“Honorary Enologist”: award to Alessandro Regoli, director of WineNews

An award presented “in recognition of his enduring commitment to promoting and narrating the story of Italian wine through WineNews, the publication he directs (and founded a quarter of a century ago together with his wife Irene Chiari, launching it online as early as 2000, and which today reaches 2.3 million Internet Protocol per year and is followed by 170,000 followers across social media, editor’s note), which over the years has become an authoritative benchmark for national and international wine and food journalism”, and because “his journalistic work has made a significant contribution to spreading a culture of wine that is knowledgeable, independent, and capable of interpreting the transformations of the sector, supporting producers, winemakers, media professionals and industry operators in strengthening both awareness of and the image of Italian wine around the world”. Gathered at the Assoenologi Congress No.79 (May 28-30), in the heart of the hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg, Assoenologi awarded WineNews director Alessandro Regoli the titles of “Honorary Oenologist” and “Assoenologi Communication Italy Award” 2026, honoured alongside Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, named “Assoenologi Person of the Year 2026”; The president of the Veneto Regional Council Luca Zaia, recipient of the “Special Territory Award”; and Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of Vinitaly, who received the “Assoenologi International Communication Award”. From today, they also join the association as honorary members together with Matteo Zoppas, president of Icd, Federico Bricolo, president of Veronafiere, Fabio Chies, mayor of Conegliano, and also alongside Dario Stefàno, President of Ceseo, the Wine Tourism and Olive Oil Tourism Research Centre of Lumsa University of Rome. “For 25 years, the work of WineNews has been to report the daily story of wine and food while understanding its trends and analysing its evolution, adapting this mission across the many online communication tools we created at a time when doing so was far less easy than it is today,” explained director Alessandro Regoli. “It is a job that has always been, still is, and always will be centred on telling the story of the world of wine and food through articles, audio, video, reviews, posts, photographs and much more. Wine, like all authentic products of great Italian agriculture, is the only true and most faithful companion to the table, and the soul of conversation. Yet it must shed its self-referential attitude and the sometimes overly pyrotechnic language surrounding it, in order to rediscover its most beautiful and important role: drinking a glass of wine means honouring the land, the history, the culture and the identity to which we belong. It is conviviality. And it must reclaim this role by returning to people’s homes and to the places where people gather, eat and simply enjoy being together, pleasantly and naturally, in Italy and around the world, from West to East, with respect for different cultures”.