Congratulations to Vittoria Mariani, IWS, for passing the Italian Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Vittoria:
Born and raised in Napoli, in the sunny southwest coast of Italy, Vittoria moved to Amsterdam 9 years ago to complete her business studies. In 2015, Vittoria joined Eleanor Wine, a Fine Wine Merchant, to combine challenge and passion. Here, Vittoria gained strong experience in trading fine wines around the globe and had the chance to visit incredible Chateaux & Wine estates in Bordeaux, Toscana, Mendoza and Napa Valley. Recognising that her true passion is wine education, in 2017 Vittoria chose to take off and study for one year in Australia, a country with a strong wine culture and identity. She obtained the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines and the Court of Master Sommelier – Introductory Certificates. Back in Amsterdam in 2018, Vittoria started the Eleanor Wine Academy, an educational department of Eleanor Wine, with the purpose to create a community of international wine lovers that at the end of each course will get deeper knowledge about wine but also will make new friends. Since then, Vittoria has been the head of the Eleanor Wine Academy, a certified wine school offering training since 2019 in the picturesque Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. Vittoria also organizes training and wine master classes with Michelin * Restaurant Sommeliers in and around Amsterdam. Furthermore, having a strong business background, Vittoria is highly interested in how new business models and technologies impact the wine industry. She recently covered a consulting position for a digital sommelier program that combines wine data and algorithms. By late 2022, Vittoria obtained the IWS with highest honors. She can finally fully focus on the wines of her country of origin, Italy!
I’m a WSET Diploma student, I hold the WSET L3 Award in Wines qualification, The Court of Master Sommelier Introductory certificate, and I’m a Certified Sherry Educator. The IWS program is an invaluable source of knowledge for those who want to get out of their “wine comfort zone”. It’s a fair representation of the multitude of grape varieties and wines of Italy, which, combined with elements of the local history, culture and food, makes the learning experience even more exciting and enriching for students.
I am catching the wave of interest generated by the increasing popularity of Italian Wines and Italy’s native grape varieties worldwide. Besides broadening the portfolio of wine courses offered at the Eleanor Wine Academy, the IWS has provided me with more insights and business ideas.
