Vinitaly Italian Wine Ambassador ceremony with Dr. Ian D´Agata and the VIA Managing Director Stevie Kim, April 2018
Last Tuesday, the 10th of April 2018, I have been nominated Italian Wine Ambassador by the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA), an educational institution, based in Verona, aimed at promoting the excellence and diversity of the Italian wine around the world. The VIA Certification Course was held in Verona from the 6th to the 10th of April 2018 and wonderfully conducted by one of the most eminent experts on Italian wines in the world, Dr. Ian D’Agata. The 5-day course was an intense, but rewarding journey through the vast territory of Italian wine grape varieties and wines. 58 wine professionals from all the corners of the world were guided through theory and tasting sessions in the first four days and on the fifth day, they went through a challenging written exam to become “Italian Wine Ambassadors”. Only 23 of them successfully passed and got the certification. And I was in the number.
It is a huge honor for me to get this certification not only because I am now part of the Italian Wine Ambassadors community (only 151 exist today all over the world), but most of all because I am the first Ambassador nominated for the Swedish market in Gothenburg, where I live.
Italy is one of the most difficult wine country in the world to study, having more than 590 officially recognized wine grape varieties and over 500 wine regions. And even if you think you know a lot about it, you realize that you don´t when getting to the VIA Certification Course. This, in fact, gives you the right instruments to learn and speak of Italian wine in a well-structured and knowledgeable way and to properly dive into the wide sea of Denominations of Origin, which is usually seen by wine students and wine lovers as a deal breaker. But I will do my best to make the task easier from now on!
If you want to know more about the VIA Certification Course and the next dates, please, visit the VIA official website.
Courtesy of Vinitaly International Academy, Verona 2018.
