Introductions

Hello everyone,

My name is Dino Gastaldello
I’m 27 years old and I live in a small Italian town in Northern Italy, Bassano del Grappa. I am an AIS Sommelier and currently undertaking the WSET Diploma in Rust, Austria. I’m a big wine nerd, always have been, and probably always will be.

 

Me in September 2020 when I officialy became an AIS Sommelier

In 2018 I decided that I needed to go more in depth into my passion so I undertook the Italian Sommelier Association certification, which is structured in three levels. The first level was focused on viticulture, winemaking and wine laws; the second level was all about vine ampelography and  GIs from all over the world, with the main focus on Italy (of course) and then mostly France, Spain and Germany. The third level is all about wine and food pairings, which was very technical; AIS has a scheme for pairing food and wines based on acidity, tannins, fat, sapidity, bitterness and other componets. Extremely interesting and honestly fairly hard! 

I took my exams (written, tasting and oral) in January 2020, we were supposed to have our diploma ceremony in March but then of course COVID came, so everything was moved to September. They gave us our diploma, the iconic tastevin and a personalized bottle of Astoria Prosecco with our name on it, which is on display in my living room for everyone to see.

That 2020 summer was also the time when I discovered the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust) Award in Wines program. A friend of mine, Leonardo, who is the owner of the Villa Sandi winery, was hosting the WSET Level 2 course and exam in his winery for his clients and employees and asked me if I wanted to join. 

WSET Level 2 lesson on international red grape varieties in Villa Sandi

The WSET Level 2 is a three-day course focusing on how vineyard management, winemaking and maturation options impact the style of wines made with the most common international grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc.), plus you approach analytical wine tasting with the SAT (Systematic Approach to Tasting). The course was great, I got to learn a lot of new stuff and, especially, to taste wines from all over the world. On the last day we had our 1 hour written exam, which I passed with distinction.

Thanks to the WSET I understood that there was so much more to the wine world and I decided I needed to go deeper. I enrolled for the WSET Level 3 at the International Wine Academy in Verona, which started the 30th June 2021. The Level 3 is a 5 day course and it goes much more in depth in the GIs from all over the world. You learn about the most important GIs in the world, with the vineyard and winemaking practices that are done there, learning also the style of the wine that is made.

It's a comprehensive course and it gives a wide general knowledge of the wines of the world. I had loads of fun during these days and I have to thank the guys from International Wine Academy because the organisation and the wines we had were great!

Lineup of all the wines we tasted for the WSET Level 3

For the WSET Level 3 the exam is structured in two parts (when I was doing it): a written exam made up of four open answer questions and a tasting of two wines (one white and one red); this time I managed to pass with merit. 

Now I've decided that I want to officially enter the wine world and I will be starting to look for a job in the industry, this is why I decided to enroll in the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines, of which I will talk more about in another post.

 

With wine it’s a neverending journey, you learn new thing everyday and in doing so you get to meet great people. I will be keeping track of everything that happens to me related to wine, share wine tastings (you can also look me up on Vivino for that) and give you information about WSET courses.

 

Thank you for being here and for your support, enjoy!