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DWWA Regional Chair for Switzerland: Paolo Basso

Paolo Basso is Regional Chair for Switzerland at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2019.

Paolo Basso

Swiss-Italian Basso was named Best Sommelier of the World in 2013.  Since 2014, Paolo has been in charge of the wine selection for Air France.

He started his wine career as a sommelier in Switzerland.  He gained experience with a leading Swiss-based fine and rare wines trader, where he focused on the wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Basso is now a wine producer and consultant through his own company Paolo Basso Wine, based in Lugano, Switzerland.  As a wine producer, his first own-label red was dedicated to his daughter: Il Rosso di Chiara.

He has won many awards – including Best Sommelier of Switzerland 1997 and Best Sommelier of Europe 2010 – and is one of just six sommeliers to hold both the European and World titles. In 2018 he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.

He teaches at the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland and he is a member of the technical committee of the International Sommelier Association.

Follow Paolo on Twitter at @BassoSommelier

See more 2020 Regional Chairs

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