungarotti, Albiera, Alegra and Antinori, Diana and Tiziana  Frescobaldi, Patrizia Lamborghini, Angela Piotti Velenosi, Eleonora Rossi, Chiara Giannotti, Rita Tua, Lia Tolaini Banville, Emilia Nardi, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Olga Peluso,Graziana Grassini, Miriam Caporali, Ginevra Venerosi Pesciolini, Paolo Gloder, Marilisa Allegrini. And also Carolina  Pobitzer, Valeria Viganò, Cinzia Merli Campolmi, Chiara Barioffi, Olimpia Roberti, Laura Baronti, Elisabetta Geppetti, Bettina Rogosky, Caterina Dei, Laura Bianchi, Lorenza Sebasti, Maurizia di Napoli Rampolla, Christine Mariani, Laura Brunelli, Lucia, Gaia and Lorenza Gaja. Paola De Ferrari Corradi, Bruna Baroncini, Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, Gioia Cresti, Patrizia Cencioni, Beatrice Contini Bonacossi, Ludovica Romei Rigoli, Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, Giovanna Madonia, Maria Cristina Geminiani, Graziella Pezzi, Alicia Lini, Giovanna Maccario, Roberta Rèpaci, Francesca Bruna, Sabrina Tedeschi, Valentina Tessari, Ersiliana and Antonella Bronca, Francesca Sartori, Carlotta Pasqua, Giovanna Tantini, Teresita Pieropan, Angela and Maria Vittoria Maculan, Matilde Poggi, Maria Gioia Rosellini, Elvira and Maria Elena Bortolomiol. Patrizia Felluga, Elda Felluga, Alessandra Felluga, Ornella Molon Traverso, Ornella Venica, Maria Angela Schiopetto, Oriana Giordani, Marina Danieli, Teresa Perusini, Silvana Forte, Giuliana Gigante, Rosetta Bosco, Piera Martellozzo, Alessandra Mauri, Claudia Locatelli, Elisabetta Foradori, Camilla Lunelli, Lucia Letrari, Elena Walch, Maria Luisa Manna, Gisela Aurich, Silvia Uberti, Elena and Laura Perdomini, Giovanna Prandini, Lucia Barzanò, Eleonora Giorgi, Margherita Odero, Giulia and Maria Cavalleri, Pia Berlucchi, Francesca Moretti, Isabella Pelizzatti Perego, Antonella Cribellati, Milena Vajra, Cinzia Travaglini, Diana Bertolino, Sabine Ehrmann, Sara Vezza, Daniela, Monica and Paola Rocca, Marta Rinaldi, Federica Colla, Chiara Boschis, Tiziana Parusso, Anna and Valentina Abbona, Maria Teresa Mascarello, Mariacristina and Mariavittoria Oddero, Cecilia and Marina Piacitelli, Giovanna, Antonella and Emanuela San Martino, Chiara Soldati, Annette Hilberg, Marina Grasso, Bruna Giacosa, Rita Bernengo, Barbara Gatti, Ornella Costa, Elena Cordero di Montezemolo, Noemi Cinzano, Nadia Cogno, Laura Cavallotto, Gabriella Burlotto, Maria Borio, Amabile Drocco, Giada Codecasa, Luciana, Paola, Valentina and Federica Grasso, Marina Burlotto, Elena and Cristina  Brovia, Fiorella Sacchetto, Raffaella Bologna, Lorella Antoniolo, Anna Maria Abbona, Giovannella Stianti Mascheroni, Elena and Gilda Martusciello, Giuseppina Viglierchio, Coralia Pignatelli della Leonella, Maria Camilla Pallavicini, Elisabetta Fagiuoli, Anna Illuminati, Anna Paternoster, Susy Ceraudo, Maria Ida Avallone, Lucia Letrari, Daniela Mastroberardino, Manuela Piancastelli, Nadia Zenato, Eleonora Charrère.

The list is a long and impressive one. The names were the first off the top of my head and for sure I have left out many others and I apologize. I can picture them all, one by one, with their passion and outstanding talent. They are as good as and sometimes even better than their male counterparts. To all of them, as well as those who I failed to mention, I send Doctor Wine’s best wishes for Women’s Day and express all my sincere admiration for what they are doing, have done and will do in the world of wine.