What is better than watching the Winter Olympic Games comfortably from the couch, feeling a bit like you are part of the athletes’ competitions, and learning about growth-mindset resilience? It sounds silly, I know. As I watched the ski slopes at Milano-Cortina 2026, I realised these Olympic lessons can be applied directly to the wine industry. There are similarities between Olympic skiing and the challenges of resilience in wine marketing and storytelling. I am taking you on a journey from Olympic ski slopes, via resilience, to Sicilian “wine slopes”.
At competitions like these, a distinctive national sense of belonging emerges.
I was watching the 10 km + 10 km skiathlon for women yesterday, where Sweden won gold and silver.
For every ski stroke, for every move of Frida and Ebba in the tracks, I felt the adrenaline pulse too; it felt as if I could almost touch their resilience, their trained winning mindset, and cry with them when Frida Karlsson crossed the goal line. I am exaggerating a bit…I know…but it is a special feeling.
It also made me think of all the World Cup and Olympic skiing competitions in the late 1970s and 1980s, when Sweden stopped what it was doing for a few moments to watch Ingmar Stenmark flying down the slopes or Thomas Wassberg and Gunde Svan ploughing through the snow with power and grace.
- It is a nationalistic feeling.
- It is a sense of belonging.
- It is a moment to believe in that ability to reach a higher goal.
If they can, so can I, right?
What can the wine world learn from athletes about mindset?
Well, what can we learn from winter sports athletes about mindset?
First, I think their mindset training can be linked to the idea of “ability as something that can be developed” rather than “inherent that needs to be demonstrated,” as Marina Krakovsky writes in her article “Why Mindset Matters” in the Stanford Magazine, 20th September 2017. The article discusses research on growth mindsets by the well-known Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck.
Dweck studied children’s behaviours towards failure in the late 1960s and found that it is not a question of ability or intelligence, but of how one views ability. The question is whether you view ability as inherent and fixed, or as a learning process through which you develop yourself step by step, i.e. a growth mindset.
I think that team building and team effort can play a part here, too.
I remember when I played football (soccer): the positive, or growth mindset, developed through supporting and pushing one another within the team.
If we look at the wine world at large today, I think a growth mindset combined with a team spirit is essential. Both for wine professionals and wine producers. It’s crucial to move beyond “old-school” systems in wine communication and marketing to instead develop clear strategies to transform the narrative by learning from setbacks. A long-term perspective, instead of hoping for quick fixes, I think, is also more important than ever.
Returning to the athletes at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina d’Ampezzo 2026, with respect to wine, I see a twofold comparison.
On one hand, there’s the importance of adopting a growth mindset to drive change in the wine industry. On the other hand, there are the emotions that events like the World Cup and the Olympics evoke in us. These competitions foster nationalist sentiments, creating a sense of belonging to the homeland, the Heimat, or the patria. We connect with the athletes, who serve as symbols and representatives of our nation. Their performances reinforce our country’s standing on the global stage.
This sense of community reinforces the idea that we are not alone in experiencing these emotions. It connects us to our homeland, fostering a shared identity among citizens. In feeling these things together, we affirm our belonging and strengthen the bonds that unite us as a community.
Now, I am sounding somewhat like the nationalists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
For example, the volunteer red skirts of Garibaldi – I Mille – and the German gymnastics associations for youth born in Berlin in the early 19th century were all part of the nationalist movement and highly political. I promise I am not turning political here.
My point is to demonstrate how important both mindset and narrative are in shaping a shared sense of community, which, in the long run, promotes belonging and trust within the wine world.
See my article in Italian about my free online course, “Trasforma l’uva in parole…corso online gratuito per produttori di vino”.
An example of a wine that, for me, shows resilience and a spirit of local identity
Cantina Marilina, Sketta Grecanico IGP Terre Siciliane 2024
Grecanico Dorato is a grape variety that is widely cultivated in Sicily for the production of dry white and sweet wines. It is a grape that thrives in various, often poor, soils, including volcanic, clay, calcareous, and sandy soils. It is also resistant to drought. Overall, it is a resilient grape variety.
It is believed to have been brought to Sicily by the migrating Greek people during their colonisation of southern Italy in the VIII-VI century B.C. It’s a grape variety that conveys a sense of place and belonging to Sicily, which is part of its broader narrative.
When you drink a glass of wine made with Grecanico Dorato – whether cultivated in the Etna, Palermo or Agrigento area – you think: This is Sicily in a glass!
The Grecanico Sketta from Marilina winery in Val di Noto combines this feeling of “Sicily” with its fresh and “contemporary” style, its enjoyable drinkability.
Here’s what I’ve learned from watching Olympic skiers, communication about, and tasting wine: it’s all about mindset, resilience, and community.
Every wine tells a story. Every producer has setbacks, doubts, and moments when they want to quit. But the ones who make it? They’re the ones who keep showing up, keep telling their story, and keep believing their wine matters.
So here’s my question for you:
What’s a moment in your wine journey—or life—when you had to dig deep and find resilience?
Hit reply and tell me. I want to hear your story. (Seriously. I read and respond to every email.)
And if you’re ready to flip your mindset and turn it into stories that connect with your audience:
My free 4-week course Trasforma l’uva in parole starts February 23rd. It’s for wine producers who want to communicate with clarity, show up with confidence, and build a content strategy that doesn’t feel like guesswork.
4 weeks. 1 live session per week. A clear plan at the end. Completely free.
One more thing: If you know a winemaker who’s struggling to find the words, share this with them. Sometimes all it takes is one story to remind us we’re not alone.
Salute. 🍷
