ABOUT US

Paula Stanbury has over 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality and adventure travel.

In the mid 90’s Paula exchanged the inclement weathers of England for the tropical climates of Australia. As already a diver, she took the opportunity to turn her hobby into her profession working as a divemaster and subsequently instructor.

A natural progression seemed to be super yachts.  As chief stewardess on board some of the worlds largest sailing yachts, Paula gained invaluable global experience. Her responsibilities included concierge services, provisioning and maintaining private wine collections plus liaising closely with chefs to provide the finest possible experience for her guests whether they were business executives, movie stars or royalty.

After over 15 years on yachts Paula decided to transfer her skills to Tuscany, where she has a summer home. In her free time she enjoys sipping champagne between renovations or taking a bike ride in the Lucca hills.

Elizabeth Miller, who has Italian origins, left Pennsylvania in the 1980’s to pursue academic ideals in Milan, Italy. About a decade later, while leading luxury bicycle vacations all over the peninsula, she became very interested in learning more about Italian wines – food and wine pairing, local grape varieties, wine making and in particular, wine tasting. A few years later, Elizabeth acquired her sommelier diploma from AIS (Associazione Italiana Sommelier) and went on subsequently to obtain a Masters in Sensorial Analysis – becoming one of only 200 people in Italy to have earned this special designation.

Elizabeth is a published wine critic and journalist. She has reviewed wines for Bibenda Editore, Duemilavini, one of Italy’s leading wine guides, collaborated with two leading, internationally acclaimed wine estates: Avignonesi and Poggio Antico, as well as written courses for both wine bars and wine schools. Elizabeth has also lead numerous private wine tastings and events, as well as wine excursions in Chianti Classico, Montalcino, Montepulciano and Bolgheri, as well as to lesser known territories in Tuscany.
Elizabeth feels passionately about wines, and underlines that each wine has a story to tell –as long as we have the skills to interpret what it is saying and reflect upon all of the insights it provides us in the form of sensorial analysis – quite simply, each individual’s perception of the wine in front of us by using our senses: visual, aroma and taste.
Elizabeth holds a BA in Italian language and history, a BS in Psychology and a MA in Italian Literature from the University of Pittsburg