Some conversations stay with you, like the smell of wet earth after rain, sulfur in the air, or the comfort of morning coffee. My recent talk with Gilda Martusciello was like that. We spoke in early August, just after a 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck Campi Flegrei and the surrounding areas Portici and Pozzuoli. There was damage to homes, stress on infrastructure, and protests. Even so, Gilda spoke with calm and steadiness. The winery was safe, her family and friends were fine, and the Asprinio sparkling harvest would still start at the end of the month. That calmness came through in everything she said.
That steadiness is central to both Gilda and Salvatore Martusciello wines. I could talk to her for hours—she inspires with her determination and courage. Gilda is modern but respects tradition. She enjoys cooking and caring for her herbs, and she also takes an active role in women-in-wine groups, helping shape the future of the industry with quiet strength.
The Winery
In 2015, Gilda Guida and her husband Salvatore Martusciello started a small, focused project called Salvatore Martusciello in the heart of Campi Flegrei. Building on the family’s work with local Campanian grape varieties and the creation of important DOCs, they focus on wines that reflect the identity of Campi Flegrei, Agro Aversano, and Penisola Sorrentina. These include Asprinio from the historic alberata system, Falanghina and Piedirosso on their own roots, and the Ottouve blends from Gragnano and Lettere. Their philosophy is simple: Vini di persistenza, or wines of persistence.
For a fuller immersion in the winery, the vineyards, and the tasting experience during Campania Stories, see my earlier piece: Campania Stories Day 1
A Wine That Rooted Me to the Spot
During my visit, one wine truly caught my attention: the Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei “Settevulcani” 2018. Its mineral depth, salinity, and quiet intensity reminded me of Gilda herself—her strength, determination, and deep love for this land. This wine did not try to impress with boldness or drama. Instead, it stood firm like Gilda. That bottle remains one of the most memorable experiences of my trip, a true reflection of persistence and place.
A Woman Shaping the Future of Campanian and Italian Wine
Gilda has been a member of Le Donne del Vino since 2004 and today serves as the regional Delegate for Campania, a role she assumed after years of progressive responsibility as former Campanian vice-delegate, National Counselor, and member of the Commission for International Relations. The association, founded in 1988 in Campania itself, has grown into the largest organization of its kind in the world, uniting more than 1,200 women across Italy who work to promote wine culture and elevate the visibility and leadership of women throughout the supply chain.
Gilda’s long involvement gives her a unique perspective on how women’s roles have changed. She has seen the association grow from a small group of pioneers, including her mother-in-law Elena Martusciello, a former national president, into a structured network that builds skills, encourages international partnerships, and supports the next generation through projects like D-Vino. In Campania, which has one of the highest percentages of women-led or women-influenced wineries in Italy, her work turns individual stories into collective strength.
She also holds important roles in the region, serving as Vice-President of Vitica, the Consorzio Viticoltori del Casertano, and as Counselor of the Consorzio Penisola Sorrentina DOP. In these positions, she encourages collaboration instead of working alone, urging producers to promote the region’s biodiversity, authentic lower-alcohol wines, and unique training systems like the alberata as shared strengths. “Previous generations found cooperation difficult,” she told me. Today, working together is both necessary and possible. Through these roles, Gilda helps drive a bigger change: women in Campania and across Italy now lead in strategy, education, sustainability, and storytelling.
A Journey Written in Precision and Belonging
Her own journey reflects that quiet change. Gilda did not plan to make wine. As a child, she wanted to be a cardiac surgeon, a goal that required the same precision she later used in the vineyard and cellar. She earned a degree in Economics from Università Parthenope and a master’s in international business. In 1998, she joined Grotta del Sole. What started as a job soon became full immersion. “It was not only a job,” she said about those early years, “but an abrupt entry into a new world.” Salvatore and his family, pioneers in protecting Campania’s native grapes, introduced her to a world of soil, patience, and intuition. She married Salvatore in 2005, and in 2015 they started their own small project so their experiences could finally have a voice.
She sees tradition clearly. For her, honoring history does not mean staying the same. “Find a personal interpretation,” she suggests. Bring your own style into the historical framework so the winery stays alive. This is the quiet change she lives every day: staying true without rigidity.
Sensory Grounding and the Women Who Shape Her
When I asked Gilda about her favorite place in Campania, she answered with a memory of scents: sulfur, wet soil, and sea air. This unique smell of the Phlegraean landscape takes her back to childhood and her late mother. These memories keep her grounded. They are her private guide as she moves through harvest, meetings, and leadership roles.
Her daily routine is simple and intentional: first coffee, tending to her herbs, and a quiet moment before the day begins. To the next generation, including her daughter, she offers clear advice: keep learning, build a good reputation, and stay true to yourself. She believes these are the qualities that last.
Three women inspire her, each showing a different kind of strength, continuity, and identity. The first is her mother, who taught her to cook and whose presence lives on in Gilda’s daily routines: making morning coffee and tending to aromatic herbs as the seasons change. These small, repeated actions are more than habits. They connect her to the woman who first showed her that care, precision, and love can be found in the simple acts of cooking and gardening.
The second is Maria Puteolana, a semilegendary local warrior woman who defended Pozzuoli. Maria represents steady courage and the willingness to protect home and community—quiet heroism amid both beauty and risk.
The third is Queen Maria Carolina, wife of King Ferdinando IV di Borbone, whose political and cultural influence shaped regional identity and cuisine. A painting of the harvest on the way to the Royal Palace in Carditello and the many dishes created by the French chefs she called to court — later collected in La cucina napoletana, a true culinary bible written by Jean Carola Francesconi — keep her memory alive. Maria Carolina inspires Gilda not just as a historical figure, but as a woman who changed her world through intellect and culture. These three women form Gilda’s personal lineage of inspiration: her mother’s daily care, Maria’s courage, and the Queen’s transformative ambition. For Gilda, history is not distant—it is something to taste, see, and experience every day.
Collective Strength in a Changing Climate
Gilda is open about the challenges facing European vineyards: extreme heat, constant risk of hail, economic uncertainty, and labor shortages. For the Asprinio, green pruning—using the leaves as natural umbrellas—has helped the vines handle the heat. The sparkling harvest is planned for late August. She is also clear about market trends that worry her. She believes the rise of low-alcohol or alcohol-free products can take away wine’s true character. Her answer is to work together. Through the Caserta Consorzio and a wider network of producers, the region can speak as one about its authentic, complex, and often naturally lower-alcohol wines—wines that reflect centuries of biodiversity still being rediscovered.
Believe
Near the end of our conversation, Gilda shared two images. She said life in wine is like the piano: it can support a melody or lead it. The song that reminds her of her mother is “Nel blu dipinto di blu.” She also shared one word she would gladly put on a label: believe. That word stays with you, like the last note of a song.
It is a hopeful word and a fitting way to end. It sums up a journey that started with a childhood dream of surgery, continued through international business studies, and found its true meaning in volcanic soils, tall alberate, and the careful work of making wines that stay in the memory of those who taste them. Belief is what remains—and what stays with you.
Somewhere between the sulfur and the sea, between the thirty-rung ladder and the quiet morning moka, between a 2018 Settevulcani Falanghina that made me pause and a woman who balances kitchen and consortium with equal grace, Gilda Martusciello keeps building a story of persistence. This story belongs not just to her family and region, but to anyone who believes that the most lasting wines—and the most lasting lives—are those rooted in place, memory, and the courage to make tradition their own.