A brief presentation
To begin with, let others speak about me...
To understand my approach to the profession of sommelier and my passion for Ticino wine production, I suggest you watch the following videos in Italian and French, which are taken from informative broadcasts of the public television.
Broadcast on Basso veritas - © RSI - video in Italian.
Informative broadcast - © RTS - video in French.
Allow me to introduce myself:
It all started unknowingly with my grandfather's cellar, called during childhood "the forbidden place". A place that in my child's imagination hid who knows what secret. Perhaps it was the wine that was the keeper of the secret, because my grandfather treated it with care and respect and aged it in that calm place, where it seemed time had stopped. A few years later, during a language stay in Valais, the most important wine region of Switzerland, that passion was born in me that encouraged and pushed me to deepen my training on wine.
Today, after much study, work and competitions, I am part of the exclusive group of 6 Sommeliers in the world to have won both the title of Best Sommelier of Europe (in 2010) and that of Best Sommelier of the World (in 2013).
After this last competition, my career took an important turn, intense, full of commitments and opportunities, which allowed me to diversify my scope and be active as a consultant, teacher, merchant and above all, wine producer.
This last opportunity was the greatest, which convinced me to stay in Ticino to continue my passion and get closer to production. This choice is partly due to the location where I live, Ligornetto, one of the wine villages of Canton Ticino and partly to the desire to live wine in all its aspects, from production to consumption through a professional activity on multiple fronts.
As a consultant since 2014, I select wines for the airline Air France, which received the prestigious "Best Airline Wine List of the World" recognition in 2018 and 2019.
@photolocatelli.ch
In addition to consulting, I organize and lead masterclasses, tastings, seminars and events dedicated to wine.
As a teacher, I train future managers of the luxury hotel sector at Glion Institute of Higher Education in Montreux.
My company, Paolo Basso Wine, based in Ligornetto, is also active in wine trading. Through the online wine shop, you have the opportunity to purchase my five wines, as well as those of other producers that I rigorously select, with whom I share a common passion: the constant and continuous pursuit of quality, in all its facets.
These are scrupulous producers, some unknown, others real stars who love their craft and the land they work and who are attentive to environmental respect and sustainability.
Given my experience as a sommelier, these are wines that express themselves wonderfully at the table, where thanks to their refined and deep style, they have the particularity of enhancing the food-wine pairing.
If you need advice, I am gladly at your disposal.