Ian D’Agata has led different wine schools over the years, and has been increasingly asked over the years to set up new ones for different outfits. In the early 2000s, he taught wine courses at the Gambero Rosso’s Citta’ del Gusto, and in 2003 was named co-director of the International Wine Academy of Roma at the Hassler Hotel in Rome. It was Italy’s first wine academy of its kind: Hugh Johnson was the Honorary President) and Steven Spurrier was the President), and Ian was fortunate enough to have worked there with them, a unique formative experience. Ian went on to create the Vinitaly International Academy (where he stayed four years and with which he has absolutely nothing to do with anymore and is in no way linked to, moving on to create the prestigious 3iC, or the Italian International Indigenous Center for Wine and Food Studies in Barolo, that helped train over 300 individuals from all over the world in its time.
Over the last few pandemic-affected years, Ian had to put a hold on his wine courses held all over the world (the last ones were held in San Francisco and Sacramento in California in March 2020, just before the Covid pandemic took hold), but he has been asked non-stop by wine professionals everywhere about restarting his wine masterclasses and courses as soon as possible. And so, the brand-new Ian D’Agata Wine Academy (IDWA) was created in response to repeat queries from sommeliers (including numerous Master Sommeliers and Michelin-starred restaurant sommeliers), and wine professionals working in wine sales, importing businesses, hospitality, journalism and book writing, and more. The masterclasses and courses will focus on Italian wines, Ian’s recognized specialty but also on wines of other world areas that Ian has been covering and writing about in-depth for the past twenty+ years in prestigious magazines such as the Gambero Rosso, International Wine Cellar, Decanter and Vinous, wine regions of which he is universally considered an expert.
For the time being, the IDWA courses are available only in Shanghai and in Montalcino. The cousses in Shanghai are held in one of our partner structures, while those in Montalcino, currently offered twice a year (in April and November) are held at the Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco Wine Resort in the famous Italian wine town in partnership with the Castiglion del Bosco winery.
However, we plan to offer courses in other cities and wine regions of the world soon.
The courses are divided in three different levels: Connoisseur (Introductory), which is only one day long (about five to six classroom hours), Advanced and Expert that take place over two days (about six to seven hours long each day) and will be coming soon to a city near you! They are ideal for all those wishing to know more about Italy’s many different grapes, terroirs and wines. Ian’s award-winning books Native Wine Grapes of Italy, Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs, The Grapes and Wines of Italy: The definitive Compendium Region by Region and the latest Italian Wine Terroirs, serve as textbooks for the courses.
Students of all three levels write a multiple-choice exam of varying length depending on the course level on the final day of the course and at the end of the lectures; the Expert level also comes with ablind tasting exam. All three courses provide the students with a specific Ian D’Agata Wine Academy certificate and a pin (Connoisseur: bronze colour; Advanced: silver colour; Expert: gold colour).
HONG PUT PHOTO OF THE THREE PINS HERE EVEN IF IUTS JUST THE COLUR DRAWUING ONE YOUS ENT ME AS WELL AS A REAL PIN PHOTO: I END YOU THESE BY WECHAT NOW
The basic outline of the course program is as follows:
Connoisseur: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; one hour lunch; a third 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon; twenty multiple choice question exam. This is a fairly straightforward, easygoing course and learning setting idel for those who may not yet know much about Italian wine, wine grapes, and terroirs, and requires just good listening skills to pass the exam.
Advanced: Day one: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; one hour lunch; a third 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon. Day 2: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; one hour lunch; a third 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon often featuring a vertical tasting of one specific wine and/or a specific session led by a winemaker; a fifty multiple choice question exam. This course is ideal for those with an already good working knowledge about Italian wine, its terroirs, denominations and wine grapes.
Expert: Day one: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; one hour lunch; a third 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon. Day 2: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; one hour lunch; a third 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon often featuring a vertical tasting of one specific wine and/or a specific session led by a winemaker; Day 3: two 90 minutes masterclasses in the morning; brief one hour lunch; one more 90 minutes masterclass in the afternoon; a 100 multiple choice question exam and a six mystery wine blind tasting. This is the most in-depth course and requires advanced reading and studying of the recommended course textbooks.
Note that when the Expert and Advanced Level courses are held in Montalcino and in other wine regions, one or two winery visit/s is/are included in the course program on Day 2.
About Ian D’Agata
Ian D’Agata is an internationally famous, multi-award winning author who has been speaking and writing about wine for thirty years. His latest books (Native Wine Grapes of Italy, Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs,Italy’s Grapes and Wines: The definitive Compendium Region byRegion and the most recent, Barolo Terroir) are considered the bibles of Italian wine and have received numerous prestigious awards such as the Louis Roederer International Wine Awards “Book of the Year” title, the Gourmand World Book Awards “Best European Wine Book” and being named to the “Best Wine Books of the Year” lists of newspapers and magazines such as the NY Times, the Financial Times and Food & Wine. For eight years, Ian has also been the co-author of the Italy section in Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Book of Wine, the world’s best- selling wine guide with 46 editions to date and over 12 Million copies sold all over the world; he has since been also put in charge of the Alsace and Malta sections.
He is the is currently the President of Ian D’Agata Wine Culture, one ofChina’s wine education platforms, that includes the Ian D’Agata Wine Review and the Ian D’Agata Wine Academy. Ian is a former staff writer at Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Contributing Editor of Decanter, and Senior Editor of Vinous. His writings have always focused on the wines of Italy, France, China and Canada, for which he has won numerous international awards and accolades, including the Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia “Best Youngest Wine Journalist of Italy” and the “Best Wine Journalist of Italy” awards, as well as Canada’s 2018 VQA award (Out of Ontario section) and 2017 Cuvée Award of Excellence.
Intensely devoted to the research and study of native wine grapes, Ian was officially named in 2015 to Italy’s prestigious Accademia della Vite e del Vino (Italy’s official association of wine academicians, researchers, and university professors) and is currently the Vice President of the Association Internationale des Terroirs.
