A windowless room, state-of-the-art in both amenities and inorganic building materials, seems an unlikely place to fall harder for Italy's sunny wines, but after five days spent in the reaches of Astor Center enriched by native grapes, lectures by writer and educator Ian D'Agata and 56 glasses of Italian wine, I did.

For its first venture into the United States, in June, Vinitaly International Academy landed in New York City, looking for new Ambassadors and Experts who could bring tales of Italian wines' wealth of tastes, styles and grape varieties to the world. The Academy is the teaching and outreach arm of Vinitaly, best known for throwing Italy's largest wine party every spring in Verona, Veneto — home to lovers Romeo and Juliet, wines Prosecco and Valpolicella, grapes Corvina and Durella. For the NYC edition, a small group of importers, sommeliers and writers were admitted to the VIA Certification Course.