The best sommelier of the year in Romania is Italian

An Italian citizen won the Romanian best sommelier award. She is Marinela Vasilica Ardelean.


Marinela Vasilica Ardelean deserved the highest step of the podium in the 13th edition of the contest which is part of the events organized under the auspices of ASI (Sommeliers International Association), she was born in Romania but obtained the dual citizenship about 15 years ago.

«A great personal satisfaction – Marinela Vasilica Ardelean highlights – but also the confirmation of the fact that wine, in Romania, is increasingly speaking Italian. Of course, we are not still facing important numbers, the import of the sector is around 13 million euro a year, and then the business for Italian companies is around 5/6 million euro. But the data and studies report a strong growth trend and thus the Romanian one can become, for Italian wineries, an important point of reference».

«In 2003 – Marinela Vasilica Ardelean tells – the job as a Sommelier was introduced in the Romanian Code of Employments and today there are hundreds of my colleagues who carry out vital activities of popularization and promotion, crucial for the commercialization of the product. All at a very high level, if you think that in the various challenges Romanian sommelier always win top prizes: fifth place at the World Championships in Tokyo, third place at the European Championships in San Remo. And they are all lovers of great Italian wines: Barolo, Brunello, Prosecco Superiore but also Chianti, Lambrusco, Greco di Tufo, Amarone and many others».


Source: Agi