Antonio Grimaldi
My interest in wine dates back a long time ago, when as a child I used to follow my father during cellar work in our Firenze family winery. Thus, at University I had no doubts in choosing Oenology and Viticulture as my specialisation. But with an enormous curiosity for every aspect of wine, I thought that it was not sufficiently exhaustive: I therefore arrived in Adelaide, Australia, to get in touch with a different perspective on the wine world. It was meant to be a few months experience, instead it lasted for five years, where I obtained a Doctorate Degree in Wine Microbiology.
Once this experience was over, I realized that my background was particularly strong in the technical part but was lacking an important aspect: the capacity to understand the market and all its implications. I then filled this gap by undergoing a Master course in Wine Marketing in Italy.
My work career has been quite diverse since my return from Australia, ranging from the wine tourism sector, passing through the wine sommelier world to the export department of a wine company: each time increasing my thirst of a better knowledge. To this I added a short stage period in France during 2004 Summer, where I visited several research Institutes in two of the most famous wine district of France: Bourgogne and Champagne.
Recently I started a career as a wine consultant in Lombardy, where I can give my advice to people in search of that global view that is not simple to obtain. Today it is not enough to be a good wine technical expert, the quest is to go further than simply making wine: dealing with all aspects involved in communication and marketing processes has become of a primarily importance
Speaker notes
Franciacorta and Garda: a different look at Brescia wine scene