A hospitality professional for twelve years, Maria Boumpa now leads the dining room and cellar at Da Terra - 2 Michelin stars - in London. A multiple award-winner for low & no-alcohol pairing, she has passed the Court of Master Sommeliers' Advanced Examination (2024) with the highest score and is close to the podium at the UK Sommelier of the Year.
Her passion for hospitality began in a small provincial coffee shop; from there she continued on to upscale establishments, including the five-star The Beaumont hotel in London, which offered her an initial confrontation with articulate wine lists. In 2017, an internship at Copenhagen's Kokkeriet (one Michelin star) revealed to her how much a great beverage program can amplify the customer experience and contribute to a restaurant's revenue.
Determined to delve deeper into the world of wine, she achieves WSET Levels 1 and 2 in Greece in 2018. Understanding the need for a more competitive environment, she moved to London and, within a few years, obtained WSET Level 3 with Distinction, then admission to the Court of Master Sommeliers: Certified Sommelier in 2022 (best session result) and Advanced in 2024, once again at the top of the class. She is currently completing the WSET Diploma.
Since 2020 she has been working at Da Terra in London: starting as a sommelier, climbing the ranks to the recent position of Restaurant Manager & Wine Director. In four years, she builds a cellar focused on emerging territories and food pairing with avant-garde tasting routes, even introducing non-alcoholic pairing that earned her the Innovation Award 2024.
An energetic professional with a “hands-on” approach and strong detail orientation, Boumpa combines solid technique with leadership skills: the trade press has listed her among the Top 5 Female Sommeliers and in position No. 21 on the “Top 100 Sommeliers UK” list. For the future, she points to the Master Sommelier Diploma and the expansion of in-house training programs dedicated to young beverage talent.
