Gennaro Buono, 28 year old Sommelier at the Hapimag Pentolina Resort in Chiusdino in the province of Siena, won the prestigious ASPI 2012 Best Sommelier of Italy title.
This fifth edition of the competition saw the presence of a jury of the highest level composed, among others, by Piero Sattanino, Best Sommelier in the World (1971), Giorgio Grai, internationally renowned winemaker, by the President of the newly formed Association Maroquine des Sommeliers, Michele Chantome, by Karina Tholin, President of the Foreningen Sommelier association of  Sweden, by Dashamir Elezi, President of the Sommelier Association of Albania, and Kostas Touloumtzis, President emeritus of ASI, Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, of which ASPI is the representative for Italy.
The last tests of the competition took place on Saturday 22 September at the Civic Gallery of  Termoli. Gennaro Buono faced in the final in various tasting tests, settling, food-wine pairing, wine list correction, table service, dialectic demonstration in a foreign language, valid competitors as Salvatore Salerno, Sommelier at the “Des Berges” restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel in Geneva, second place, and Giacomo Morlacchi, Sommelier at the “Il Vino” restaurant in Courchevel, third place.
The “Tintilia Grand Prix and Autochthonous Vines” has been included in the Best Sommelier of Italy competition. The winner is Antonio Garofolin, Sommelier and technical-practical teacher at the Hotel Institute of  Rovereto, while the Best Taster award went to Gennaro Buono.
This competition has shown, once again,  great preparation of by the candidates. That demonstrates that this profession does not stop to promote professional knowledge and skills as well as  to create that special credibility that distinguishes ASPI.
Therefore, the appointment is for next year with the Best Sommelier of Italy Competition which will be joined in September by the prestigious Best Sommelier of Europe Competition, both will take place in the city of Sanremo. The organization of the event is entrusted to ASPI, on an international mandate by A.S.I., and includes an interesting program which will be available on the website www.mse2013.eu, online in a few days.
In the photo, from left: Giacomo Morlacchi, Gennaro Buono and Salvatore Salerno.