Davide Rossi

My name is Davide Rossi, I am 20 years old and I am from Conegliano, a small city near Venice, in the north east of Italy. I live in my hometown with my mother and older brother who studies economics.

Mother, despite being a sommelier, works in the accounting office of a big company, specialising in services for the maritime and energy industries.  Our dad lives in the same neighbourhood and runs a small construction company with our uncle.

Talking about myself, I can say that I am a dynamic person. I have participated in many different sports in the past, especially mountain related ones, like climbing, skiing and mountain biking.I spend most of my time outdoors.

I studied music for three years before high school, and I still play the piano every once in a while.Likewise I started playing football when I was six years old. I havedeveloped a passion for it and I often watch the matches with my friends.

Recently I managed to combine my passion for wine and my friendliness into a weekend job at a local tavern built under a medieval church.

I  started studying  viticulture  and  oenology  when  I  was  13  years  old   at I.S.I.S.S. G.B. Cerletti, (Conegliano) founded in 1876, one of the oldest oenological schools in Italy.In addition to being a secondary school, the institute has 15 hectares of vineyards from which it produces its own wines. The school is also equipped with research laboratories, a didactic stable, a winery, three meteorological centers and a boarding school, in order to host students that come here from all over the country.

When I graduated highscool I enrolled at the University of Padova, which campus  of oenology is also  at the Cerletti Institute in Conegliano. As years passed, my interest in the wine sector grew, especially thanks to the working experiences I have had in different wineries each summer in Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Tuscany, where I improved my knowledge of various wine qualities, from Prosecco and Tai Classico to Chianti Classico.

My passion was also fuelled by the territory where I grew up, which is a famous DOCG for white wines that has recently been recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

From what I learnt until now, even recognizing that the care of the vineyard is a fundamental step in the manufacturing process of a good wine, I am definitely fonder into the oenological aspect of wine making, rather than the viticultural one.

I have not decided yet what to do after my graduation, but having studied and worked only in Italy until now, I felt that having experiences abroad could be the best way to improve my skills, testing myself with foreign languages and different work cultures; which are also the main reasons why I applied for this exchange.

I hope this experience will enrich me on a personal level, as  we l l  as  a professional one, and I can not wait to embrace your unique lifestyle.

Davide