Food and wine education through structured in-person classes, immersive travel, and private or corporate events.
What We Offer
Immersive Study Trips
Our Tuscany food & wine immersion trip takes you to a renovated villa surrounded by vineyards and olive trees in the rolling hills of Chianti Classico in Panzano. We visit dear producer friends, eat at our favorite restaurants, and offer a life-changing view into Italian food and wine culture. Small groups foster connection with like-minded wine and food lovers, making every journey an opportunity to build lasting relationships.
Wine Education
Our wine classes take you on a journey of history, geography, and culture through native grapes, regionally-specific wine styles, and techniques. From our Sommelier Bootcamp to the Italian Wine Consultant course, we provide the latest insights to deepen your understanding of wine. We also offer private, tailored events for groups seeking an exclusive and immersive wine education experience.
Food Education
Our food classes explore climate-friendly topics, seasonality and food preservation techniques to make the best of our local food and reduce waste.
We strive to elevate the sustainability conversation through hands-on activities and in-class conversations that brings us together to celebrate food. In addition, we provide bespoke education for personal or corporate events.
Headquartered in Denver, we travel across the country, and the world, for food, wine, and culture.
Our Philosophy
Our mission is to make food and wine education enjoyable and engaging, celebrating the rich cultures behind every bottle and the people who grow and craft our food. We're passionate about connecting makers, regions, and the stories that make food and wine truly unique.
We’re dedicated to bringing people together through unforgettable learning experiences, cultivating a community that shares a deep love for gastronomy. After all, food and wine are cultural cornerstones worldwide—a passport to discovery, connection, and endless joy.
Check out all of our upcoming public classes on our events page
Immersive
Food & Wine Trips
Education Through Travel
There’s no better way to learn than to feel a place, to see the landscape, and to connect with the local community.
We call this tangible travel. Diverging from the books and placing our feet on the soils we’ve been reading about for years.
Our study trips focus on the cultural, historical and geographical connection of the wine and food of each region we visit.
Why travel with Grappolo Food & Wine School?
Paula and Scott Thomas spent more than two years living in Italy with time divided between Piedmont and Tuscany. This time allowed for a deep understanding of Italy’s many beautiful regions, all of which are rich with regional and cultural identity.
By traveling with us, you gain unique access to places that would otherwise be inaccessible. Over the years of visiting, we’ve forged strong relationships with producers, farmers, and business owners who share their stories of place better than anyone else.
Meet The Team
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Scott Thomas is a wine culturist, educator, writer, and sommelier with a twenty-year career in the wine industry spanning fine dining, distribution, and education.
He is the co-founder of Grappolo Food and Wine School, a Denver-based academy offering immersive wine travel, wine events, and structured courses, including our Italian Wine Wine Consultant certification.
His passion for Italian wines grew during his two years in Piedmont and Tuscany, where he earned a Master's in Wine Culture from Slow Food's University of Gastronomic Sciences and gained practical experience in the vineyards of Chianti Classico. Scott's professional credentials include Certified Italian Wine Expert, Italian Wine Ambassador and Certified Italian Wine Educator, Certified Wine Educator, Certified Specialist of Wine, WSET III, Certified Sommelier, and official Orvieto and Langhe Wine Ambassador.
In addition, Scott is the wine director at Restaurant Olivia, a Denver Wash Park gem, with an Italian-heavy wine list and hand made pasta.
"I take wine seriously—but not too seriously. I believe wine education should be approachable, unpretentious, and most importantly, fun! Wine can be complex, sure, but learning about it doesn't have to be. I love turning curiosity into adventure, diving into the hidden gems of wine regions and grape varieties that deserve their moment in the spotlight. For me, it’s all about discovery and celebrating biodiversity. That’s why I’m so proud to be an official Italian Wine Ambassador and one of just 12 VIA educators in the U.S.—it means I get to share this passion in an exciting and meaningful way!"
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Paula is a culinary educator, food systems advocate, and former pastry chef with over 20 years of experience in food education and hospitality. After more than a decade in professional kitchens, she transitioned from the pastry station to the broader world of food culture, agriculture, and sustainability—driven by a desire to understand and connect the food on our plates to the people who produce it and the land that sustains it.
Her journey led her to the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy, where she earned a Master’s degree in Global Food Systems. During her time there, she also worked with Slow Food International, engaging with food leaders from across the globe to promote sustainable and equitable food systems.
Throughout her career, Paula has collaborated with communities both locally and internationally, supporting grassroots programs that champion food sovereignty and environmental justice. She has visited farms in the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Greece, the Philippines, and numerous European countries to study diverse food production methods and deepen her understanding of the connections between food, culture, and the environment.
In 2022, she was awarded a scholarship to MAD Academy—the educational arm of Noma, the world-renowned restaurant—where she completed intensive training in Environment & Sustainability alongside some of the most innovative minds in the culinary world.
That same year, she was selected for the James Beard Foundation’s Legacy Network as an advisor, mentoring the next generation of BIPOC hospitality professionals. Today, she continues to teach and share her passion for food and culture, while working at Restaurant Olivia as the Director of Sustainability.
We strive to honor the people and land from where our food and wine come from, cherishing the cultural nuisances that make it worth sharing and preserving. To the farmers, growers, and producers who bring us the goods to build hospitality. We aim to be a force of change within the food and wine industries through education.
We Build Community
We are committed to building community, supporting a responsible food system, and giving back.
Since 2023, we have offered four full scholarships to Colorado women for our Italian Wine certification course, as part of a partnership with Women’s Wine Guild.
We supported Slow Food Denver by donating a Sommelier Bootcamp class. As well as, Denver Urban Gardens by donating two auction items, a pasta-making class and a wine dinner.
We ensured the food we sourced for any of our classes and events followed responsible production practices, following the seasons when purchasing local ingredients from farmers we know. For imported food, we followed Fair Trade, non-GMO, organic practices.
