Wine Culture & Tailored Experiences
I am the founder of Vinipedia, a wine consultant and educator based in Nice, working with both private wine enthusiasts and professionals.
My work has been shaped by different sides of the wine world: working with producers and brands, advising hospitality businesses, teaching, organising tastings and events, and creating wine journeys for private and professional clients. I hold the WSET® Level 4 Diploma and am a Certified Sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers.
My professional career in wine began in Turkey in 2007. As Brand Manager responsible for the European portfolio of a leading wine importer, I worked directly with producers from across Europe’s major wine regions. Those early years gave me an international perspective on the industry and laid some of the foundations for what would later become Vinipedia.
I founded Vinipedia in Istanbul in 2011. Over the years, my work developed across wine education, tastings and events, consultancy and wine tourism. From 2014 to 2020, I taught oenology at Vatel Turkey, and for seven years worked as an independent wine consultant to Unifree Duty Free, whose long-standing international partner is Gebr. Heinemann.
During these years, I also led a bilingual wine tasting club created for members of Istanbul’s consular and diplomatic community, bringing together an international private audience around wine.
My connection with Nice goes back much further. I studied Information and Communication at Université Côte d’Azur before beginning my career in wine in Turkey. In 2021, I returned to Nice and made the French Riviera home again.
Since then, I have continued to develop Vinipedia from the French Riviera, combining my international wine background with my knowledge of the region and its hospitality and tourism landscape. Today, my work takes me across the Côte d’Azur and Monaco, through France’s wine regions and internationally.
I currently serve as Academy Chair France for World’s 50 Best Vineyards. I am also an Échanson of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs in Monaco and a member of the Association Monégasque des Sommeliers.
My connection with the sommelier world goes back to the early years of my career. I was the first woman to compete in Turkey’s national sommelier competition, where I placed second, and later represented Turkey at the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs International Jeunes Sommeliers Competition. Those experiences continue to inform my work with professionals preparing for exams, blind tastings and competitions.
For me, sharing wine knowledge begins with understanding who I am sharing it with. Someone discovering wine for the first time will not have the same questions as a sommelier preparing for an exam, a hotel developing its wine programme or a private client discovering a wine region.
That has always been how I work: I listen first, understand what is needed, and share what I know in a way that is genuinely useful to the person in front of me.
Press features, judging panels, talks and collaborations.
A question, a project, or a wish to build an experience around wine? Write to me.
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