Like Mother Like Daughter? ... How Wine has Been a Part of Life-Changing Moments in the Petrussa Family

Hilde Petrussa and daughter Francesca at Vinexpo New York in 2020

As the saying goes ‘like mother like daughter’…the women of Vigna Petrussa have been following in the footsteps of their mothers and joining in on the family’s wine business.

The vineyards of Vigna Petrussa have been in the family for several generations, but it wasn’t until Hilde’s mother, Giuseppina, started to make wine from her father’s vineyards, in the north eastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy near the Slovenian border, that the Vigna Petrussa winery was born. Previously, the Petrussa family had been renting out their vineyards to other farmers. But when Hilde’s mother reached her 50’s she realized she needed a life change and wanted to return home to be a part of the family business again. However, she wasn’t returning empty handed, she was returning with a plan…a plan for a winery.

Fast forward to 1995 and Hilde Petrussa found herself in a very similar situation as her mother. Now also in her 50’s, having retired from school teaching, she realized that she too needed a life change. A realization that Hilde’s daughter Francesca calls her mother’s mid-life crisis and says that “her mother was fed up and wanted a change. She wanted to do something for herself and by herself” which is how Hilde found herself back at the family farm. Hilde’s only child Francesca had left for University and Hilde and her husband saw this as the perfect opportunity for a new adventure. They loved their lives in the Veneto region but were ready for a slower pace of life and wished to return to the countryside of Friuli Venezia Giulia. “They started again with the winery which became a true passion and then a proper job.”

Hilde had always been involved with the winery in some capacity but when she returned home, she returned as the new winemaker. It was a position she was committed to and she was motivated to educate herself as best as possible to be successful in this new role. This included taking a multitude of classes on all things related to wine. She studied the region, the wines of the area, as well as the land itself. Hilde found her inspiration from tasting a lot of wines, “Starting with the neighbors, seeing what their interpretation of the region and the [same] grape varietals were. Then she tasted wines from other areas and countries and saw how others were expressing their own territory.”

Even after 25 years she’s still using this method as inspiration to produce great wines. She believes “it is important to constantly analyze the market and be tasting different wines because you, your vineyards and nature, and the industry evolve, along with the tastes’ of your clients.” Francesca says her mother “always loves to challenge herself and to get better results.” There’s no doubt that Hilde’s hard work has paid off as she was recently recognized as “one of the best estates in Italy” by one of Italy’s esteemed wine critics Ian D’Agata, with all of her wines garnered with 90+ ratings.

 So, what is the secret to Hilde’s success? “Passion. A lot of passion and always starting from the respect of the land, using only the best grapes, and putting the emphasis on quality.” As well as “Respecting the time of nature. You may have a schedule for harvest but if the grape is not ready then you need to wait a month, three weeks more, and so on. You need to wait and see when nature is ready and then follow through with the rest of the processes.”

For Hilde the most rewarding part of her job is “getting to create your own products…and having them be an expression of yourself, your philosophy, and the land and the territory. When she moved back, she started to “fall in love with nature and the fact that nature can express all these different things.” Her favorite part of being a winemaker is “being involved in every step of the process but the thing she loves most is being in contact with nature and spending time in the vineyard. Here she feels relaxed and when in contact with nature she feels free.” She also loves creating wines that other people will enjoy and have at their table. She says “it is so rewarding when someone sends you a picture of their special dinner and they say 'oh we cooked pasta’, or ‘we cooked a roast and we enjoyed your wine with it’. That is like getting to be a part of the life of those people through my wine, and that is exciting.”

Each generation of the Petrussa family is adding their own touch to the winery including Hilde’s daughter. Francesca says that “it’s very nice to share with my mom her passion, and to carry on a business that is a female business as well as to share the same final vision” … even if this means they sometimes have different approaches on how to get there. Francesca goes on to say that they have completely different personalities and different views but that this is actually a really good thing especially for the company. Her mother has the technical experience while she has the understanding of how consumers are drinking their wines and the combination of these two is what’s driving their success. Francesca ends our conversation by describing her mother in three words; brave, headstrong, and hard-working.

Vigna Petrussa’s wines are available to buy in Vero’s online shop. Get her 90+ wines shipped home for free!