About Us

ADRIANO MANIACI
Italia Wine Imports is owned by Adriano Maniaci, a charismatic lover of wine and food who grew up in the small town of Cinisi in Sicily near Palermo where great food was a natural part of his upbringing, with family members in the restaurant and butcher business. At the age of 19 he came to the United States to seek his fortune, landing in St. Louis where he began earnestly working in restaurants. This led to opportunities in New York and Chicago, where he had his own restaurant for ten years. Dreaming of a future as a winemaker in California, he moved to the West Coast, eventually settling in Orange County where he owned and operated two successful Sapori restaurants in Newport Beach and Tustin, California. His skills as both a chef and restaurateur have kept him very close to developing trends on the wine scene, and he has built his array of wines much like a chef would construct his kitchen with various spices and great raw materials in order to create the best cuisine. His passion for wine became sealed when he bought Italia Wine Imports and began his mission to fill his portfolio with little vinous gems from throughout Italy. Maniaci travels several times a year to his native homeland to seek out new and exciting wines to import into the United States, with a goal of bringing the best boutique wines of Italy to the U.S.

CHIARA DiGERONIMO
Managing Director, Northern California
Born in Locarno Switzerland, and raised in New York and Cefalu' Sicily, an appreciation of the flavors of Italy is second nature to Chiara. Throughout her early career which spanned many iconic entertainment projects on Madison Avenue, Capitol Hill and Hollywood, Chiara always remained firmly entrenched in her Italian roots, particularly her Sicilian roots. When she met IWI owner Adriano Maniaci in 2002 through an introduction by mutual friends in Los Angeles, she immediately recognized in him a familiar passion for Sicily and a desire to bring the best of Italy to the U.S. Since that time, Chiara has launched Italia Wine Imports' portfolio in Northern California and has created a fan base for it among some of the most respected sommeliers, restaurants and retailers in the Bay Area. She continues to oversee the growth of the business in Northern California by expanding the staff of enthusiastic sales reps for IWI and introducing the IWI portfolio to appreciative new clients.