Com-St-06-10-20-PremioGammaDonna_ENG-1.pdf
The nocturnal harvest at Contessa Entellina, a feminine innovation under the sign of quality.
Marsala, October 20, 2006. In Italy, the success of an estate, a brand or a product is increasingly linked to the idea, the intuition and the innovative choices of a woman. Especially in recent years, creation and corporate innovation have belonged to the other half of heaven and the second National Feminine Entrepreneurial Show, now under way in Turin, is intended to “photograph” the importance and strategic value for the country’s entire economy.
The GammaDonna/10 e Lode Prize – promoted by A.I.D.D.A. (Business Women Italian Association) – was conferred on five Italian women entrepreneurs who, for their entrepreneurial ideas or for the validity of the innovations introduced into the production cycle, had determined the success of their enterprises. Josè Rallo, owner of the Donnafugata wine estate, is one of the five entrepreneurial women, who are to receive their awards on the evening of October 20 at the Conservatory G. Verdi in Turin.
The principal innovative decision that made Ms. Rallo a candidate for the honor was the nocturnal harvest, a technical choice made in 1998, initially as an experiment and then in a definitive way. The purpose was to protect the aromatic content of the grapes from the high temperatures of August in Sicily. The practice also resulted in a substantial savings in energy through use of updated refrigeration technology. But there were many innovative choices that merited the award, from the style of corporate management to the initiatives aimed at promoting the territory (the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Literary Prize and support for the archaeological excavations carried out by the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa on the Rocca di Entella).
The reasons for the choice of Ms. Rallo for the award is truly significant{ “for having expressed in her entrepreneurial activity the higherst degree of creativity. She therefore entered by right into the virtual show window of Italian entrepreneurial excellence.”
“At Donnafugata, women have always been leaders, filling roles of great vitality in terms of innovation,” observed Josè Rallo of Donnafugata. “I think of my mother, Gabriella, who oversaw a sweeping transformation of the family’s vineyards 20 years ago. She introduced international varieties into Sicily as well as modern techniques of viticulture. And I’m thinking of the nocturnal harvest, which has become a much-awaited appointment of the Italian enological calendar because of the fame it has attracted in Italy and throughout the world.
Our production experience testifies to the fact that, also in Sicily, women, with their sensibilities, can make innovative choices to secure excellence.”
Public Relations:
Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267
Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258
