WILLIAM WOUTERS

William Wouters is a chef (he is the former head chef for the Belgian national soccer team), a champion sommelier (he has won the title of Best Sommelier of Belgium on multiple occasions), a restaurateur and since 2007 co-owns a winery in Portugal with wife winemaker Filipa Pato. Yet, despite the long history of success and varied background in the hospitality industry, Wouters considers his greatest asset to be as an ambassador and diplomat.

In 2020, Wouters won the presidency of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), a 62-member country association charged with supporting and promoting the sommelier profession. In the vineyard and winery, Wouters and Pato are nurturers of the land, practicing biodynamic viticulture, working with grapes indigenous to their home in Bairrada. As president of ASI, Wouters takes a similar nurturing and diplomatic approach, working with more than 50 board and committee members to create a team that reflects the diversity of its member nations.