A Journey of Josefina, Exploring the World One Vineyard at a Time
Josefina Muscianisi, is a 30-year-old Oenology graduate from Mendoza, Argentina. Growing up in one of the world's renowned wine regions, Mendoza, inspired by being surrounded by vineyards, she was drawn to the wine industry. Looking back at the time, Josefina says:
“ I fell in love with the industry and I couldn’t see myself doing something else”.
Her passion for wine grew during internships, leading her to a winemaking career. She completed 12 harvests, including trips to Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, New Zealand, France, Australia, and Italy. Having completed a Master's degree in Wine Tourism Innovation, Josefina is currently working as a Hospitality Manager in a Croatian winery. With a focus on innovation, she envisions the approach centered around unique and mind-blowing adventures for customers, where local and authentic elements enhance the overall wine experience. She states that the immersive experiences, excellent hospitality, and gastronomic offerings, informative online platforms, and environmental consciousness are crucial factors in creating a comprehensive and impactful wine tourism journey.
Here's what she shared with me:
DB: What have been some of the most interesting or memorable moments or stories you've encountered throughout your career?
JM: Definitely my experiences around different wine regions of the world as an Enologist. First, I have met amazing people and created beautiful relationships with colleagues all over the wine countries. While working, we had a lot of fun. We found a way to learn and enjoy everything we needed to do.
Second, I have seen and learned how different wineries operate and every unique practice that they do for their special or high-end wines. I hope to have the chance to put them into practice one day. Also, I have some very memorable moments while working and learning with great enologists from different wineries, who had more experience than me and were open to showing me and explaining this beautiful art of making wines.
DB: How do you see yourself contributing to the innovative projects in wine world ? Are there any specific initiatives or approaches that you find particularly exciting or promising?
JM: After my Master in Wine tourism, I was very interested in the wine tourism industry, and I am working now in a Croatian winery as Hospitality manager. At the same time I have plenty of ideas regarding innovation in wine tourism that may become my personal business one day.
I firmly believe, and I have personally experienced, that people are seeking extraordinary and mind-blowing experiences. When customers visit a place, their overall impression of the wines and their entire experience is greatly enhanced by including attractive or local activities alongside the main element, which is wine. I also believe that the more you can infuse the wine experience with local authenticity and uniqueness, the better the overall impact and results will be.
DB: In what ways has your professional journey changed you personally and influenced your perspective on the wine industry?
I always like to mention that for my first trip to California for the 2015 harvest, I sent 100 emails to Wineries because I strongly wanted to get a nice job and make my first harvest abroad. It was ambitious I know, but in the end, I had 3 different winery offers. Choosing was the hardest part!
The industry and my travel experiences have given me the opportunity to appreciate things that, perhaps, before I didn't give much importance to, also taught me to be grateful to everyone we have by our side and for all we have. Additionally, I think I am becoming more understanding with different people and realities.
DB: What are the key trends driving innovation in the wine industry?
In my opinion, the key trends that are driving innovation in the wine industry these days are:
Immersive experiences! The hospitality and gastronomic offers a winery make their guest to have a 360 degrees experience of the wine region they are visiting. Together with an outstanding winery staff who at the end is the one that has a lot to do with the perception of the wine experience. Online presence or the possibility to get information about the wine activities throughout the website and social media platforms. And the environmental care the winery has into account while producing their products are the key factors I do consider important nowadays.
