ASI NEWS

ASI PRESS RELEASE
New committees and announcements trigger the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) plan for 2018

The establishment of new committees and a series of announcements has triggered the ASI plan for 2018, confirming the recently elected administration commitment to improve flow of communication within national associations and upgrade activities and benefits to its global network of members.“The creation of these new committees provides a solid framework to facilitate a better flow of information within ASI’s global network”, said Andrés Rosberg, ASI President. He also stressed the importance of having many experienced, renowned sommeliers engaged in leading positions of the new structure.
In addition to the establishment of the committees, ASI announced the development of a new branding, a series of new communication tools, the organization of the next continental competitions and a renovated partnership structure with key sponsors.

Apart from the Sommelier Contest Committee, which was established at the last ASI general assembly, the other committees have been defined in the following form:

Didactic Committee
The new director of this committee, which has many objectives to accomplish in the next few years, is Sören Polonius, from Sweden. Its other members are Carole Stein (Austria); Celia Hay (New Zealand); Michelle McCarthy (Canada); George Loukas (Greece); Tommy Lam (Singapore); Kristjan Peäske (Estonia); Fredrik Hierner (Denmark) and Marcos Flores Tlalpan (Mexico).

Exams Committee
A full reassessment of this committee and its main product, the ASI Certificate, is on going. In the meantime, Giuseppe Vaccarini (Italy) has agreed to stay as head of this committee and organize next year’s edition of the exam on February 26th with its current team, composed of Alberto Merico (Italy) and Michèle Chantôme (Morocco). By-laws Committee Jean Pallanca (Monaco), the current head of this committee, will remain in his position until ASI’s annual meeting of 2018. Peer Holm (Germany), who is currently a member of this committee, will co-chair the committee until then, and will take over the role as head of the committee in 2018. Higgo Jacobs (South Africa) is joining this committee and Michel Hermet (France) continues to be a member.

Marketing, PR and Communications Committee 
Michèle Chantôme (Morocco) will continue to head this Committee and will incorporate Gabriel Dvoskin (Argentina) as coordinator. This area will be divided in three subcommittees or sections: Press & Communications, led by Liora Levi (Norway); Production & Reporting, led by Djurdja Katic (Serbia); and Marketing and PR, led by Véronique Rivest (Canada). Each of these sub-committees or sections, which are being formed as we speak, will include some people who have already been working on these areas, as well as incorporate some new faces.
Apart from the creation of the committees, ASI has released the Tutorial Video that was made during the last ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition in Argentina, which features Gerard Basset explaining each and every one of the tasks in every round of competition, is now available on our website: http://www.sommellerieinternationale.com/fr/video_of_asi/.