Chief Scientific Officer, TasteSpirit

Editor-in-Chief, TS wine review

Scientific advisor, Vinitaly

Chief wine&food consultant, Collisioni Wine & Food Project  

Ian D’Agata is a multiaward-winning wine writer and author of internationally renowned books, and is considered one of the leading experts in Italian wine, as well as wines from Alsace, Bordeaux and Canada.

In December 2019, Ian D’Agata accepted the post of Editor-in-Chief of the TS wine review and of Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of TasteSpirit, China’s leading media and education company, including a wine school with centers in eight different metropolitan Chinese cities, a digital wine magazine with 3Million private users, and that organizes international conferences and events on wine and food with world-renouned experts in their field. While Ian was looking forward to working on his many different projects beginning in April 2020, the unexpected arrival of Covid in all its tragic force on the world scene forced the announcement of this new job and its start to be put on hold. An official press release was launched in China in September 2020 and was to be followed up by similar communications in Italy and in North America.

Ian now lives year round in Shanghai, but still travels to Europe and North America four to five months a year mostly to visit wineries and taste the new vintages as he has done for most of his professional life. In order to accept this exclusive engagement, Ian has resigned from the Italian International Indigenous Center for Wine & Food Studies (3iC) school, the collaboration he held with Collisioni and will devote his teaching activities exclusively to the TS Wine School system in China.  In an effort to further concentrate all his energy and time on the new project, he has also ceased all association with BING (Best Italian Native Grapes festival, another collaboration held with Collisioni) and will further reduce other activities that might distract him from his current goals of book writing and leading TasteSpirit.

Ian D’Agata has been writing and talking about wine for over 25 years. An award-winning book author, his most recent book, “Italy’s Native Wine Grape Terroirs” has been named one of the best wine books of the year in the NY Times and by Food & Wine Magazine. His previous book, “Native Wine Grapes of Italy” (University of California Press) won the prestigious 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Awards Book of the Year, never won before by any Italian. A book that was also featured in the Top 10 Wine Books of the Year by the NY Times, the Financial Times and the LA Times.

In a recent past he was also Contributing Editor of Decanter and co-author for ten editions of the “Guide to the Best Italian Wines D’Agata & Comparini” for which in 2009 he received the International Association of Culinary Professionals Gourmand Award.

Ian holds a number of different academic and research posts, including being named in 2019 Vice President of the Association Internationale des Terroirs (AIT) of which Thibault Ligier-Belair is President and Aubert de Villaine the Honorary President. In 2015, Ian D’Agata was nominated a new member (as “Accademico Ordinario”) of the Accademia della Vite e del Vino. In addition to being awarded for a second time in 2012 as the best wine journalist in Italy, by the Grandi Cru d’Italia Committee; confirming its international reputation, in 2016 Ian was nominated in France as one of the eight most important wine writers in the world by Les Plumes d’Or, the prize awarded in Paris in France, and promoted by the most famous wine producers of France and the “Chefs des Grandes Tables du Monde” association (170 restaurants from 24 countries). Canada has recognized several awards for Ian’s work in promoting and disseminating quality wine, and in 2017 he awarded the Cuvée Award of Excellence and in 2018 the VQA Promoter Award – Out of Ontario category.

In addition, Ian D’Agata has taught history of Italian food and wine culture at numerous universities and is a much sought-after public speaker. Ian is actively involved in the recovery and rescue of ancient, practically extinct native vines with the aim of making them vinified again.