Vinitaly International Academy welcomes Guido Berlucchi & C. SpA once again as Educational Supporter for its 33rd Certification Course
VERONA, Italy, Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) will hold the 33rd edition of its prestigious Italian Wine Ambassador Certification Course in Chicago, USA, on October 5-6, 2025. VIA is proud to announce Guido Berlucchi & C. SpA will once again be an Educational Supporter of the course, providing the Franco Ziliani Prize for Best Student.
Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) will be held for the second time in Chicago, presenting the 33rd edition of its renowned Italian wine course in the United States' third largest metropolis. This year, Berlucchi joins VIA as an Educational Supporter. By offering the Franco Ziliani Prize for the Best Student, Berlucchi confirms the winery's commitment to supporting the academic expertise and opportunities offered by the prestigious VIA course. Candidates will gather in Chicago for two days of tastings, in-depth seminars focusing on Italy's most important wine producing regions, and the famously challenging final exam, all in the hopes of becoming certified Italian Wine Ambassadors.
Berlucchi's commitment to VIA
In 1961, Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani created the first bottle of Franciacorta classic method sparkling wine. Since then, Guido Berlucchi & C. SpA has garnered international acclaim for their high-quality sparkling wines produced in the Franciacorta region in eastern Lombardy. Today, Franco Ziliani's children, Cristina, Arturo and Paolo, are at the helm of the winery. This year, Chicago's Navy Pier will be the venue for the presentation of this prestigious prize to the VIA student who achieves the highest overall score on the final exam.
Cristina Ziliani, CEO of Guido Berlucchi & C. SpA, explained the winery's commitment to VIA, "The bond between Berlucchi and Vinitaly International Academy is truly special. It was 2023 when, with great pride, we were included among the Educational Supporters of VIA for the two-year period 2023-2024. To celebrate this milestone, my brothers and I decided to pay homage to our father, Franco Ziliani, by establishing a prize that not only bears his name but also honors his legacy and contribution to the Italian wine scene. Thus was born the Franco Ziliani Prize, for the best student in the course: a prize with strong symbolic value, designed to recognize the commitment, passion, and expertise of the new generations of wine professionals. This year we renew our commitment to supporting the future Ambassadors of Italian wine around the world."
What is Vinitaly International Academy
The Vinitaly International Academy certification course, organized by Veronafiere and Vinitaly, is recognized as the gold standard of Italian wine education. All elements of the course are carefully curated by VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW, assisted and advised by scientific advisor Professor Attilio Scienza. The ethos behind the course is a sound scientific focus on the native grapes of Italy and on the characteristics of the 20 regions' biodiversity, history, culture, and business. The VIA Community, now encompassing 52 countries worldwide, proudly includes over 1,500 participants who have taken the course, with 458 successfully passing the exam to become certified Italian Wine Ambassadors. Among these distinguished ambassadors, 22 hold the esteemed title of certified Italian Wine Expert.
Students who take the VIA course come from every aspect of the wine sector, including educators, journalists, importers, hospitality, retailers, and beyond. Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of Vinitaly, reflected on the impact of VIA, "We give students the opportunity to join a profound academic and up to the minute conversation about Italian wines and what makes them so unique in the world. VIA provides effective tools to communicate these wines and a solid foundation to promote them around the world."
Candidates also benefit from membership in a global community of VIA students, allowing them to continually increase their knowledge and expand their connections around the world. VIA members are invited to participate throughout the year at events such as 5StarWines – the Book, OperaWine, and wine2wine Vinitaly Business Forum. This year, the Forum will be held for the first time in Chicago, concurrently with the VIA Course.
About: Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) aims to be the gold standard of Italian wine education. It offers a complete educational path with standardized courses that will teach professionals and educators to master the diversity of Italian wine in a rigorous, organized manner. VIA's main objective is to foster a global network of highly qualified professionals such as Italian Wine Ambassadors and Italian Wine Experts: in turn, they will support and promote Italian wine throughout the world. VIA was founded by Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of Vinitaly. The new VIA ecosystem avails of the guidance of Italian trade associations Federdoc, Federvini, Vignaioli Indipendenti FIVI, and Unione Italiana Vini as members of the Institutional Advisory Board. Italian vine genetics scholar, Prof. Attilio Scienza, oversees VIA's scientific and educational direction as the Chief Scientist. VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW teaches the flagship Italian Wine Ambassador course. To date, there are 458 Certified Italian Wine Ambassadors of which 22 are also Italian Wine Experts.
https://www.vinitaly.com/en/academy/vinitaly-international-academy/
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