Born in 1953 in Siena, she graduated in History of Medieval Art; in 1993, she founded the Wine Tourism Movement and then created the Open Cellars initiative: a full day dedicated to wine tourism. After 14 years in the family business, in 1998 she started her own activity dedicated to the production of Brunello and involving only women.

In 2003, she won the award for best Italian producer. In the same year, she published the Wine Tourism Manual. Since 2016, she is president of the Women of Wine.

We dedicate our interview to her, a captivating and charismatic woman, convinced that “even without great muscles, you make great wines”.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, President of the Associazione Donne del Vino

1988 – 2019: From 20 to almost 850 members among producers, wine shop owners, restaurateurs, sommeliers and journalists: an unimaginable growth. What are the strengths of your association that represent the world’s largest women organization in the wine industry and how do you explain this incredible success? “Women join together to do with, to stay with, and to build with…not just to reap. As Women of Wine, we have this amplified characteristic. We are aware that it is the world of wine that needs us, not the other way round. Women run farms that cover 21% of the agricultural land, but they produce 28% of agricultural GDP”.

The Association is spread throughout the country with delegations in all regions: is there something similar also abroad? “In France, there are local federated associations in a national association. In Germany, there is the second largest national association after ours. In the US, there is a service company aimed at women of wine that has almost the same number of members…but the Women of Wine are certainly the largest and most structured non-profit organization in the world”.

How much is the experience in the field and in what percentage are the under-30 people present? “Direct experience is very important. For this reason, we are collecting the training proposals from all members: wine producers, restaurateurs, wine shops owners, PR, journalists, and sommeliers. These proposals can show the world of wine from the inside to the young women who think of our sector for their professional growth. The project’s name is FUTURE and the delegate Alessandra Boscaini from Veneto conceived it. We made a preliminary round of requests and now the system is ready to enter the proposals directly on the site so that all training offers for the under-30 women will be published very soon”.

What are the strength and contributions of the new generations? “The courage to cross boundaries even when it seems hazardous”.

All-women entrepreneurship: among your many assignments, besides being president of the aforementioned all-female association, you are at the head of a prestigious winery in the land of Brunello, in Montalcino, with an organization formed of only women: is this a conviction or a provocation? “The Prime Donne project was born by chance. I was looking for a cellarman and the school for wine technicians said ‘No, it takes years to nurture and then hire a good student’. Instead, when I asked for a female winemaker, they replied: ‘We have so many, but good wineries don’t want women”. There I understood the existence of discrimination we had to oppose with actions. Today, 20 years later, we have built two cellars, replanted vineyards; we export wines to thirty-nine foreign countries and the opinions of the specialized press are excellent. We have proved that great wines are made without great muscles”.

You teach Wine Tourism in post-graduate courses: what would you recommend to those who, by choice and passion, decide to take the wine route in Italy? “To those who want to start a winery open to the public, I recommend creating a diversified offer with a strong identity, not just a place for tasting with the explanation of one’s own denomination production system. Instead, for those who want to create a wine route, I recommend not keeping offices closed on Sundays and holidays”.

Future initiatives and projects of the association? “The next appointment is the convention in Sicily, on Etna on the theme “Women, Wine and Design”. We will launch a survey on bank credit to women. We want to see if women receive more denials than their male counterparts do. After that, we will publish the FUTURE project and the establishment of the international network of women’s wine associations during the SIMEI¹ event in Milan, in November”.

Are women of wine born or become like that? “You become so.”

Paraphrasing a famous 2006 movie directed by Ridley Scott with Russel Crowe, let’s make a forecast for 2019.  Will it be an excellent year? “Yes, it will be magnificent!”

[1] International enological and bottling equipment exhibition