About diVino
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Amy Wadman Amy is a Colorado native who has been living in Italy for 20 years. She's a bilingual sommelier, passionate about the fine wines of all of Italy's beautiful regions. As a result of her many years living, working and traveling in Italy Amy is both bilingual and bicultural, which makes her uniquely qualified to share her experience with people who are seeking a deeper understanding of the Italian lifestyle. |
At age 14 Amy moved with her family from Boulder Colorado to the tiny Tuscan hilltop village of Montebenichi in central Tuscany. She immediately fell in love with Italy and decided to stay forever! After attending Italian public schools and working in the hospitality industry, Amy discovered a passion for Italy's wines and foods and for sharing this love with people visiting the area. To further her knowledge of Italian wines, she studied with the Italian Association of Sommeliers and received her Sommelier degree in May, 2005. Meanwhile, she traveled extensively throughout Italy, spending extended periods of time in Rome, Liguria, Umbria, Trentino and Valle d'Aosta, working, visiting wineries, researching trip itineraries, sampling local foods and gaining an understanding of the history and culinary traditions that make each of Italy’s 20 regions unique. Amy believes there is no better way to discover Italy than through it's fine wines and traditional local food products and she believes the only way to truly experience the essence of Italy is to travel to each region, see the land and the vineyards, meet the winemakers and the people and taste the local foods and wines in their place of origin. Amy also believes that the joy of tasting wine is greatly enhanced by the experience of being surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of Italy and she strives to create unique itineraries which she likes to define "food-wine-experience pairings". Amy specializes in custom tailoring private trip packages for her travelers. She works one on one with each individual traveler, creating one of a kind itineraries catering to each clients interests and needs. Though her trips are gourmet in nature, she also weaves unique art and history experiences into her itineraries and arranges exclusive and one of a kind events for her travelers thoughout Italy. Wine and travel are a central part of Amy's life but she also loves the outdoors (especially hiking the seaside trails of the Cinque Terre) and is a certified sport yoga instructor. So it came naturally for her to combine her passion for the outdoors with Italy’s wine and food – with the creation diVino’s Active-Wine Tours. For a little more on some of Amy's travels and the wines and foods featured in her tours visit her travel and tasting notes section. Read Amy's Travel & Tasting notes from her journeys across Italy
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Noris was born near the city of Trieste, the most eastern city in the Italian peninsula. Her mother is of Slovenian origin and her father was born in a coastal village in Croatia. Noris however born and raised in Italy. She grew up in a multicultural home (also learning to speak fluent Slovenian and Croatian), in a village 6 miles from the Slovenian border, in an area of the country that has only been part of the Italian republic since 1954! This beautiful area (called Carso and part of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region) is made of green rolling hills dotted with vineyards and majestic castles perched on white cliff faces that dive down to the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a region rich in history and culture where the influence of the Austro-Hungarian empire can still be seen in the art and architecture as well as in the people and local customs. Most of all it’s a region that is completely Undiscovered! Noris' dream is to help people discover these beautiful regions of Italy, its fine wines and local foods, history, languages and culture. Noris and Amy met in 2002 when Noris was living in Tuscany. She spent 6 years working in the wine industry in Montalcino, where thanks to her knowledge of foreign languages (Italian, Slovenian, Croatian, English, German and if need be, even some French!) she had the wonderful opportunity to work as PR Director in one of Italy’s most prestigious wineries. After many years of experience in Tuscany, learning in depth information on winemaking in Montalcino and obtaining her sommelier degree in 2003, she decided it was time to go back home and put to practice all that she'd learned. Her dream was to run her own business and to develop wine and gourmet tourism in her native Friuli Venezia-Giulia. Noris married local Carso winemaker Josko Colia in 2006 and together they run the winery and farm and welcome guests to visit them and taste their rare local wines, cheeses and other farm products. An odd bit of trivia about Noris: she's an Astrology nut! If you give her your time and date of birth she'll tell you more about yourself than you an imagine. She’ll even do a Wine & Sign pairing for you, selecting the perfect wine to match your astrological sign! |
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DiVino
DiVino (which in Italian means both "divine" and "of wine") was born out of Amy’s desire to share her passion for wine and Italy with others. Traveling throughout Italy both Amy and Noris have come to know the beauty of each region through its wines and traditional food products. Through this experience they perceived the deep connection each region has to its own unique culinary heritage and how much one can learn about the culture, history and traditions of a region through experiencing its wines and local cuisine. |
Wine according to diVino Wine personification, Wine & Sign, wine-food-experience pairings
A note from Amy: Over the years of tasting wine with my friends and collegues I've come to believe that experiencing wine is something much more profound and personal than a technical tasting or list of terms can convey. It came naturally for us to begin speaking about wine with different and more personal terms, comparing wines to people, pairing people to wines (according to personality or astrological sign), creating wine pairings with music, art and anything else that can help us and our travelers grasp the deeper essense of this wonderful art form called wine. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank a few people for the inspiration they've shared with me and the wonderful wine notions that have come from it. - Noris for her tireless energy and firey spirit, her love for wine & astrology and for creating the most unique way ever of pairing a wine to a person - Wine & Sign! - Summer Wolff for sparking the inspiration for the concept of "wine personification". Thanks to Summer we've since had the pleasure of drinking so many Clint Eastwoods, Orlando Blooms, Vanessa Redraves... and every time I open a bottle I now look forward to seeing "who" might be inside. - Andrea Anichini (owner and sommelier of La Vinsantaia restaurant - the table for saints and sinners) for the brilliant concept of pairing wines to the 7 deadly sins! And for all the wonderful wine & music. - My brother Will for painting Montebenichi, which is my inspiration, and for so many other works of art that "remind me of wines". - Livio Sassetti for turning it all into poetry. - To my mom Peg, without whom diVino would certainly crumble and for her love for "really cold, colorless, grapefruity Sauvignon Blancs". - And a special thank you to every winery that has welcomed us and shared a bit of themselves with us through their wines. DiVino Custom – Italy at your own pace |
