Mr. Wallace Lo, Sommelier at Hotel ICON, had invited us to take part in a training session at Hotel ICON and Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel & Tourism Management.

Coincidentally, a close friend an an exporter of Italian wines, Mr. Domenico Di Luccio was visiting town and he had also kindly agree to take part in training the hotel’s staff as well as the school’s student in a wine tasting session on wines from Piedmont and Sicily.

Hotel ICON is a joint program and is one of only a few hotels globally that is both a training ground for students enrolled in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management AND a real hotel serving real guests. This arrangement provides students with real and practical work environment in a hotel setting.

During the 1.5 hour training session, Mr. Luccio went through the following wines:

[Piedmont] Antoniolo Erbaluce Di Caluso Bianco
[Piedmont] Corino Giovanni Dolcetto D’Alba
[Piedmont] Corino Giovanni Langhe Nebbiolo
[Sicily] Ottoventi Punto 8
[Sicily] Ottoventi Punto 20

And not only presented the students with an introduction to grape varietals not commonly seen (i.e. Erbaluce, Dolcetto, Grillo and Nero d’Avola), but Mr. Luccio had also introduced what is so unique and special about both Piedmont and Sicily.

In the end, Mr. Murray Mackenzie, the Education Specialist (Integrated Learning) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Hotel & Tourism Management presented Mr. Domenico di Luccio with a “Professor for a Day” certificate from the HKPU School of Hotel & Tourism Management – much to our surprise!

Hotel ICON Staff Wine Training 1

Hotel ICON Staff Wine Training 2

Hotel ICON Staff Wine Training 3

Hotel ICON Staff Wine Training 4