When Expertise Rises To The Top. The Educational Offer In The World Of Wine By Ais Lombardia
About 7000 members, over 5000 wine lovers and professionals attending one of the 60 courses, of 1 st, 2nd and 3rd level, organized every year by one of the 11 provincial delegations. On top of that, there are tasting evenings, workshops, master classes and guided tours among the most popular destinations in Italy and abroad. We are talking about the educational offer in the world of wine organized by the Italian Sommelier Association of Lombardy, the largest regional organization at national level, one of the flagships of the entire Italian sommellerie. “We are very happy and at the same time we feel a great sense of responsibility”, says Hosam Eldin Abou Eleyoun, president of AIS Lombardia for over a year now, after leading for 8 years the Milanese delegation, the largest and most active group in Lombardy. “We are growing in number, but most of all we are growing in quality. This is thanks to a team that works very closely with me and that is organizing with utmost commitment many events throughout the region, even in those provinces that are difficult to reach but which deserve the same attention and care of the others”.
The love for wine, for the art of serving as well as for the skill of combining it with food never stop. On the contrary, the interest of wine lovers and professionals is growing year after year. “We are a point of reference for everyone. Today we are all more aware of the importance of having well-trained staff in our structures, being they restaurants, hotels or wineries. The tourism linked to the world of wine is really getting more and more important and therefore the need for qualified personnel is necessary. It is no coincidence that many professionals who work in wineries and are responsible for reception or visits to their respective wineries come to us for a training course,” continues the president of AIS Lombardia.
Today AIS sommeliers can be found in supermarkets, and their presence is requested in many events, even in unusual contexts, where wine is the protagonist and where there is a need for a competent explanation: “We live in an age where the storytelling is getting more and more important. At AIS we train our professionals to ensure that they are not only highly prepared and expert tasters, but also excellent communicators able to keep up with the demands of the market and with the requests of an increasingly demanding public”.
AIS Lombardia publishes a six-monthly magazine, which it is sent to all their members, as well as a guide, Viniplus, written by a big group of tasters (only this year they were 110) – an accurate picture of the regional production, distributed to 800 food & beverage venues of the region and also available online for members (www.viniplus.wine): “Passion, research and expertise,” concludes Hosam Eldin. “These are the characteristics of our work. Every year the number of restaurants including references from our region in their wine lists grows and this makes us extremely proud. It means that we are doing the right thing.” www.aislombardia.it