“…wearing all that weight Of learning lightly like a flower.”

— Tennyson, from ‘In Memoriam A.H.H. 1850

Swirl meets Laura Donadoni, The Italian Wine Girl. A US-based wine educator, writer, marketer and influencer, she’s got 51k followers on the ‘gram, and counting. She also has a PhD in communications and a newly published book. Her social platforms are accessible, and glamorous. But she’s no stranger to the vitriol directed at our trade’s social media personalities. We talk about listening first, ‘old fashioned’ bias and Italian wine.

You’ve embraced the really fun side of wine comms to communicate via social media in a way which is really elegant but also so lighthearted. But you also have a PhD in communications – not to mention your book (more on which later!) How do you so deftly balance the real seriousness and depth of your wine knowledge with such a lightness of touch? Is there a special knack to it?

I think that a good communicator must be in the first place a good listener. It’s the only way you can craft the right communication approach for the receiver. During my wine classes or conferences, in an academic environment or while serving as a wine judge in several international competitions my audience, my colleagues or other professionals expect deep knowledge, technical details and extensive explanations. And I give them all of it, thank to my studies, my experience and the numerous certifications I collected during my career.On the other hand, my social media community looks for hints, curiosities, quick news, fun, beautiful images, engaging conversations.Wine is always the main theme, and my ultimate goal is always to educate about Italian wines, but the means are different, so the language must adapt. My communications’ studies and my degree and experience as a journalist help me in understanding my audience and in being flexible in providing content.

Something we see a lot is with women who communicate about wine via social media in the way you do – not ploughing into the conversation qualifications-upfront, but as though you’re talking to a new friend at a party about wine. Well, it seems to provoke a lot of vitriol from a certain part of the wine establishment. Why do you think this is? Do you think it is men especially who are threatened by this approach? 

I don’t define it as a sexist point of view or a “male predominant bias”, but rather an “old-fashioned” vs “modern” way to communicate about wine. In the past professionals working in the industry were categorised mainly as being in either in sales or hospitality. Today, there are communicators, influencers, brand-strategists, social media managers, brand ambassadors, etc…The “old” establishment have a hard time to understand these new roles in the wine industry and the new language that is required to succeed in a competitive consumer market driven by Millenials, Gen Z and similarly tech-based shoppers. I think this is the reason why a certain group of “wine snobs” feel the urge to distance themselves from social media’s wine communities, especially if lead by women with a colloquial and friendly tone. They simply cut us off saying we don’t know how to properly talk about wines, just because we choose to avoid the old school technical language and we try to experiment with the new communication opportunities.I agree that in a 15 -30 seconds reel on Instagram you can’t educate as much as in a 2 hours masterclass with guided tasting, but if we look at the reel as an opportunity to generate curiosity and then to attend a masterclass to learn more, why should we not take the chance?

Your book is coming out in English this year. Can you tell us more about it?

I am working on the translation with my publisher and it’ll be released in Autumn this year. The title in Italian is Come il Vino ti Cambia la vita, which means “How wine can change your life”. It includes my story (and how wine literally changed my life!), and the stories of courage and rebirth of six Italian wine producers. Each of them could easily be a movie! There are intrigues, passions, struggles and a lot of bravery. It has been published in Italy during the pandemic and I collected a lot of readers’ feedbacks saying they could easily relate with the struggles and the emotions of the protagonists.

It’s a book about resilience, which is the first characteristic of the vine: the more she struggles, the better the grapes will be, giving a wonderful, memorable wine. The vine is a fighter and so are we, especially during this time.

Can you tell me more about how you use your specific communication style to promote Italian wines in the US via your business? 

Italian wines are greatly appreciated in the U.S., but the majority of the american consumers tend to drink the usual and most renowned 4-5 Italian wines. Every time I say that Italy counts more than 600 registered indigenous grape varieties, which account for one third of the world’s grape varieties, jaws drop.

My communication strategy revolves around diversity: Italy is the most biodiverse place on earth. I work with wineries and wine producers’ associations who focus on the native varieties and my mission is to get the American drinkers curious about these territories and the lesser known wines coming from there.

It is a challenge, but also a great opportunity for my homeland. If the market builds a sustained appetite for these wines, we can help the producers’ communities to keep their traditions alive, and save less famous varieties from extinction.

What are you thoughts about the status of Italian wine export market in the UK? 

I see a bright future for Italian wines in the UK – if the Italian producers and associations will invest more in promoting the “underdog” wines and regions among the professionals and the ‘above average interest’ consumers.

The phenomenon of premiumization has been important for Italian wines in the US: our market is growing more in value than in volume. I think this is the way to go also in the UK, fighting the preconception that Italian wines are cheaper and easier compared to the premium fine wines of France, for instance.