L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano VALERIO VIALE A lessia Botturi was born in a village nearby Milan, capital of the Lombardy region. She grew up in the coun- t r y s i d e t h a t s t r e t c h e s o u t between Mantua and the geo- graphical area called "Brianza," at the foot of the Alps. Perhaps, it's not a case that Alessia was raised in the same idyllic landscape as Virgil, one of the greatest Latin poets in ancient Rome. Like most Italian kids, very early in life, Alessia savored the "ambrosia," that surely was held i n h i g h r e g a r d i n a n t i q u i t y . Indeed, the red nectar couldn't miss from the Greek gods' ban- quets, as well as being extreme- ly appreciated by Romans, who deemed wine as a daily necessi- ty, turning it to a "democratic" and ubiquitous drink. At any rate, wines' bitterness and dryness are not a popular currency among Italy's children, any more than they would be in o t h e r c o u n t r i e s . H o w e v e r A l e s s i a , w h o r e c e i v e d h e r upbringing in a milieu worth of the Bucolics, started to refine h e r p a l a t e b y s i p p i n g Lambrusco, the frothy, semi- sparkling red wine whose "vitis labrusca" grapes were celebrat- ed by the same Virgil in his Bucolic poem number five. Afterwards, an essential land- mark in Alessia's wine educa- tion occurred when she got to know the Caprai, an Umbrian family who produces an exquis- ite Sagrantino di Montefalco. She then further expanded her food and wine knowledge by travelling extensively abroad. In 2006, Alessia Botturi put down roots in the Los Angeles a r e a , w h i c h h a s b e c o m e h e r "locus amoenus." Since then, she has been sharing her wine expertise with people eager to sharpen up their sense of smell and thereby improve their abili- ty to assess good wines from bad ones. W h a t a g e d i d y o u s t a r t drinking wine and how would you define your family's con- t r i b u t i o n t o y o u r f o o d a n d wine education? In Italy, wine is so embedded in the culture that it's difficult to say when I started drinking it. So far as I can remember, when I w a s 5 o r 6 y e a r s o l d , m y grandmother had some guests o v e r a n d , w h e n t h e y l e f t , I sipped all the leftover red wine from their glasses. It was a pret- ty fun moment and my family was amused by it! I remember it was normal having a little drop of red wine with water, just to get the color, and then the glass became half a n d h a l f u n t i l y o u g o t o l d enough to have two glasses on the table: one for water and one for wine. As wine is part of the meal, it has always been part of my life and my culture. Learning about it, meant to have a better appre- ciation and understand of all the different layers and complexity a bottle of wine has. At times, we see how, in the U . S . , I t a l i a n s a r e a m i a b l y mocked for letting children at an early age drink wine. To you, what are the pros and cons of a prohibitionist mind- set? The fact that in the Italian culture wine is accepted as part of a meal and part of our culture is extremely important for the development of teenagers into adults. As it's accepted as part of our daily life, it's rare to see overindulgence or abuse. On the contrary, when alco- hol consumption is forbidden until 21 years old, it's very easy then to abuse it. If you start drinking at a young age, you learn how to pace and when to say "stop." If you have to learn e v e r y t h i n g a t 2 1 , y o u d o n ' t k n o w h o w t o p a c e y o u r s e l f . Moreover, you miss a huge part of the enjoyment of food and wine pairing. W a s t h e r e a s p e c i f i c moment in which you decided t o p u r s u e a w i n e - r e l a t e d career in Southern California? Or your decision was more the result of a gradual process? What are the necessary steps t o b e c o m e a n I t a l i a n Sommelier Association - AIS certified sommelier? My big passion for quality wine started during my college years, when I was working in a restaurant. That was the first time I got exposed to expensive wines and I started learning the d i f f e r e n c e . M y s t u d i e s t h e n brought me to a different career until when, a few years after, I decided to take the Sommelier course. In order to become an AIS certified sommelier, you have to go through the whole 3 levels of the course, then take an exam that consist of 2 parts, written and oral examination. It's a very serious and challenging curricu- lum. W h a t s t a r t e d a s a h o b b y , eventually became a profession when I moved to Los Angeles. It was a natural step to look for a job in the wine business, where I finally could combine my pas- sion with my profession. What was your acclimatiza- tion to Los Angeles like? At first, I did not like it. The lifestyle was too different from E u r o p e . F o r s e v e r a l y e a r s , I missed walking around instead of driving everywhere. Now. I love living here and I won't live anywhere else. M o r e o v e r , w h e n I m o v e d here 11 years ago there were few options for Italian wines and Italian food, now you can find everything you want. I n 2 0 0 7 , y o u t r a n s l a t e d from Italian into English the c o u r s e b o o k F o o d & W i n e , w h i c h i s u s e d a s a k i n d o f teaching "bible" for courses and seminars held by the AIS A s s o c i a t i o n i n C a l i f o r n i a . Could you elaborate on that? The translation of the book was determining the expansion of AIS in California. Without that book it wouldn't have been possible to do a full Sommelier course in English. W h e n I m o v e d t o L o s A n g e l e s i n 2 0 0 9 , t h e A I S California was already there, they just did a full Sommelier Course in Italian. To that note, at the time AIS was a branch of the Italian Sommelier Association in US, depending on them for the whole organization and manage- ment. Once I got involved, I h e l p e d d e v e l o p i n g t h e Association and create an active members' life. You are also the founder of the educational organization, N o r t h A m e r i c a n S o m m e l i e r Association (NASA). Why did you feel the need for such an organization? What's its mis- sion? NASA started where AIS left off. It was time to cut our umbil- ical cordon with Italy and to f o u n d a n e w S o m m e l i e r Association with its own rules and financially independent. NASA was able to adopt the c u r r i c u l u m o f t h e I t a l i a n Sommelier Association, devel- oped through over 60 years of studies, and go on a bigger scale b e c a u s e a t t h a t p o i n t a l l t h e b o o k s w e r e t r a n s l a t e d i n t o English. NASA was the only associa- t i o n r e s p o n s i b l e o f t e a c h i n g Italian Wines at a professional level throughout United States, with our "Italian Wine Specialist Course." We were also the first to promote a social life and net- working among our members and Sommeliers. I left NASA at the beginning of this year, after several years of great successes, I know their mission is to continue to pro- mote quality courses. C u r r e n t l y , y o u h o l d t h e position of Luxury Specialist for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. What is that about? I currently cover the position of Luxury Specialist for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. In my portfolio, I have some of the best wineries of the West Coast along with Antinori, one of the top producers of Italy, and some great Champagne. M y r o l e i s t o e x p a n d a n d develop a core list of luxury accounts. It's a great job that a l l o w s m e t o b e e x p o s e d t o wines from all over the world at the highest level. In conclusion, what are you working on right now and how does your typical day-to-day activities look like? My Luxury specialist role is quite new, so I am currently w o r k i n g o n e x p a n d i n g i t . Typically my week has little office time as most of my time is spent with my customers. I do a lot of staff trainings and wine dinners as well. I am also studying to enrich m y k n o w l e d g e o f d o m e s t i c wines, as my specialty has been Italian wines for many years. Alessia Botturi is a professionally qualified sommelier of the Italian Sommelier Association, with an additional master in professional wine tasting techniques Alessia Botturi: wine expert who sipped the nectar of the gods in the cradle LIFE PEOPLE MOVIES MUSIC BOOKS

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