Dear friends who are passionate about Italian wine, today we present the new president of AIS Italia Sandro Camilli.
Welcome President.
Good afternoon to you all, good afternoon. Thanks for the opportunity.
President, an important election that sees you at the helm of AIS for the next four years. How did you receive this appointment?
It was an unexpected election and therefore I welcomed it with great emotion and with equal responsibility, because for me it is essential to respect all the members who voted for me and the whole National Council that elected me unanimously. I have received a great deal of trust that I hope not to betray.
A long experience in AIS, about twenty years in the association of which the last twelve are the presidency of AIS Umbria which is his homeland.
What have been the key moments in recent years?
I joined AIS late, but my interest in the world of wine comes from much further away and therefore I remember between the end of the 90s and the early 2000s there was the advent of the sector press, but also the arrival of the kitchen on television.
And there, wine was also included in the cooking programs and there was an increasing interest in wine, people who asked for information, who wanted to be trained.
Collateral activities and events related to the world of wine and food have begun.
So I think this was one of the most important reasons that led us to have 40,000 members.
What did you find when you arrived as the new president and what will you bring or do you intend to bring as a contribution?
I have found a great legacy.
Well, I was mentioning it to you right now that it is the fact of having 40 thousand members in short, so it is a very important legacy as I think you will know we have inaugurated the new headquarters, beautiful and huge in Milan, not even a year ago.
It must not be a place where meetings are held or where 10 employees have to work, but it must become a great center of culture, because this is the most important thing, which is open to the city of Milan of course but is open to all regions of the world. ‘Italy and also to the whole world of food and wine.
So we must try to improve and leave a better association than how we found it.
Thank you president, I take the invitation with enthusiasm, I will certainly come with pleasure to visit the new headquarters of the Italian sommelier association AIS.
Here is the figure of the sommelier was born with AIS.
How has it changed over time and how do you see the future of this “sommelier”?
I see a bright future because all of us together will have to dispel a cliché.
Unfortunately, all entrepreneurs working in the sector see the professional figure of the sommelier in the dining room as a cost and not as an investment.
Instead, the person in the room is decisive for the enhancement and promotion of wine, territories, for the combination with food and that person will also sell the wine and produce income and therefore it is an investment and not a cost.
But here I am an optimist.
Do you know why? Because the culture in people is increasing more and more, they are more and more demanding and more and more trained.
The restaurateur will be obliged to raise the level of professionalism offered. By now those who go to the restaurant, but also those who stay at home, in the wine shop and buy a nice bottle of wine and want to share it, no longer do it to drink, they are a person who wants to look for history, tradition, culture, love, the passion of the winemaker behind that bottle.
It is now absolutely a cultural fact to taste, taste and pair a wine.
Here President we touch on another theme which is also very topical precisely that of training and communication, that is this great variety, wine diversity that we have in Italy and how to communicate it abroad.
How you do it?
How you do it? I have always been of an idea that really comes from very far away.
I have many friends, many producers who always go around and take wine around the world.
I would do exactly the opposite. Instead of taking wine around the world, I would take the world around our territories, with large incoming projects, with really important wine tourism projects and making our territories known, which in my opinion are the most beautiful thing ever. that we have.
So I want to go to Umbria.
Now let’s take a leap into this wonderful territory which is the Umbrian one in the very center of Italy.
Which wines do you think president are getting noticed on the international scene?
I am very happy to answer you because it is a reality that I know very well and so let’s say it goes without saying that if I mention the three most important areas of Umbria, I am not saying anything new, the whole world knows that the area of Orvieto, Torgiano and the Montefalco area are the three areas… but I guarantee you that Umbria is making a very important qualitative leap.
We have a beautiful territory because they are all vineyards, truly from a wine-growing point of view the territory is spectacular the one we have in Umbria.
To tell you, Montefalco Sagrantino is our flag, but I can guarantee you that if you go to the Trasimeno Lake area, this Gamay del Trasimeno is developing a lot, if you go to southern Umbria with the Ciliegiolo which is very much appreciated by many producers, they are doing a very very important job and therefore any area you turn will surely find unique wines and a high quality level.
If I really have to tell you about a wine that is emerging by leaps and bounds throughout Umbria, we will hear a lot about Trebbiano Spoletino which is a white berried grape.
Thank you very much for your time and good luck for this new assignment.
Thanks to you. Until we meet again
