RICCARDO COTARELLA IS AT THE HELM OF ITALIAN AND NOW OF WORLD WIDE WINEMAKERS. THE OENOLOGIST, AS WINENEWS ANTICIPATED, HAS BEEN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNION INTERNATIONALE DES ŒNOLOGUES.

Riccardo Cotarella, one of the most prominent Italian wine experts and president of Assoenologi, is the new president of Union Internationale des Œnologues (UIŒ). The appointment that took place today, and is a WineNews exclusive, comes at a particularly important time for the wine world, where Italy is undoubtedly the star.

“It is a significant nomination”, explained Riccardo Cotarella “for all Italian wine. We already have the date of the first meeting, which is a special event because it falls on the fiftieth anniversary of the International Association. It will be held in Milan, and since the opening of Expo2015 is very near, it is a symbolic act and key to putting Italian creativity at the service of international wine”.

Cotarella succeeds the Frenchman Serge Dubois and is the second Italian, after Ezio Rivella, to be at the helm of the Union Internationale des Œnologues. Serge Dubois becomes vice-president and will be a valuable aid for Cotarella, who will be president of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Wine Hall at Expo 2015.