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{ SOMMjournal.com } 79 study material in 2017. It is an honor to be entrusted with the foundation upon which this lecture series is built. By taking excerpts from our Italian Wine Scholar manuals on all the topics covered in the CAC tour, we will give students the background they need to appreciate the insights provided by the wine - makers. We will set the stage for the show!" Another very valuable WSG asset on lend to CAC is Maurizo Broggi, creator of the Italian Wine Scholar program. Broggi will serve as a principle for the entire tour, working in conjunction with the local guest sommeliers/headmasters. Originally a sommelier and wine consultant for various cosorzi in Italy, Broggi also spent a number of years in China as a wine ambassador in Hong Kong. During this time, he earned the Diploma in Wine and Spirits (with Merit) from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. He was also awarded the Decanter Scholarship for top Advanced Level graduate in Asia. His other wine creden - tials include the French Wine Scholar with Highest Honors, Certified Specialist of Wine from the Society of Wine Educators and Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers. Says Broggi, "Each one of the 20 regions of Italy has its own traditions, grapes and wine styles. This makes Italian wine study akin to tackling the wines of 20 different countries. The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming. There are more than 300 native grapes and more than 400 wine appellations. Only by putting the regions and their wines into geographic, historic and cultural context can you master the wines of Italy. It can be a daunting task, but at the same time extremely rewarding." The WSG partnership might be biggest update in the CAC program, but there are others too. This year sommeliers and the like will have plenty of time to get to work before dinner starts. "It's a shorter program but with more seminars," says Leicht, "so we're looking at a 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., because we realized that a lot of our audience needs to get to service." Interestingly enough, the final benefit of the CAC/WSG partnership won't be real - ized until after this coming semester. Says Leicht, "Because we're now involved with the Wine Scholar Guild and really tighten- ing our focus this semester on Italian wine, this will open up the potential to offer addi- tional CAC sessions and other semesters to center on non-Italian Cru Artisan wines throughout the year. So for instance, we'd offer something like a CAC 'study abroad program' where we actually hold campus in the vineyards of the Pacific Northwest with Pacific Rim's winemaker, Nicolas Quille." The biggest changes in the curriculum will include a focus on Italian terroir and more deserved attention to Marsala. Says Leicht, "The Digging In seminar is what I see as the heart of the curriculum, because the somms who have been fortunate enough to come with us on the enrichments trips via the Guild of Sommeliers say to me that the whole world of Italian wine is so much more challenging to them. Of course, the best way to really learn about Italy is to visit, but the next best way is to have the winemakers come explain it to you in person. This is a 90-minute seminar with five winemakers from five different regions who will really be focusing on the very unique terroirs that Lars Leicht congratulates blind tasting winner Juan Cortés at the CAC Atlanta campus at White Oak Kitchen. PHOTO BY JAMIE HOPPER PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG Finocchiona, Pecorino Fulvi and Pecorino Toscano; duck liver mousse with toasted filone; coppa ham with Piave Vecchio and Radicchio Castelfranco; and stracciatella with toasted filone from the CAC New York City campus at restaurant Marta.