Sarah May Grunwald is originally from California and lived in Australia and Germany before settling in Italy in 2005. She graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in European Humanities and has a sommelier certificate from Associazione Italiana Sommelier and certificates from WSET. Sarah is a professor at the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici where she teaches the course “Wines of Italy”. She is also the co-owner and manager of Antiqua Tours, which offers wine tastings, winery visits and cultural tours in and around Rome. She is the author of the wine blog, Tasting Rome and co-founder and contributor to the renowned wine and food web portal The Rome Digest.

Sarah delivered a talk titled:

An overview of the importance of local cultural heritage in visiting a wine region. Case study of Lazio.

I. Why are the humanities and people of a region as important to experiencing a wine region as the vines and wines themselves?
2. People as Terroir (winemakers, local farmers, visiting nearby towns)
3. Example: Lazio wine region, getting visitors beyond Rome for a well rounded cultural experience which includes people, wine, food and cultural heritage
4. Why wine is not enough in wine tours. Why cultural heritage can sometimes sell wine regions, especially in unknown regions.
5. Be a cultural ambassador of your wine region! Get the community involved: Examples.

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