Congratulations to Jacqueline Pirolo of Macchialina, The MICHELIN Guide Florida 2025 Sommelier of the Year winner, presented in partnership with Franciacorta!
Working with her brother, Chef Michael Pirolo, Jacqueline serves as the Beverage Director for Macchialina, which has delighted Miami locals for 13 years. Her wine list is entirely Italian (except for Champagne), and it blends perfectly with her brother's rustic Italian cooking. Jacqueline's list is farmer first, focuses on low intervention, and highlights the vast landscape of indigenous Italian varietals.
We spoke with her to learn how she picks new wines and what she's drinking right now.
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How were you introduced to the world of wine?
Through my brother, not the brother I work with at Macchialina. I have three older brothers, and my middle older brother Fabricio worked in wine sales when I was in the middle of college. He would take me around New York City with his bag of wines, and we would go out to dinner to taste wines with clients. I immediately felt this sort of camaraderie that I knew I kind of wanted to be a part of.
What’s your criteria for adding a new wine to your list?
Thirteen years ago, it was very difficult to do a list like this in Miami. Even eight years ago, it was difficult. It's gotten much easier now.Criteria number one is trying to find those lesser-known grapes from those lesser-known regions, from the smaller farmers. But number two, and just as important, the wine has to be good. It has to be sound, and it has to be proper. We want to make sure that there's a personality to the wine, and it's speaking to our cuisine and what fits.
Farming practices are pretty important, so making sure that there's at least an effort, even if they're not certified, to farming sustainably, organic or even biodynamic.
Price point is important. We want to make sure that we have a certain amount of budget-friendly wines. I never want anybody to feel that because they have a certain budget they're trying to stay within, they don't get to try the cool or lesser-known wine. We try to make sure that within each price point, you have more than just one option for that.
What's your ideal meal and pairing at Macchialina?
That's such a tough question. This is going to be so boring, but my brother's the chef, and I don't think anybody makes a better spaghetti pomodoro than he does. For me, after a busy service or even on a day off, it's sitting down at the bar and having a bowl of spaghetti pomodoro with a glass of Cesanese or Ciliegiolo or one of the smaller, lesser-known grapes. There's nothing like red wine and tomato sauce. That pairing is iconic for a reason.
Do you have a favorite wine-related film, book, or magazine?
Wine Folly does it really well in terms of overall scope. She’s really great at explaining it on a level that's easy to understand and remember. We use it as a resource a lot at the restaurant for our team. We have her maps laminated, we have her books, and some of our new team members take her online course.
A little bit more Italy-focused, I would say Vino from Joe Campanale. That's another really great book that I use as a resource often. I love Noble Rot out of London. That magazine is stellar and gives me a cool factor when I get to speak to my somm friends.
How have your tastes changed over the years?
This is gonna be controversial because my Instagram is @lambrusco5744. And so, I am all things Lambrusco. That was my first aha moment in the wine world. These days I might be drinking a little bit less Lambrusco.
What are you drinking these days?
I've really started to double down on sake. I just did my WSET, the level one for sake, just to try and understand it more. I'm excited to explore that outside of the realm of Japanese cuisine and understand that sake can pair with other cuisines.
What's the biggest misconception about being a sommelier, or wine in general?
That somms only select wine, that they only put a wine list together. That’s less and less true, especially in the changing landscape of restaurants. Somms are oftentimes tasked to do more than just wine. Whether that be a whole beverage program with spirits and cocktails included, and sometimes even outside of that realm, managing teams. They don’t just taste wine. They need to make sure that the wine fits the program. Is there space for it? What's the price point? There's a lot of numbers that go into the somm world. Tasting wine is a nice perk of the job, but there's certainly a lot more that goes into it.
What’s next for you?
We're opening two more concepts this year, which we're super excited about. Bar Bucce, which is a pizzeria, bottle shop, and market in Little River. And Fluke, a martini and crudo bar.
Hero image: Maxson Media / Jacqueline Pirolo
