Petra was born and raised in Firenze, Italy. Her father Carlo, a native “Fiorentino,” nurtured Petra on Italian opera and Dante Alighieri, passing on his own deep love and reverence for Firenze, its traditions and culture, to her. Petra’s mother Connie was born and raised in Colorado. She moved to Italy in her twenties to study art, where she fell in love first with Tuscany, and later with Carlo. Petra attributes her own adventurous nature to her free-spirited mother.

Petra studied international law at the University of Florence, graduating in 2003 with honors. She first worked as a consultant in the textile industry. This job gave her the opportunity to travel the world – from Italy and India to North Africa and throughout the Middle East.

In 2007, Petra came to California for a short vacation. But the quiet beach town of Encinitas, CA soon became her new home. Working in a local Italian restaurant,
Petra discovered a passion and talent for the hospitality industry, and for Italian wine in particular.

Petra Belliti’s love of Italian wines has since grown into her profession. She is a certified Italian Wine Specialist from the North America Sommelier Association (NASA), as well as an Italian Wine Ambassador and Italian Wine Educator with Vinitaly International Academy.

Today, Petra is general manager of Solare Ristorante in San Diego. Among her many duties, she is responsible for event planning and building Solare’s award-winning Italian wine portfolio, and has organized and led several wine tours to Italy sponsored by Solare. She has also curated the wine lists for Italian restaurants in Southern California.

Petra is eager to share her depth of knowledge for Italian native grapes and winemaking with those who share her passion and thirst (for knowledge, of course) through wine seminars, guided tastings, and in-depth tours of the varied terroirs of the Italian peninsula and endless, breathtaking, and romantic “flavors” of its many distinct regions.