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ISSIMO x Women in Wine:
Silvia Imparato

December 11, 2025

ISSIMO x Women in Wine: Silvia Imparato

Meet the woman who put Campania on the fine-wine map

When Silvia Imparato released the first vintage of Montevetrano in 1991 – a bold blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Aglianico from the hills outside Salerno – few would have guessed it would become one of the most celebrated wines of southern Italy. Yet Montevetrano quickly gained cult status, earning praise from international critics and helping redefine Campania as a territory capable of producing world-class reds.

Imparato, originally a photographer based in Rome, transformed her family’s historic estate in San Cipriano Picentino into a pioneering winery. Her journey is one of intuition, determination, and deep connection to land and community. Today, more than thirty years later, Montevetrano remains a benchmark, and Imparato continues to guide its evolution with passionate energy, alongside a profound respect for the agricultural heritage of her region.

Below she reflects on beginnings, responsibility, the changing world of wine, and what it means to lead as a woman in the industry.

How did your journey into wine begin? Was there a turning point when you realised Montevetrano could become your life’s work?

It all started with my grandparents’ property, Montevetrano, which they bought in the early 1940s. I grew up loving that place. In the 1980s, I was working as a photographer in Rome when, during a photoshoot, an American client began telling me about his passion for wine. Something clicked. I realised I could create not just memories at Montevetrano, but a future.

At the time, three local farming families worked the land. Many of the younger ones were leaving to find work elsewhere. But one boy in particular struck me. He was bright, full of life, very close to my daughter. I thought: if I can create work here, maybe he can stay and build a life. That idea was the spark.

Once I fall in love with a project, I’m carried by energy – and, in this case, a bit of recklessness. I invited wine friends from Rome down to Montevetrano: Daniele Cernilli, Luca Maroni, and of course Riccardo Cotarella, who back then was simply “Riccardo,” a friend, not yet the icon he would become. We spent weekends talking, tasting, dreaming.

By 1993, I let the first vintage, the 1991, be tasted by people I had photographed: the Antinori family, the Sebastis…Their reaction astonished me. They said the wine was extraordinary. At that moment, I realised: this can matter. This can change things.

So I closed my photography studio and dedicated myself entirely to Montevetrano.

What were the biggest challenges in transforming the estate into a quality-driven winery?

The dream is one thing; reality another. The land was beautiful – Mediterranean hills with hazelnut trees, olive groves, fruit trees, and a river that once flowed with force. But the vineyards were a mix of varieties planted for quantity, not quality: Uva di Troia, Piedirosso, Moscato, all mixed together.

With Riccardo’s help, we began the enormous work of replanting and grafting. People said I needed to bring in workers from Tuscany, but the local families were more than capable; they had always worked the land. They put every vine in line, followed every instruction. I insisted on planting around the whole circular property to understand how different exposures and soils shaped the fruit.

And, of course, climate change arrived. Droughts, irregular seasons. We searched for water for years, finally finding a spring. Some vintages we produced less to preserve quality. But quality always wins in the long run; it makes its own space.

What guides your decisions at Montevetrano today? What is your “filo rosso”?

To know who you are, while recognising you’re part of a world changing at extraordinary speed. Tastes change, knowledge grows. There is no absolute truth in wine. Pour the same wine into five different glasses and you may think they’re five different wines. Temperature changes perception. Your mood changes perception.

My commitment is to understand these differences, to respect the cultures and contexts where our wine travels, and to feel the honour – and responsibility – of creating something that gives pleasure. No one needs to drink wine; the offer is enormous. So why choose Montevetrano? Because we must offer not just something good, but something meaningful, something that can move people.

That ambition gives me energy every day.

What part of your work gives you the greatest joy today?

Meeting people. They give me so much affection, enthusiasm. I’m always moved when people celebrate a product they buy; it feels like a gift.

Encountering people around the world helps me understand how the world is changing, even in difficult moments like the one we’re living now. I’m an optimist: despite everything – wars, crises – I believe in the value of life, of human energy, of the possibility of peace.

“No one needs to drink wine; the offer is enormous. So why choose Montevetrano? Because we must offer not just something good, but something meaningful, something that can move people.”

How, if at all, has being a woman leading an important winery in southern Italy shaped your path?

When I started in the 1980s, there were very few women. But the ones who were there were remarkable. Today there are so many of us, and this is a joy.

I have always believed in the power of differences – between people, between men and women. Differences help us create new and better things. In wine, I meet women from the north, centre, south of Italy, and often abroad, too. The world of wine has become wonderfully open.

Of course, as everywhere, you meet people you like and people who are simply different from you. But that’s normal. Today, women have every possibility in this field, and the exchange of ideas is richer than ever.

Looking ahead, what do the next 5–10 years hold for Montevetrano?

Recently, we made a major decision: we sold the Montevetrano brand to Tenuta Ulisse, part of the Whitebridge investment fund, while keeping ownership of the vineyards, the winery, and the property.

The world has changed; the economic side of wine today is critical. I chose a group that built itself through work, that has solid financial strength, and that values our name. Thanks to this partnership, we can finally bring long-planned projects to life: a Core rosato launching next month, and a new wine next year. We’re expanding.

Work is never about me. it’s about the we that built Montevetrano. It must continue. Too many historic names have disappeared because they couldn’t adapt. I’ve learned from those stories.

And despite everything, Montevetrano, the land of my grandparents, remains ours. Seeing it grow, continue, evolve: that is my only real wish for the future.

What keeps you going after so many years?

Energy as a duty. When you work with land, with people, with something that travels around the world, you owe that energy not only to yourself but to others.

I began in a Campania known mostly for pizza, mozzarella, and mandolins – beautiful things, sur. But there is so much more: a profound agricultural history. I’m proud of what we’ve built, helped by luck at times, helped by the moment, but always guided by passion.

As long as I’m alive, Montevetrano will be part of me. It is me.

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