Almost sixty years of outreach, an immense amount of work to spread the culture of wine not only among wine professionals but also, perhaps especially, among wine lovers.
The Italian Sommelier Association will be 60 years old next year. It was founded in Milan in 1965 by Jean Valenti and a small group of wine professionals, true pioneers at the time.
I personally have known it and been a member, now as an Honorary Sommelier, since 1979, so for 45 years. I have seen many protagonists of the Italian wine scene pass by. Presidents like Franco Colombani, Dino Boscarato, Eddy Furlan, Giuseppe Vaccarini, Alberto Ciarla, Terenzio Medri, Antonello Maietta and, today, Sandro Camilli. Non so se li ho nominati tutti, mi scuso se non l’avessi fatto.
Then personalities such as Franco Tommaso Marchi, historic director in the 1970s and 1980s, Antonio Piccinardi, writer but also author of the tasting method. Many restaurateurs and wine merchants who would later become very famous, such as Giorgio Pinchiorri, Angelo Solci, Piero Costantini, Lucio Pompili, just to name a few.
For yours truly, also many memories, the first courses, the first visits to companies, the congress in Udine in 1980, with a very young Walter Filiputti at the head of the organization and Isi Benini, journalist and editor of the magazine The Wine which was the official organ of the association.
But what was Ais at that time?
It was a pioneering forge of knowledge for the wine world. Stava facendo, e avrebbe fatto in seguito fino ad oggi, immense work to spread the culture of wine, bringing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of enthusiasts closer to this world. A pivotal role that has contributed to what is referred to somewhere as the “Italian Wine Renaissance.
Initially, members were divided into two categories. I Professionals, who had to work in the industry, were also those who could vote and hold local and national office. The Adherents, and I was among those, instead they were allowed to attend classes and participate in activities, but with no voting rights or almost no voting rights. Then things changed, but by the end of the 1970s that was how things were.
The turmoil in the regions
The most important region with the most members, and I think it still is, was the Lombardy. Milano era la città dove accadevano più cose, c’erano più iniziative e corsi. Vorrei ricordare la figura di Beppe Biggica, sommelier of the restaurant Da Berti, on Algarotti Street, who was a regional trustee and who passed away recently. A great professional and a generous man.
Then there were the Venetians with Angelo Serafin and Dino Boscarato, owner of the restaurant Dall’Amelia in Mestre. Eddy Furlan was the “young lion” of the group. A Rome there was Severino Severini with a group of restaurateurs and wine merchants, such as Marco Trimani and Alberto Ciarla, who were of great importance in the capital’s wine scene. And many, many others, from Teodoro Bugari in the Brands to Pippo Deidda in Sardinia, from the aforementioned Walter Filipputti in Friuli to Pino Sola in Genoa, from Fabrizio Pedrolli in Trent to Dino Casini in Tuscany, to Angelo Ingrao in Sicily.
Pioneers, indeed. Disclosers.
All with a mission that was later inherited by hundreds of their successors who have led the Ais to currently approach fifty thousand members and to organize hundreds of tasting courses every year all over Italy. That’s why I come back to this topic from time to time and want to remind myself and all our readers how much we owe to Mother Ais.
Daniele Cernilli’s masterclass at Ais Lombardia
Last Monday, November 4, the delegation Ais Milan hosted director Daniele Cernilli on the occasion of his 45th anniversary as an AIS member.
“What have I learned from AIS? One very important thing: the method“, Cernilli pointed out.
Thus the social post from Ais Milano: “Daniele gave us a dive into his history, into that of the Italian wine culture and of his ‘AIS mother.’
He told us about the birth of our almost 60-year-old association, recalling the great protagonists and the most salient moments, and brought us the testimony of some of the producers dearest to him.
Finally, Daniele made us taste 6 wines of the heart that tell his story, interpreting them with his exciting point of view and seasoning them with his memories!”
Six wines narrated and tasted within an incredible Lectio Magistralis.
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