In 1998 Donatella Cinelli Colombini crated a panel of 4 female tasters with great experience, and asked them to select their favourite among the various barrels of Brunello 1993, Maureen Ashley, Astrid Schwarz, Daniela Scrobogna and Marina Thompson chose the Brunello that was the most powerful and traditional in style, aged briefly in barrique yet allowed to age for a longer time in large barrels.
A Brunello with a great structure - a real macho. This wine became “Prime Donne Project”, the first important red wine chosen by women for primarily female consumers.
Since that first meeting the four women meet twice a year to choose their Brunello as well as the barrels in which to age it. A lot has changed since 1998, when the Prime Donne Project began. In those days women’s roles were marginal: no Italian guide book had women on its panel of tasters.
Today women are an important component of the wine market. In the USA about half the bottles of wine sold are bought by women. In Japan and in India women are the principal consumers of wine.