Jienna Basaldu

A Northern California native, Jienna now calls New York City home.

She is a Certified Specialist of Wine, Spanish Wine Scholar, French Wine Scholar, and Advanced Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, and is currently pursuing the rigorous Master Sommelier Diploma. Jienna has over two decades of hospitality experience and is currently a Sommelier at The Modern, a Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine program, two Michelin-starred, Relais and Château restaurant.

While in San Francisco Jienna was a sommelier at Michelin-starred Angler and the James Beard Outstanding Wine Program Nominee The Morris. Jienna was an instructor at the San Francisco Wine School where she taught courses such as Somm Essentials, Food and Wine Pairing, and Spanish Wine Scholar. Jienna was selected to attend both the prestigious Rudd Round Table in Napa Valley in 2024 and the International Sommelier Association’s Boot Camp in Quito Ecuador in 2023.

Jienna enjoys sommelier competitions and in 2017 won the San Francisco SommFoundation Luxicon Blind Tasting, was GuildSomm's 2018 Top Chilean Sommelier, the first female winner of the Star Chefs Somm Slam in 2019, won the Alto Adige Top Somm Competition in 2020 and was a finalist for Best Sommelier USA in 2024. When she is not studying, tasting, or traveling the wine regions of the world, she uses her skills for good, volunteering for Meals on Wheels, Auction Napa Valley, and No Kid Hungry.