ASPI’s Best Italian Sommelier 2019

MATTIA ANTONIO CIANCA IS THE BEST ASPI 2019 SOMMELIER

SOMMELIER MATTIA ANTONIO CIANCA TRIUMPHS IN THE 2019 EDITION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL COMPETITION ORGANIZED BY ASPI – ASSOCIAZIONE SOMMELLERIEPROFESSIONALE ITALIANA

Milan, 15 October 2019 – Mattia Antonio Cianca is the Best Sommelier of Italy ASPI 2019, proclaimed yesterday evening in Milan at the end of the most prestigious national competition of ASPI – Association of the Italian Professional Sommellerie, the only Italian association member of ASI – Association de la Sommellerie Internationale.
Born in Rome, Mattia Antonio Cianca lived and worked in Melbourne, where he expanded his studies, started his Sommelier career and won the title of Best Sommelier of Australia in 2017. Returned to Italy earlier this year, he is currently Sommelier at Alexander Il Gusto Antico in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In the semi-finals of Sunday 13 October, Cianca emerged among the 7 professional sommeliers candidates for the title, entering the finals on Monday 14, at the Istituto   Carlo Porta, with Salvatore Castano, Sommelier at the Annabel’s restaurant in London, and Michele Fazari, Sommelier at the Four Seasons Hotel at Ten Trinity Square, London.
The candidates challenged each other in the classic and the surprise tests designed by ASPI to assess their competence and technical preparation, the ability to decide quickly and the dexterity of execution. The winner was chosen by an international jury, composed of ASPI President Giuseppe Vaccarini and the Presidents of the European Sommellerie Associations, the winners of the last editions of the competition and sector journalists, with the participation of William Wouters, President of the sommelier association of  Belgium, and Franko Lukez, President of the Sommeliers of Croatia, representing ASI.
«On behalf of all the members of our Association, I congratulate Mattia Antonio Cianca, who has been able to demonstrate that he has not only great skills and knowledge, but also those personal qualities that characterize only the best professionals – comments Giuseppe Vaccarini, President of ASPI . Our compliments also go to the other 6 candidates of this edition of the Competition, all highly talented and competent sommeliers, who well represent the high level achieved by the Italian professional sommellerie “.
In addition, Salvatore Castano, 29, from Giardini Naxos (Taormina), Sommelier at Annabel’s in London, was awarded the “Birra Moretti Foundation Prize for the enhancement of beer at the table”, for showing the most in-depth knowledge of beer and the ability to serve and match it best. Alfredo Pratolongo, President of the Birra Moretti Foundation, commented: “Beer is one of the most distinctive elements of the evolution of the sommelier figure. In the past this drink has been neglected, but today several sommeliers have started to create pairing paths in which beers are offered alongside wine to best enhance innovative dishes and flavours or rediscover specialties of our tradition. Behind the administration of a beer at the bar or restaurant there is a professional who is able to enhance the product to its fullest potential, who knows how to tell the customer about it, recommend combinations, plan the purchase of stocks. At a time when curiosity also grows for special beers, the sommelier is the ideal way to convey the beer culture to customers, guiding them towards more informed and therefore better choices, in the sign of a beer consumption linked to quality and pleasure of the table ».
Finally, a special ASPI’s thanks    go to the excellent  beverage, catering and hospitality sectors partners that  collaborate in numerous initiatives of the Italian Professional Sommellerie Association in Italy and abroad: Campari Group, Euro- Toques, Birra Moretti Foundation, Fresh, Le Soste, Nespresso, Champagne JH Quenardel, Rastal, Relais& Châteaux, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, Tenuta Mara.