Giuseppe Vaccarini

Coming Up

Service and cellar work run through Giuseppe Vaccarini’s career as a matter of method, not ornament. Born in Miradolo Terme, in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy, he built his practice across dining rooms in Italy and abroad, moving through sommelier posts and management roles that required the same discipline: reading a room, keeping standards intact, and making the service sequence hold together. The early posts show the range of European hospitality as a working field. Vaccarini worked first as sommelier at bas-bréau at Bas-Bréau in Barbizon, France, then as sommelier at Runnymede Hotel at Runnymede Hotel in Egham, United Kingdom, and later as sommelier at opera restaurant at Opera restaurant in Son Bou, Menorca, Spain. Each house asked for precision under different conditions, from the pace of service to the expectations of the room, and each sharpened the same core skill: disciplined attention. Management followed the floor. Vaccarini became restaurant director at Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan, Italy (1978–1983), then served as restaurant and hotel manager at Locanda dell'Amorosa in Sinalunga, Siena, Italy, before taking on managerial posts at Poste Vecie in Venice, Italy (1986–1987) and Regina Cornaro in Venice, Italy (1986–1987). Those roles shifted the work from table-side execution to the structure behind it: coordination, standards, and control of pace. He followed this with work as chef sommelier at Osteria Binari in Milan, Italy (1988–1989), where wine service sat directly alongside the kitchen identity of the room. His scope then moved beyond a single address. From 1990–1992, Vaccarini directed Russian restaurant Yar in Milan, Italy, while also taking on positions that placed him inside the governing and competitive side of the profession. That work sat in the part of the trade where rules, evaluation, and consistency define the standard. Teaching became another axis of the same practice. Vaccarini was professor of sommellerie and hotel & Restaurant Technologies at C. Porta Catering School in Milan, Italy (1987–2010), a long teaching run that placed formal knowledge in the hands of working students. He also served as president at Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) (1996–2004), then as president at Associazione Italiana Sommeliers (AIS) (1999–2002), roles that positioned him inside both international and Italian professional structures. Today, Giuseppe Vaccarini is founder and president of ASPI (Associazione della Sommellerie Professionale Italiana) (since 2007) and director of Exam Committee of Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) (since 2012). The record is one of continuity: floor, classroom, committee, and institution, all tied to the same concern for professional standards.

Where They Are Now

He is president and founder of ASPI, the Associazione della Sommellerie Professionale Italiana. On re-election, he said, "Being re-elected unanimously for the third consecutive time is a great privilege and an important moral commitment in completing shared projects."

In Their Words “Being re-elected unanimously for the third consecutive time is a great privilege and an important moral commitment in completing shared projects.”