Our Certified Sommelier

Francesca

The sommelier behind Innerwine · Certified, 11 years

Born in Messina, Francesca's first encounter with Bacchus dates back to high school, struck by a performance of The Bacchae at the ancient theatre of Syracuse and by her ongoing reading of classical writers and poets who praised wine as the "nectar of the gods." After a degree in Political Science from Palermo, she finally settled in Catania. But her hunger to keep learning led her away from desk work and toward something else.

A seemingly casual conversation with a colleague introduced her to AIS — the Italian Sommelier Association — and its courses, and from there, curiosity pulled her further in. Curiosity became passion; passion became an AIS Sommelier Diploma in 2015. She kept studying, going on to earn her AIS Official Taster certification in 2016, and later became a course lecturer. In love with the volcano and now an Etna native by adoption, she firmly believes that wine is life and continuous emotion — a belief that keeps her studying, staying current, travelling, and discovering the many different worlds wine has to offer, always evolving.