PHILADELPHIA, PA – Might twenty seventh – The Wine Faculty of Philadelphia has named Anna Binkovitz its 2025 Sommelier Pupil of the 12 months, spotlighting one of many metropolis’s most compelling new voices in wine and hospitality.
A former slam poet from Minnesota with a background in whiskey training, Binkovitz got here to Philadelphia through the pandemic and rapidly discovered her manner into the town’s restaurant neighborhood—and into the lecture rooms of the Wine Faculty.
Now the service supervisor at a wine-focused restaurant in Rittenhouse operated by Excessive Road Hospitality Group, Binkovitz earned her sommelier pin and accomplished the varsity’s Superior Program in beneath two years. In that point, she stood out not just for her expertise, however for her presence.
“Some college students are simply pure gravity,” says Keith Wallace, founding father of the Wine Faculty. “When Anna’s at school, the room will get smarter, funnier, and sharper. She lifts individuals up with out making an attempt to. It’s who she is.”
Every year, the Wine Faculty selects one superior scholar who exemplifies each promise and influence. Finalists are sometimes already working within the wine commerce and chosen for his or her potential to form the way forward for the business.
“She has the poet’s reward for language and the supervisor’s intuition to guard her individuals,” says Wallace. “She’s additionally the primary particular person we’ve ever honored who described herself as getting into ‘goblin mode’ throughout service. That could be a report.”
Binkovitz is presently planning a long-term venture that features opening a bottle store and glowing wine bar targeted on making bubbles extra approachable.
“I’d love to show ultimately,” she says. “I believe wine must be joyful, not intimidating.”
Concerning the Wine Faculty of Philadelphia
Based in 2001, the Wine Faculty of Philadelphia provides nationally acknowledged packages in wine training and sommelier certification. It’s the birthplace of the Nationwide Wine Faculty and stays a cornerstone of the town’s meals and beverage neighborhood. With a mission to make wine training enjoyable, rigorous, and radically unpretentious, the varsity trains everybody from informal fans to future wine professionals.
