The Cantina Cooperativa dei Vignaioli del Morellino di Scansano recently organised a discussion on the role of women in the wine industry.

The cooperative invited people to attend an event titled: "La partecipazione femminile al mondo della vitivinicoltura: ruoli e competenze" (The role of women in the world of wine: role and competence). It wishes to draw attention to the as yet still underrepresented role played by women in the economic and social structure in Italy.

In the Scansano cooperative itself, around 30 per cent of members are women, responsible for the hard physical labour in the vineyards. The picture looks different when one examines representative roles. Of the 581 member communes in the "Città del Vino" group, which includes Scansano gehört, only 57 have a female mayor, or less than 10 per cent. The numbers in politics are slightly better: of the 630 delegates in the Italian parliament, 124 are women, or slightly mroe than 21 per cent.

However, the event also revealed abother trend. The wine cooperatives, which had a rather weak image until a few years ago, have moved much more into the limelight. They are focusing increasingly on communicatiuon in order to be heard and to gain an image in the hotly contested market. (KW/WF)