IWSC announces 2016 president

The International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) has announced that Matteo Bruno Lunelli, CEO of Italy’s Ferrari Winery and Lunelli Group, will be its president for 2016.

Matteo Lunelli, CEO of the Ferrari Winery and Lunelli Group

Lunelli will take over from outgoing president Neil McGuigan, of McGuigan Wines, in January, becoming the competition’s third Italian president.

“I am honoured to take up this prestigious position since IWSC has a global outreach and continuously promotes the excellence of wine on the world stage”, said Lunelli of his appointment. “As I believe that wine is the poetry of its own land and every great wine is an expression of a unique territory, I hope to emphasise the role of the IWSC in educating the consumer in fully understanding the beauty of the diversity of the wine world.”

Each year the IWSC and its former presidents come together in search of their next president, choosing influential figures within the world of wine and spirits to act as ambassadors for the global competition.

“At the IWSC’s core is the ongoing pursuit of excellence and recognition of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs”, said Allen Gibbons, group chief executive of the IWSC. “Matteo is a key figure in the wine world and a fantastic ambassador for quality and merit; we are delighted to have him as our 2016 President”.

Graduating with an honors degree in economics at Bocconi University in Milan, Matteo started his career in financial consulting, working for five years at Goldman Sachs International in Zurich, London and New York before joining the family business, Ferrari Winery.

Ferrari was founded in Trento in 1902 and produces sustainably farmed Trentodoc wines, which are bottle-fermented sparkling wines made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown at high altitudes in the mountains of the northern Italian region of Trentino.

Matteo is also the CEO of the Lunelli Group, an Italian beverage group comprising brands including  Segnana grappa, Tenute Lunelli still wines from Trentino, Tuscany and Umbria and Bisol, a leading producer of Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene.