Claudio Povero is Trade Analyst at the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) in London. He is passionate about Italian wine and the “Made in Italy” ethos. At ITA he plays a key role in promoting Italian wines and spirits in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and strengthening the presence of Italian producers in these markets.

Since January 2020, Claudio has organized various events and initiatives including the London and Dublin editions of Borsa Vini and the Italian pavilions at Imbibe. As an adviser on the Brexit desk, he helped Italian producers in dealing with Brexit regulations and adapting to new ways of doing business with the UK.

Claudio’s diverse career also includes importing and marketing wine to the UK and finding opportunities for Italian wineries in part of the Scandinavian market. He also gained valuable experience at Christie’s Auction House working in their Fine and Rare Wine & Spirits department in London.

His journey in the UK began in 2013 when he moved to London from Italy to work as a senior sommelier, initially at Novikov, and later at Michelin-starred restaurant Maze and the Savoy Grill, both part of Gordon Ramsay Restaurants.

Adam Lechmere is Publishing Director at Academie du Vin Library, Contributing Editor to Club Oenologique, and General Manager of the IWSC Foundation, the charitable arm of the IWSC and Club Oenologique, dedicated to improving diversity in wine and hospitality worldwide. Formerly editor of decanter.com, which he launched in 2000, he has been writing about wine for nearly 25 years, contributing to Decanter, World of Fine Wine, Meininger’s, janeanson.com, the Guardian, and many other publications. In the course of his wine career, he has interviewed and profiled some of the wine world’s most fascinating characters, from Francis Ford Coppola to Robert Mondavi. He is a generalist but would consider areas of expertise to be Spain, California and Italy. After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English literature he spent three years in Madrid, teaching English and visiting every corner of that wonderful country. He returned to the UK in 1990. Before joining the wine world, he worked for the BBC, writing for and producing websites for the newly launched BBC Online. He worked for several years as a travel writer, publishing books on Mozambique, the United States and South America. He also had a distinguished few years as a film and music journalist, peddling low-level gossip stories for the tabloid press. He lives in London.

Hermione runs the Académie du Vin Library, a publisher dedicated to producing books that tell stories about the great wines, winemakers, and wine regions of the world, working with some of the greatest wine writers and supporting and nurturing up-and-coming voices. She will shortly be adding top-tier wine appreciation courses to the Académie’s offering in London, following in Steven Spurrier’s footsteps, and is passionate about communicating about wine across media and with as diverse a range of communicators as possible.