Join Christina Solazzo, a representative for an award-winning Italian winery and Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts of Food Studies graduate student to gain a better appreciation for Italian wine diversity and improve your own wine knowledge. Using insights from her academic, professional, and personal background, Christina will teach you the basics of a formal wine tasting, help you hone your own preferences, and better understand Italian wines. The workshop will involve a short interactive discussion with a wine tasting, involving three different wines.
All wines will come from small, “locally-owned” wineries, in the glocal context. Glocal – the global exchange of local goods and ideas. Unlike internationally-owned wine companies, these wineries are centered around years of tradition, indigenous varietals, and a passionate connection between producers and the land. These types of wineries are especially common in Italy. Participants can expect to try a white, rosé, and red. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and appreciation with you. After all, life is so much better with ninety-nine different bottles on the wall, rather than ninety-nine bottles of the same one.
What Participants Will Expect to Learn:
- Italian wine varietals
- Understanding appellation system labels
- Italian wine culture
- Personal connection to wineries
- Formal wine tasting techniques
- Food pairings for each wine
Must be 21+ years to attend. All participants will need to show ID upon arrival.
Fee: $50
Sign up for the Sparkling Wine Tasting on December 8th to bundle and save!
NOTE: If you'd like to pay for this event with cash or check, please e-mail craft@chatham.edu or call 412-365-1118
10% off for all Chatham Alumni!
Instructor: Christina Solazzo
Christina is a Marketing Representative for the Tabarrini Winery located in Montefalco, Italy. Her work with them includes managing their online presence through their website and social media platforms, performing tours and tastings at the cellar, and organizing wine events in the United States. Christina has also performed extensive academic research on how the commodification of terroir impacts small producers in a global economy, with Tabarrini as one of the participants. Her other work experiences include managing the wine room at Via Umbria, an Italian specialty store in Washington, D.C. and serving as a summer staff member at the Umbra Institute, a study abroad institution focusing on Italian and Food Studies in Perugia, Italy.
Currently, Christina is pursuing a Master of Arts in Food Studies and Master of Business Administration at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her Master’s thesis will be in the form of a business plan for an Italian wine import company. She is maintaining a wine blog, Ninety-Nine, as she further expands her wine knowledge. Christina's interest in wine is centered around introducing consumers in the U.S. market to the extensive diversity that Italian wines offer. Her passion has fostered years of research, experience, and relationships in the field.
Instructor: Salley Frey
Sally Frey has over a decade of experience teaching hands-on culinary, baking, pastry, wines and hospitality management classes as a chef instructor as well as years teaching academic graduate level Food Studies courses. She is an assistant professor with the Food Studies program at Chatham University where she teaches sustainable gastronomy related courses including Sustainable Fermentation, Wines, Ciders and Meads, Culture and Culinary Grains, Sustainable Meat Production, Culinary Workshops and the Politics and Pleasures of Chocolate. The graduate level courses take a unique academic perspective combined with applied learning. She has graduate degrees in both English and Gastronomy as well as professional chef credentials including the Grand Diplôme degree from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. She is the chef and owner of S.K. Frey Chocolates & Confections which is a small-batch artisanal food business based in Pittsburgh with a national distribution.
For more information see: www.skfrey.com