As Provocativo’s Executive Winemaker and a Partner at this proudly female-owned brand, Briana Di’Tommaso brings generations of expertise that’s steeped in tradition. Founded in 2019, Briana joined the Provocative team in June 2021 to serve as the executive winemaker, as well as play a vital role in day-to-day operations amidst the brand’s continued domestic and international expansion. Raised on an extraordinary, 20-acre vineyard in Long Grove, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, Briana helped her father plant grapes when she was just 10 years old. Like many Italian families, her ancestors throughout Abruzzo, Campania, Calabria and Sicily made wine for personal consumption. Briana’s father was the first to build a business around it, with the launch of Valentino Vineyards. “I didn’t learn anything from a book. I learned it the real way, with my hands in the dirt, right alongside my father,” says Briana. She spent countless hours at an early age, learning the intricacies of tending to grapevines, understanding the soil and climate, and mastering pruning and cultivation. To this day, Briana lives 5 minutes away from Valentino Vineyards, where she still prunes the vines, and picks, crushes and de-stems the grapes. The vineyard was also where Briana’s love for quality ingredients and cooking was forged. “First we eat, then we do everything else” was the household motto, and her family grew tomatoes, basil, cherries, peaches, plums and more. Ducks, chickens, goats and sheep roamed the land, and Briana would go hunting for wild game, like deer and pheasant. A primarily self-taught chef, Briana grew up watching cooking shows, such as Julia Child, Martin Yan and Jeff Smith, and apprenticed for famed French chefs in Chicago, like Jean Banquet and Patrick Chabert. At 19, she began preparing wine dinners at the vineyard, parlaying that into opening several restaurants throughout suburban Chicago. Most notably, she founded and operated Mambo Italiano in Mundelein for more than 18 years, which earned the Daily Herald’s Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Restaurant Lake County” and was the first suburban restaurant to be featured on the Emmy Award-winning, local PBS show, “Check, Please!” In 2002, Briana won The Italo-American National Union David Society’s David Award for Culinary Arts and in 2021, garnered the Joint Civic Committee of Italian American’s Impresa Award, which honors female entrepreneurs. In 2023, Briana’s competitive spirit led to her appearance in a Julia Child-themed episode of Food Network’s “Chopped” and being crowned Universal Woman Italy beauty pageant. Briana’s creativity, wealth of wine and hospitality experience and entrepreneurial spirit has helped lead Provocativo’s growth into more than 40 states. Upon joining, she reformulated the wine to feature organic grapes in a blend of 75% Macabeo and 25% Chardonnay, resulting in a delightful interplay of citrus and subtle vanilla, balanced by a refreshing crisp acidity. She also supervises a team in Requena, Spain to ensure consistency when crafting this sparkling wine, using the legendary “Champenoise” method to get those fine, persistent bubbles. “I love how versatile this wine is. it can be paired with anything, whether it’s something luxurious like caviar, humble like a Chicago hot dog, or playful like a caviar-topped Chicago hot dog. That’s the fun of Provocative. It’s celebratory and the price is so fair, so anyone can feel good about drinking it.” Briana is also proud to be working alongside Partner, Spokesperson and global music icon Bebe Rexha in growing the brand’s awareness and unveiling their first Sparkling Rosé within a year. “Bebe is so raw and real. She’s humble, kind, gentle and such a talented artist who truly embodies the vivacious celebratory nature of Provocative.” As a female winemaker in such a male-dominated industry, Briana hopes to be a positive influence and use her position to support other women looking to get their start in the wine world.