Emilia Romagna – National Convention of Le Donne del Vino Association

National Convention of Le Donne del Vino Association in Emilia Romagna: women, wine, food. territories telling their stories, when taste becomes a destination

National Convention 2026 – Parma, Modena, Reggio Emilia, June 12-14

Emilia-Romagna will be the star of the 2026 edition of the National Convention of Le Donne del Vino Association, scheduled for June 12-14 in one of Italy’s most extraordinary territories in terms of density of food and wine excellence, history, culture and landscape. Three intense days between Parma, Modena and Reggio Emilia. Parma – UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy, the capital of Prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano, a city that has made taste an art form – will be in the role of base city and beating heart of the entire event.

A weekend that will bring more than 100 female wine professionals from all over Italy – producers, winemakers, sommeliers, journalists, communicators, lawyers, architects – through wineries, dairies, UNESCO sites, masterclasses and gala dinners, in a program that weaves together tasting, territorial culture and identity storytelling. Not a field trip. A cultural act.

The 2026 edition in Emilia-Romagna

The 2026 edition was orchestrated by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Delegation of the Women of Wine and coordinated by Paola Gorgatti, Regional Delegate (Azienda Agricola La Madonnina, Torrechiara, Parma), with Vice Delegates Enza Bergantino (Jacleroi, an agency specializing in food & wine based in the Food Valley, Parma) and Claudia Riva di Sanseverino (Wine & Food Explorer, Events Organization, Communication and Storytelling). The event enjoys the Patronage of the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Municipalities of Parma, Modena and Castelvetro di Modena, and is the fruit of an extraordinary institutional and productive network: the Consorzi di tutela delle denominazioni dell’Emilia e della Romagna, the Enoteca Regionale and the Modena UNESCO sites.

Completing the network is a team of private companies that believed in the project and chose to be part of it. CREDEM Euromobiliare Private Banking, Amorim Cork Italia, Vetreria Etrusca, Lux et Vinum, Luxoro Kurz, Trabucco, Lorenzo Mecarini Financial Advisor & Business Manager, Carthusia, Vin Strip, AIS Emilia Parma and ONAV Section of Modena.

A rich and dynamic program

On Friday, June 12, we get right into the swing of things with a visit to member Daniela Vaschieri’s Cantina Settecani winery in Castelvetro di Modena, the reference producer of Lambrusco Grasparossa, and the Masterclass “Spumeggiante Emilia: the bubbles that steal your heart” at Castello di Levizzano, conducted by Matteo Pessina, sommelier, ALMA lecturer and official AIS taster. This will be followed by tastings with the Consortia of Parmigiano Reggiano DOP and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP with a visit to UNESCO sites in Modena.

On Saturday, June 13, the day is entirely devoted to the highlight of the convention: the National Convention at the Governor’s Palace in Parma, beginning at 10 a.m. At noon, light lunch at the Complesso San Paolo, which welcomes delegates a short walk from the Palace. In the afternoon, guided tour of the city with the Museo Diffuso del Gusto – a historical-artistic tour through the places that have written the history of Parma’s food culture: from the Piazza Grande to the Pilotta, from apothecaries’ shops to the villages of the trades. The evening closes with a Gala Dinner at the Labirinto della Masone in Fontanellato: the largest labyrinth in the world, a masterpiece designed by Franco Maria Ricci, where art, architecture and landscape come together in an experience that is already, in itself, a tale of territory.

Sunday, June 14 concludes with a visit to the Caseificio Latteria Santo Stefano and Cantine Albinea Canali (Reggio Emilia), with the Masterclass “Radici rare – native Emilia-Romagna grape varieties between identity and biodiversity” led by Antonella Pizzi and Annamaria Compiani (AIS Parma): a journey through native grape varieties and Emilia-Romagna wine identity.

The National Convention: a thesis, not a slogan

On Saturday, June 13, at 10:00 a.m., at the Governor’s Palace in Piazza Garibaldi in Parma, the 2026 National Conference will be held on the theme, “Women, Wine, Food. Territories that tell their stories: when taste becomes a destination.”

A clear thesis: PDO, PGI, DOC and DOCG designations must not remain mere technical certifications, but become architectures of meaning-systems capable of holding together production, landscape, reception and narrative. From specification to destination.

Emilia-Romagna is now the top region in Europe for certified agrifood designations: 45 PDOs and PGIs-with Erbazzone Reggiano PGI among the latest new entries-plus 30 wine designations including DOCG, DOC and IGT. Regional agribusiness is worth 37 billion euros, with 10.2 billion in exports. The PDO economy alone generates 3.9 billion. Solid numbers: now what is needed is the ability to transform a supply chain into a territorial experience.

The conference will be moderated by Enza Bergantino, Deputy Emilia-Romagna Regional Delegate of Le Donne del Vino Association.

Who are the Women of Wine: position, not quota

With nearly 40 years of history and 1,260 members throughout Italy, the National Association Le Donne del Vino is the largest women’s wine association in the world. Producers, restaurateurs, sommeliers, journalists, communicators, lawyers, architects: women across the supply chain, from the vineyard to governance. Led by President Daniela Mastroberardino, unanimously re-elected for the three-year term 2026-2028, the Association does not claim a quota. It claims an expertise. A vision. A position.

The June 13 conference is not an industry convention. It is a cultural act that uses wine and food as lenses to read an Italy that competes in the world. Infrastructure is not built alone. They are built together. And Emilia-Romagna, this time, is proving it.

For information:

donne@ledonnedelvino.com – www.ledonnedelvino.com

Organizing secretariat: 334 102 7684 / 347 450 8766