Mission

Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) aims to be the gold standard of Italian wine education. VIA offers a complete educational path with standardized courses that will teach professionals and educators to master the diversity of Italian wine in a rigorous, organized manner. VIA’s main objective is to foster a global network of highly qualified professionals such as Italian Wine Ambassadors and Italian Wine Experts: in turn, they will support and promote Italian wine throughout the world. VIA’s ecosystem comprising the main institutional bodies and associations in the Italian wine industry strives to be the conduit between the leading players in the Italian wine scene and international professionals.

VIA was originally launched in February 2014 in the shape of Executive Wine Seminars to accompany Vinitaly International’s events abroad. The Executive Wine Seminars continue to be an integral part of Vinitaly International’s guided tasting program, both during Vinitaly in Verona and during its stops abroad. The VIA wine Certification Course as we know it today started in April 2015 as a five-day intensive training to teach a chosen international group of wine educators, journalists, and trade a highly specialized curriculum of Italian wine.

Stevie Kim (Amministratrice Delegata) e il Prof. Attilio Scienza (Direttore Scientifico) di Vinitaly International Academy

VIA’s makeover started in June 2018 with the appointment of new Faculty members, Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar, who started to work on reformatting the Italian Wine Ambassador course under the scientific mentorship of vine genetics academic Prof. Attilio Scienza (appointed VIA Chief Scientist). VIA also forms an Institutional Advisory Board, inviting leading Italian wine associations to be part of the conversation: Federdoc, Federvini, Unione Italiana Vini, and FIVI Vignaioli Indipendenti have provided guidance and support to VIA’s educational mission.

Chief scientist

Prof. ATTILIO SCIENZA

Chief Scientist, Vinitaly International Academy

Attilio Scienza is a full professor at the University of Milan in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences where he teaches courses on genetic improvements to the vine; he also teaches Viticulture in the Master’s program of the University of Turin in Asti. He has been the lead for many national research projects in the field of physiology, agricultural techniques, and vine genetics.

He is the author of over 350 publications on vine and viticulture in national and international journals, conference proceedings, text books, and monographs. He also authored 23 books in Italian and English on cultural topics related to wine. From 1985 to 1991, he was the Director of the Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all’Adige (the research and training institute part of the Edmund Mach Foundation). He is a member of the Accademia Italiana della Vite e del Vino and of the Accademia dei Georgofili. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research and writing, including the AEI Prize for scientific research (1991), the international Premio Morsiani (2006), and the OIV Prizein viticulture for the best scientific book on vine topics and viticulture (2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012).

Since June 2018, Prof. Scienza collaborates with Vinitaly International as the Chief Scientist of the Vinitaly International Academy.

VIA Faculty

ITALIAN WINE EXPERT

Sarah Heller MW

Wine educator and wine branding expert, content creator and proprietor of Radix + Folium Design

ITALIAN WINE EXPERT

Henry Davar

Wine Educator e Boutique Fine Wine Business Development Manager presso Breakthru Beverage, Nevada.

Recently appointed to the faculty of the Vinitaly International Academy, Sarah Heller is a content creator, visual artist and wine branding expert based in Hong Kong and at 30 is the world’s youngest Master of Wine. Having graduated from Yale University with a degree in fine art, Sarah began her career in the New York and Hong Kong wine trades and wineries in France and Italy. She was Executive Director of events and education firm Meiburg Wine Media in Hong Kong for three years. As well as being a Master of Wine and an Associate of the Institute of Wine and Spirits, Sarah is a Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine and Spirits. She is the proprietor of Radix + Folium Design. Sarah speaks English, German, Italian and French with some proficiency in Chinese and Spanish and her 2018 goal is to tackle Korean. She is a Vinitaly International Academy-certified Italian Wine Ambassador.

After six years working on Wall Street, Henry Davar dove into the world of food and wine by enrolling in New York City’s Institute of Culinary Education. He soon transitioned to wine full time after studying with the American Sommelier Academy. He holds wine certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. In 2005 he joined the sommelier team at the landmark Italian restaurant, Del Posto. After relocating to Las Vegas where he created the beverage programs at B&B Ristorante, Otto, and Carnevino in the Venetian-Palazzo Resort, he returned to New York in 2009 to take over Del Posto’s Grand Award-winning wine program. After a year-long sabbatical in Italy in 2011, he returned to Las Vegas to manage the boutique import portfolio from Spain, Austria, Germany, and Champagne at Breakthru Beverage Nevada. In April 2017, he became certified by the Vinitaly International Academy as Italian Wine Expert.

ITALIAN WINE EXPERT

Henry Davar

Wine Educator e Boutique Fine Wine Business Development Manager presso Breakthru Beverage, Nevada.

Dopo sei anni a Wall Street, Henry Davar è entrato nel mondo Food & Wine con l’occasione di gestire l’Institute of Culinary Education di New York. Si è presto dedicato alla cultura del vino a tempo pieno, studiando alla American Sommelier Academy e ottenendo la certificazione del Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. Nel 2005 si è unito al team di sommelier del prestigioso ristorante italiano Del Posto, a cui ha fatto guadagnare il Grand Award per la selezione di vini. Dopo diverse esperienze in Italia e negli Stati Uniti, prende in gestione il portfolio di vini da Spagna, Austria, Germania e dello Champagne della Breakthru Beverage, in Nevada. Ottiene la certificazione di Italian Wine Expert di Vinitaly International Academy nel 2017.