Anna is the Founder and CEO of Aroma Wine Co. Her passion for wine and a love for all its nuances were born out of her early restaurant experiences. She has work at restaurants in Paris (her original hometown), Miami, and New York City. She got her start as a server, made her way up to manager, and ultimately graduated to wine buyer.
It was her initial exposure to the French hospitality industry (Hotel Lutetia in Paris, France) that opened-up opportunities and a world Anna didn’t even know existed. A newly found passion for the hotel and restaurant business brought her to the United States in 1998.
Following her restaurant tenure, Anna worked as a tasting coordinator and editorial assistant at Wine & Spirits Magazine, as a Marketing and Events Director at Petrossian Paris and as a Public Relations Executive representing French wine brands for Terlato Wines, a major U.S. importer.
Anna is a French-Croatian living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Born into a Croatian family and raised in Paris, France, you could say fashion, food, and wine were instilled in her at an early age. Spending her summer vacations in Croatia, Anna enjoyed everything that such a beautiful Mediterranean country had to offer, including working in her family’s vineyards. Wine is certainly in her DNA!
Today, Anna is tapping into her 20-plus years of experience and knowledge of the hospitality and wine industries to guide wineries through the intricacies of the U.S. trade, media and consumer markets.
Aroma Wine Co reflects Anna’s passion for the wine industry, but more importantly, it reflects her love for meeting the talented people behind the scenes and sharing their stories with the world.
Anna holds a BA in Modern Literature from University Paris VIII and the W.S.E.T. (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) Advanced Certification Level 3 & 4.
When Anna is not learning about wine or sharing her passion with others, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. She is also into health and fitness and is an avid spin-cycler.
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All tagged Giovanni Gaja
No trip to Bolgheri is complete without a visit to Ca’ Marcanda Winery. The wine legend - Angelo Gaja of GAJA Winery in Piedmont, Italy – at first sight, fell in love with an estate in Bolgheri and was determined to acquire the winery and apply his knowledge to a region he was eager to fully discover. It took 18 challenging meetings with the original owner to settle and finally purchase the winery. Post-sale, the winery was given the name Ca’ Marcanda translating to ‘the house of endless negotiations.’
Ca’ Marcanda winery was started in 1996 and then began a new adventure for the Gaja family. It took six years for the architect Giovanni Bo to complete the new state-of-the-art underground winery. International grape varieties were planted, such as: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and syrah. Bolgheri is a young appellation, known for its international grape varieties.
Giovanni Gaja, Angelo Gaja’s youngest child, representing the 6th generation involved in the family business, walked us through the vineyards. The attention to detail is astonishing. Everything was designed so that the land blends with the winery facility and vice versa. The estate is 296 acres (120 hectares) of vines planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. According to Giovanni: “We also have other varieties in smaller amounts, such as Syrah, Sangiovese, Vermentino and Viognier.”
The soil is composed of terre brune (mostly loam and clay), giving the wine minerality and structured tannins, and terre bianche (predominantly clay and limestone), producing fuller bodied wines with great aging potential.