At the 2026 edition of Slow Wine Fair, held at BolognaFiere from 22 to 24 February and bringing together more than 1,100 wineries committed to the principles of good, clean and fair wine, gender equality in the wine sector was brought to the centre of public discussion during the conference L’uva è donna hosted in the Arena Reale Mutua.
Moderated by Barbara Nappini, President of Slow Food Italy, the panel became a space not only for sharing stories but for questioning long-standing cultural assumptions that still shape professional dynamics in viticulture and agriculture. As Nappini pointed out, women continue to face structural stereotypes that make their professional paths more complex and their achievements something they reach “despite” the system rather than because of it.
Within this framework, Grapes of Change was presented to an international audience as a concrete response to a challenge that has often remained invisible within the sector.
A sector in transition
The conference took place within a broader Slow Food reflection on gender issues in agriculture and food systems. Studies cited during the event highlighted persistent inequalities: women’s labour in agriculture continues to be undervalued, often underpaid, and in some cases subject to exploitative working conditions . These structural disparities coexist with a paradoxical reality. While women represent a growing leadership presence in wineries — 28% of Italian wineries are now led by women — they remain significantly underrepresented in vineyard and cellar roles, accounting for around 14% of the workforce.
As often happens along the value chain, representation increases closer to the consumer: women make up the majority in communication, hospitality, and commercial roles. This imbalance reflects persistent cultural assumptions about authority, expertise, and legitimacy within technical and decision-making spaces.
Slow Wine Fair provided an opportunity to move beyond statistics and into lived experience.
Stories that reflect structural realities
Two contributions from fellow speakers illustrated how gender dynamics in the wine world are often experienced at the individual level while rooted in systemic conditions.
Franca Miretti, co-owner of Cantina del Pino in Barbaresco, shared the experience of unexpectedly finding herself responsible for the winery after the passing of her husband. With a young child and the weight of leadership suddenly on her shoulders, she described the emotional and professional complexity of navigating grief, responsibility, and self-doubt while learning to make autonomous decisions in a traditionally male-dominated space . Over time, this journey led to the development of a renewed sense of agency and technical confidence.
From a different context, Australian sommelier and entrepreneur Amelia Birch offered another perspective through her initiative Famelia, a wine bar and bottle shop in Sydney dedicated to showcasing wines produced by women . Her project highlights a structural issue often overlooked: the limited visibility of female producers within the industry. By intentionally curating wines made by women, Birch reframes consumption as an act that can influence representation and opportunity.
Each of these narratives speaks to a broader pattern. Individual resilience is often celebrated, yet it frequently develops in response to environments that still lack equitable structures.
From storytelling to structural change
The discussion naturally moved toward the limits of storytelling as a tool for transformation.
For years, gender inequality in the wine sector has been addressed primarily through personal testimonies and informal conversations. While these stories are essential for raising awareness, they rarely translate into measurable change without institutional mechanisms to support them.
A critical gap remains: the absence of a structured, transnational system capable of monitoring gender-based dynamics within the wine sector. There is currently no shared database, no observatory, and no coordinated framework to collect experiences or identify recurring patterns across regions and professional contexts.
As a result, discrimination and inequality often remain framed as isolated events rather than systemic issues.
Presenting Grapes of Change
It is within this gap that Grapes of Change finds its relevance.
The project was introduced at Slow Wine Fair as an initiative developed to move beyond narrative acknowledgment toward structural understanding. One of its central pillars is the creation of an observatory dedicated to mapping gender equality within the wine sector.
By collecting qualitative and quantitative data across participating countries and companies, the observatory aims to provide a clearer picture of professional realities that have so far remained fragmented and underreported.
Through interviews, analysis, and ongoing monitoring, the project will involve partners from eight countries and hundreds of companies in an effort to understand existing dynamics and develop training tools tailored to real needs.The long-term objective is to support companies in fostering inclusive and equitable environments while generating evidence that can inform policy dialogue at the European level.
When the conversation continues beyond the stage
The significance of the conference did not end with the panel discussion itself.
Following the session, several women from the audience approached the speakers to share their own experiences of professional challenges and discrimination within the wine sector. These informal exchanges underscored the urgency of moving from awareness to action.
They also reinforced the importance of initiatives such as the Grapes of Change observatory: a space designed not only to gather data but to legitimise experiences that have long remained undocumented.
In many cases, the absence of formal reporting mechanisms contributes to the perception that such issues are rare or exceptional. Creating a structured system for observation is therefore a necessary first step toward recognising and addressing them.
A shared responsibility
Slow Wine Fair, with its emphasis on ethical production and community-oriented values, provided an appropriate setting to connect sustainability with social equity. If sustainability is understood as a holistic concept, it must include the conditions under which people work, lead, and participate in shaping the future of the sector.
The discussions held in Bologna demonstrated that the wine world is already engaged in this transition. However, progress requires moving from isolated efforts to coordinated action.
Grapes of Change contributes to this shift by offering a framework through which observation, dialogue, and training can operate together.
The conversations that followed the panel made it clear that the need for such a framework is widely recognised across the sector. In this sense, the event was not only an opportunity to present a project but also a moment of collective acknowledgment: that addressing gender equality is not a peripheral issue, but an integral part of building a resilient and responsible wine industry.