Claudia Capelvenere was born in Denmark, but her family moved to Hong Kong in the early 1970s when she was one. After completing her education, she spent time in Italy and Denmark, then studied business, French and Italian at the European Business School in London. She worked in France and Italy before returning to Hong Kong, where she spent a year in the property business before joining her mother, Annelis, at Valdivia, a food and wine import business. Valdivia later diversified into retail and operates the Castello del Vino wine shop and delicatessen in Wan Chai.
Capelvenere is now the company's managing director and a passionate advocate of Italian food and wine.
Did you always intend to join the family business?
I think it was always on the cards, but I wasn't forced to do it. I think my mother wanted me to have some outside experience. Back in 1975, the only wines on the market in Hong Kong were French, and my father - who ran the Alitalia office and being a true Italian - wanted to drink Italian wines. So he said to my mother: 'Why don't you start an import business?' As a child, I used to come in and do summer jobs, and when I joined, I started at the bottom. I took over when my mother retired about six years ago.
Did your parents' interest in wine rub off on you at an early age?
Yes. At an Italian dinner table, even now, you will see children enjoying wine with sparkling water. It's not taboo. It's something you grow up with, and I think if you do, you probably don't abuse it in later life. It has always been part of my family culture. Later I took the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) course to the higher certificate level, but got most of my education working with people in the wine trade.