Punset wines: the story of one woman’s perseverance (#Italian FWT)

Are Italian women taken seriously? Or does the longstanding culture of Italian machismo persist?

Looking at the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020, Italy has the worst ranking in Western Europe on progress toward reducing disparities between men and women. Italy lags behind some African, East European and Asian countries, too, such as Uganda, Kazakhstan and Thailand. (FYI, Iceland is No. 1, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden; Canada is 19th, and the United States is 53rd.)

In the Italian wine industry, though, women are gaining ground. As recently as 20 years ago, it was rare to come across female winemakers or winery bosses. According to a 2018 survey conducted by Cribis, part of the Crif Business Information group, just over a quarter of Italy’s estimated 73,700 wineries are now managed by women.

Hooray! Let’s raise a glass!

In celebration of International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8, Pinny at Chinese Food & Wine Pairings is hosting the next Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) chat on “Italian Women in the Wine Industry.” If you’re reading this post in time, hope you can join us on Twitter this Saturday, March 7, beginning at 11 am ET. Simply follow the hashtag.

A Piedmontese pioneer

As my contribution to this topic, I’m focusing on a trailblazing producer and winemaker from the village of Neive in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Marina Marcarino is the owner and winemaker at Azienda Agricola Punset, a small, certified organic producer. I learned about her from an excellent Grape Collective post on Piedmont-Langhe women in the wine industry.  

Not only is Marcarino one of the first female winemakers in the Piedmont; she is also a pioneer in the region’s organic farming movement. Her story is one of perseverance and even a touch of youthful rebellion.

Marcarino traces her passion for farming to childhood and time spent in the family vineyards with her paternal grandmother. But her parents were dead-set against Marcarino’s desire to pursue a career in the wine industry. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the family produced some wine for sale, but most bottles were intended for home use. The main family business was construction, and without sons to take over the reins, Marcarino’s parents expected their daughter to become an engineer and join the company.

As Grape Collective explains, Marcarino defied her parents by studying enology instead of engineering. When they found out, Marcarino left the university and spent six unhappy months working for her father. At that point, she approached her father with a business proposition. How about if she ran the family farm for a year? Her father agreed and allowed that if she could make a profit from the vineyards, she could continue managing them indefinitely.

Organic farming was still new in the early 1980s when Marcarino was getting started. But she had learned the concept at school and saw it as an authentic way to bond with the land. She took her ideas to a former professor who agreed to assign student interns to her experimental project. Her first harvest was lost. Despite this setback, Marcarino persevered and by 1987, she completed the conversion to organic farming. Her vineyards have been certified organic since 1993.

“My philosophy is to produce excellent wines in complete harmony with nature.” – Marina Marcarino

‘Beautiful hill’

The name “Punset” derives from the regional dialect and literally means “beautiful hill.” Legend has it that the Count of Neive coined this nickname to describe the view of this fog-shrouded peak from his castle.

After taking the decisive step to convert her entire property to organic farming, Marcarino has strived to eliminate all kinds of pesticide and chemical products. All the vineyards are grassed over. Her agricultural approach leans toward minimal use of treatments based on copper and sulfur, preferring biodynamic preparations instead, and limited mechanical working of the soil:

“Through the recovery environment, the ecosystem has been completely rebalanced and today natural flowering, insects and small wild animals contribute to the fertility of the vineyards.”

In the cellar, her philosophy is to “let the vineyard speak,” by omitting the use of commercial yeasts and enzymes. Grapes ferment in cement or stainless-steel tanks according to phases of the moon, a biodynamic approach to winemaking. Wines are aged for a long time, mainly in Slavonian oak barrels, followed by further time aging in bottles before release.

A lot of controversy is swirling right now around organic farming, especially as it relates to the use and sometimes over-use of copper in the vineyard. Meanwhile, “natural” wine without additives and interventions is gaining adherents. Marcarino is squarely in the certified organic camp. An entire webpage is devoted to arguing for certified organic vs. natural wine:

“We producers of organic wine are secure in offering an alive, unique and authentic product. Our safety and that of the consumer are founded on certifications that require organic wine to be free from fertilizer residues, herbicides, fungicides, chemical insecticides and synthetic products. The only real organic wine is certified.”

A pair of Punset wines

Well, it was tough to choose which Punset wines to purchase for this post. Marcarino produces an array of regional wines, including a Barbaresco DOCG, as well as Barbera, Dolcetto, and Arneis DOCs– and my local Pennsylvania state store was well stocked.

In the end, I based my decision on the traditional Italian dinner for four I had planned for this event – antipasto (consisting of chopped leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, black olives, roasted red peppers, artichokes and Asiago cheese) served with a balsamic vinegar dressing, followed by a baked penne and Italian sausage dish.

Tasting and pairing notes:

• 2017 Punset Arneis Langhe DOC – 100% Arneis
  Light gold in color. Aromas of ripe red apples and a hint of pear. On the palate, we got plenty of lemon and lemon peel, a zingy yet creamy mouthfeel, and medium finish. Our guests called this white wine “zesty” with “a crisp finish that doesn’t linger.” Behaved like just another ingredient in the antipasto. Alcohol: 14%. Price: $19.99.

• 2016 Punset Barbera d’Alba DOC – 100% Barbera
  Ruby red in color. Definitely needed some oxygen to open up and reveal its black cherry and blackberry jam aromas. This wine was throwing a bit of sediment and probably was fruitier when younger. Good showing of tertiary flavors such as leather, cloves, and vanilla. Smooth tannins and that characteristic Barbera acidity made this wine a great companion to the tomato-based pasta dish. Alcohol: 15%. Price: $17.99.

Interested in reading about women in the Italian wine industry? Please check out the posts below and join our chat on March 7. See you there!

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Crab and Cambozola-Stuffed Arancini + Poggio al Tesoro Solosole Vermentino 2018.
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest introduces Women In Italian Wine: Meet Mateja Gravner. 
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass tells Punset Wines: The Story of One Woman’s Perseverance. 
• Marcia at Joy of Wine shows Tiberio: Passion For the Land & Its Native Grapes.
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm pairs Italian Roasted Chicken with a Gianni Brunelli Rosso di Montalcino.
• David at Cooking Chat pairs Ground Turkey Bolognese with Wine from Anna Maria. 
• Susannah at Avvinare shines a Spotlight on Vernaccia di San Gimignano and the Consortium’s New President -Irina Guicciardini Strozzi.
• Jennifer at Vino Travels presents Italian Women in the Wine Industry Featuring MasoMartis. 
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! gives us Italian Women in Wine – Cantina Marilina.
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen says Don’t Judge a Wine by its Label unless it’s Mustilli. 
• Terri at Our Good Life presents Women in Wine: Meet Kelly from Twin Meadows Winery + An Italian-Inspired Pasta with Finferli Mushrooms. 
• Gwen at Wine Predator introduces Women to Watch in Wine: Vigna Petrussa and Vero Vino Pt 1.
• Nicole at Somm’s Table doubles up with Passion and Authenticity in Abruzzo: A Conversation with Cristiana Tiberio of Az. Agr.Tiberio and Cooking to the Wine: Tiberio Pecorino & Saffron Chickpea Stew with Seafood.
• Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairings says Cheers to Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino Produced from Women Flagship – Casato Prime Donne.