OUR TEAM
Dominique
She’s a California native, sommelier, and the founder of Old Frascati Food & Wine ETS, a cultural association based in Frascati, Italy where we work with local vintners, artisans, chefs, historians and sommeliers to show you the best that Frascati has to offer! We have several food and wine tours that we have created with our collaborators to give the perfect experience for visitors. We are all very passionate about our town’s heritage and love to share it with the world!
Paola Ceccarelli
Paola is the 7th generation Ceccarelli to work on her family’s vineyard. As the oldest of three daughters, Paola has decided to follow in her father’s footsteps by becoming the family winemaker using ancient techniques to care for the vines and make award winning wines. Paola and her family are excited to share their family’s winemaking history with you as you tour their 16th century wine cellar in beautiful Frascati wine country.
Eugenio Ceralli
Eugenio and his family are at the center of daily life in Frascati. Everyone in town buys their fresh bread from his bakery ‘Antico Forno Cerali’ and has done so for generations. Eugenio is a world traveller and ambitious entrepreneur with dreams of opening a wood fired pizza place in South Africa. Hopefully for us, his mother Rosanna is right when she says that he’s too old for such foolish notions and that he needs to stay here in Frascati;)
Daniela
Daniela is a Frascati native, born and raised in Frascati, her family has been living in this land for over nine generations. Despite her strong roots, Daniela has always moved in an international environment, first as a teacher of Italian language and culture for foreigners, and now sharing her passion for our food, wine and our ancient culture with the rest of the world! She is passionate about art, literature and languages, especially local dialects, and she is always ready to go wild with traditional music and dancing!”
Giovanna
Lynette
Claudio
Claudio is our wonderful pizzaiolo! He was born in 1945 and has a passion for sports; he is a skilled paratrooper, wrestler, boxer, and rugby player. He has contributed to missions in Africa, Iraq, and Albania. He loves to share his passion for Frascati with the tourists, but he dreams of visiting Africa again. Claudio runs “Il Borgo degli Artisti”, a wonderful local eatery where everyone who enters is treated like family.
Paola
Not only is Paola smart, funny and beautiful, she is also a very talented chef! She grew up in one of the most historic families of restaurateurs of the Castelli Romani. She spent several years living abroad teaching courses on Italian cooking. You will find Paola a wealth of knowledge and information on Frascati food & wine pairings, along with insights into which herbs and flowers are edible in the vineyard.
Nonna Rosanna
Nonna Rosanna is the 94 year-old mother of Eugenio the baker and quite a spit-fire! She still works every day and makes all sweets for the bakery with her most amazing staff. When she is not making the cookies, she is working at the register and socializing with customers. Her passion for her family’s 4th generation bakery and amazing work ethic is inspiring!
Marco
Marco works at the bakery we visit during our ‘Classic Half-Day Wine Tour’ and where we make our pizza during our ‘Pizza Making and Wine Tasting Tour’. His enthusiasm is contagious and he has even prepared a little speech in English for our guests telling them the story of our ‘Miss Frascati’ cookie. Bravo Marco!
Max
Max is a renaissance man. He is an artist, poet, sommelier, and our amazing tour guide! He knows endless stories about the legends, history and village gossip in Frascati and is truly loved by his town. He spends half the year in Frascati and the other half traveling the world, painting, volunteering and making friends.
Nino Ceccarelli
Nino Ceccarelli is Paola’s father and takes great care of his vineyard every day by pruning, tying and harvesting each vine by hand. He and his brother Mario are the main vintners at the Ceccarelli farmhouse and help keep our artisanal wine-making tradition alive in Frascati!
Marco
Marco is in charge of all transportation for Old Frascati Food & Wine Tours. Transportation around Frascati is included in all packages. He is a licensed NCC and for all extra transportation: Fiumicino Airport, Ciampino Airport, the port of Civitavecchia, the center of Rome to Frascati, and tours around the Castelli Romani i.e. Castel Gandolfo (the Pope’s summer home), Lago di Nemi (ancient borgo overlooking volcanic lake), and the Tivoli Gardens. Please contact Marco directly at MarcoLombardi48@gmail.com