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 The official handover from Neil McGuigan took place yesterday in London. Every year the President is carefully selected from all over the globe by IWSC board members, He must be considered to be an influential figure in the world of wines and spirits. Only two Italian vintners, Marchese Piero Antinori and Marchese Leonardo de’ Frescobaldi, have had the honour of receiving this coveted role.
Established in 1969, the International Wine & Spirit Competition was the first competition of its kind, set up to recognize, reward and promote the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs. What sets the IWSC apart ostensibly is the formidable reputation of its judging process composed of Masters of Wine, buyers, sommeliers; WSET qualified educators and respected wine journalists. IWSC receives entries from around 90 countries. It also partners with Debra Meiburg MW and Simon Tam in Hong Kong where it runs Cathay Pacific HKIWSC. McGuigan was the guest VIP judge for the 7th edition. Incidentally, Subhash Arora has been invited by HKIWSC as the international judge representing India from the very beginning.
The 41 –year old Matteo who took over from his uncle Gino Lunelli is a highly respecting wine producer in Italy. He says, “I am honoured to take up this prestigious position since IWSC has a global outreach and continuously promotes the excellence of wine on the world stage. As I believe that wine is the poetry of its own land and every great wine is an expression of a unique territory, I hope to emphasize the role of the IWSC in educating the consumer in fully understanding the beauty of the diversity in the wine world.”
Allen Gibbons, Group Chief Executive of the IWSC, said on the occasion, “At the IWSC’s core is the ongoing pursuit of excellence and recognition of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs. Matteo is a key figure in the wine world and a fantastic ambassador for quality and merit; we are delighted to have him as our 2016 President”.
Matteo is part of the third generation of the Lunelli family at the helm of Ferrari; his grandfather, Bruno acquired the winery in 1952 from Giulio Ferrari, who founded it in Trento in 1902 after learning about making champagne in Champagne. Today they are Italy’s leading producer of luxury sparkling wines. Ferrari creates only sustainably farmed Trento DOC Appellation wines. They are made by ‘Metodo Classico’ used to make bottle fermented sparkling wines in champagne from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown at high altitudes in the mountains of the northern Italian region of the province of Trentino.
Matteo respects the 113-year old tradition but is amenable to continuously innovate to improve the quality which makes people all over the world consider Ferrari as the ‘Italian Champagne’ though he insists it is the sparkling wine that represents the beautiful terroir of the region. Thanks to his leadership Ferrari has been declared by the Wine Enthusiast as the European Winery of the Year earlier this month as was reported by delWine.
Earlier in September, thanks to the quality of its wines, Ferrari was also declared the Sparkling Wine Producer in the world at the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships 2015 held at London. For that report, visit
Matteo is C.E.O. of the Lunelli Group, an Italian beverage group which also makes, among other non-wine beverages, still wines from Trentino, Tuscany and Umbria, known for their elegance and longevity. A couple of years ago the group acquired Bisol, a leading producer of Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene docg.
Ferrari wines are imported in India by Amit Goyal of Gurgaon-based Red Elan.
Subhash Arora |