VERONA, Italy, March 26, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- From
March 29 to April 2, 2019, Vinitaly
International Academy comes home to Verona, Italy, to run its reformatted,
tasting-intensive Italian Wine Ambassador certification course, a
week before the most important Italian wine fair, Vinitaly. The
event is organized by Veronafiere and Vinitaly International with
the support of ICE – Italian Trade Agency. 62 wine professionals
have been selected to take the challenge and become Italian Wine
Ambassadors after a week of rigorous training and a complex
examination.
The Verona candidates operate in 22 different countries and
markets including the United
States, China, Hong Kong, Sweden, the United
Kingdom, South Africa,
Slovakia, Singapore, Turkey, Dubai, Republic of
Ireland, Poland,
Mexico, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, French, Denmark, Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Italy. They already hold international
qualifications in wine such as WSET Diploma or sommelier
certifications, and in Verona they will be looking to deepen and
expand their knowledge of Italian wines. The cohort will also
include one Master of Wine from South
Africa (Lynne Sherriff), and
one Master Sommelier from the United
States (Brendon Tebbe).
The Italian Wine Ambassador course features a densely-packed
program of instruction and tasting for four days, with the fifth
day being completely dedicated to the exam. In class, candidates
learn about Italian wine through "warm-up" sessions which focus on
specific topics such as Barolo or Italian sparkling wines (among
others). They also have standard lectures on iconic denominations,
grape varieties, wines, as well as information on the history,
culture, and cuisine, all in all covering the 20 Italian regions,
from north to south and the islands. In the restructured Ambassador
course, the tasting component takes center-stage, with guided
tastings led by VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar as well as additional Tasting Labs
with wine labels provided by the official VIA Supporters.
The Tasting Labs in Verona will be the perfect occasion to
expose these 62 international professionals to the diversity of
Italian wines with exclusive labels contributed by the following
VIA Supporters: Italia del Vino, Italian Signature Wines Academy,
Famiglie del Vino, Wi-Fi Wine from Irpinia, Franciacorta, Consorzio Vini del
Trentino, Consorzio Vini d'Abruzzo, and Sicilia DOC. These Labs in
Verona will take the shape of walk-around tastings with the
participation of some producers and representatives from the
Supporter community that will pour and explain the wines directly
to the students. Thanks to VIA Supporters, candidates will be able
to taste over 320 labels of Italian wine, an incredible assortment
representative of the biodiversity of the wine growing regions.
In addition, the Verona edition of the Ambassador course will
see the participation of all the key players of the Vinitaly
International Academy's "ecosystem". In addition to VIA Founder
Stevie Kim and VIA Faculty members
Heller and Davar, VIA Chief Scientist Prof. Attilio Scienza and the associations comprising
the Institutional Advisory Board will also gather in Verona on the
last day to meet the student cohort and proclaim the new Italian
Wine Ambassadors. On Tuesday April 2,
2019 at 4:30 pm Stevie Kim, Prof. Attilio Scienza and Advisory Board
representatives Ottavio Cagiano de
Azevedo (Federvini), Matilde
Poggi (Fivi Vignaioli Indipendenti), Giulio Somma and Chiara
Menchini (Unione Italiana Vini), and Riccardo Ricci
Curbastro (Federdoc) will award successful candidates the silver
Italian Wine Ambassador pin (and gold pin for the Experts) during
the traditional pinning ceremony. At the ceremony, ICE – Italian
Trade Agency senior official Brunella
Saccone will also greet the students. ICE – Italian Trade
Agency has kindly supported Vinitaly International Academy courses
in Verona and in the United
States.
After the Italian Wine Ambassador course many of the 62 wine
professionals will remain in Verona to attend Vinitaly 2019, the
largest Italian wine exhibition in the world. The next Italian Wine
Ambassador course is scheduled to take place in New York from June 24
to 29, 2019, and applications are currently being
accepted.
About: Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) aims to be the gold
standard of Italian wine education. It offers a complete
educational path with standardized courses that will teach
professionals and educators to master the diversity of Italian wine
in a rigorous, organized manner. VIA's main objective is to foster
a global network of highly qualified professionals such as Italian
Wine Ambassadors and Italian Wine Experts: in turn, they will
support and promote Italian wine throughout the world. VIA was
founded by Stevie Kim, Managing
Director of Vinitaly International. The new VIA ecosystem avails of
the guidance of Italian trade associations Federdoc, Federvini,
Vignaioli Indipendenti FIVI, and Unione Italiana Vini as members of
the Institutional Advisory Board. Italian vine genetics scholar,
Prof. Attilio Scienza, oversees
VIA's scientific and educational direction as the Chief Scientist.
VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW and Henry
Davar teach the flagship Italian Wine Ambassador course. The
following trade associations in the Italian wine industry have also
joined as VIA Supporters: Italia del Vino; Italian Signature Wines
Academy; Le Famiglie del Vino, Wi-Fi Wine from Irpinia, Consorzio di Tutela Vini del
Trentino; Consorzio di Tutela Sicilia DOC; Franciacorta; Consorzio
di Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo. To date the VIA community comprises 168
certified Italian Wine Ambassadors and 13 Italian Wine Experts.
Since its foundation in 2014, over 500 candidates from all over the
world have taken VIA's courses.
SOURCE Vinitaly International Academy