Celebrating Italian Women and Wine

At the Chianti tasting I attended in San Francisco last week, I had the privilege of meeting Anita Avizzano of Villa Lucia Winery in San Gimignano, Italy. Anita is the Sales and Marketing Director for the winery. Meeting Anita inspired me to write an article on Italian women and wine.

Villa Lucia is a relatively young women-owned winery (their first vintage was 2008) that is all about celebrating the role of women in the wine world. To that I say a big SALUTE!

The winery believes that the key to good wine making is GREAT grape growing. So they invest a lot of time and energy into growing the best grapes possible. They have partnered with University of Naples and University of Florence on research to improve their vineyard management and grape-growing practices. They’re very pleased with the results, especially as they move towards organic grape growing.

Once they produce a great grape, the winery does as little intervention as possible when making the wine. They believe that this approach is the best way to let the grapes really show off their best selves.

While the winery is young, Villa Lucia’s vineyards are 40 years old. So the grapes have the beautiful maturity associated with older vines.

I got to try one of Villa Lucia’s Chiantis, which I really liked. I’m looking forward to visiting the winery the next time I’m in San Gimignano. I would love to try their other wines, including their Vernacchia and their Brunello.

I’m eager to hear what you think about Villa Lucia’s focus on women and wine. Conceptually, I love this focus, because I think women are underrepresented in the wine world. I’d love to hear your thoughts.