19 Jan AIS Campania Wins the 2025 Premio Surgiva for Promoting Wine Culture and Responsible Drinking in Schools
Surgiva celebrates its 50th anniversary by honoring initiatives that promote both wine and water culture, in partnership with the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS), of which it is the official water.
The 2025 Premio Surgiva was awarded to AIS Campania for its outstanding efforts in bringing wine and responsible drinking education into schools. AIS Sicily took second place, while AIS Emilia-Romagna claimed third. The award, promoted by the Lunelli Group’s mineral water brand in collaboration with AIS, recognizes regional delegations that stand out in promoting wine and water culture through innovative and sustainable approaches.
The Premio Surgiva is part of the broader collaboration between Surgiva and AIS. Surgiva was chosen as AIS’s official water for its exceptionally low mineral content, which ensures a light, neutral taste ideal for wine tastings and culinary creations.
AIS Campania received the award for its project “Percorsi di vite — Educating Through Wine: Culture, Responsibility, and Sustainability”, active since 2023 and aimed at schools. The initiative combines two complementary programs: Vigna Resilience, for elementary students, and Bere Consapevole, for high school students. Both programs promote responsibility and sustainability, presenting wine as an agricultural, social, and cultural product—symbolizing identity and memory—and as an educational tool to teach respect, awareness, and care for the territory. Vigna Resilience transformed an abandoned vineyard around the Roman mausoleum of Pianura in Naples into an open-air educational laboratory, recovering a site of significant archaeological value and involving around 500 students. Bere Consapevole uses a mix of ancient stories and modern technologies to raise teenagers’ awareness of alcohol misuse and promote responsible consumption.
AIS Sicily was recognized for a highly experiential project in Taormina, which combined wine with Sicilian pastry art. AIS Emilia-Romagna earned third place for “Contaminazioni,” transforming its Reggio Emilia headquarters into a vibrant cultural hub.
The awards ceremony took place in Florence on November 15 during the Guida Vitae presentation, an event celebrating Italy’s finest wines and bringing together producers, sommeliers, and wine enthusiasts. The winning delegation will receive a year’s supply of Surgiva water and an experiential visit to Trentino, to discover first-hand the source and the values that inspire the Lunelli Group.
“With the Premio Surgiva,” said Camilla Lunelli, Director of Communications and Sustainability at the Lunelli Group, “we want to celebrate those who transform the culture of wine and water into a shared educational experience. AIS Campania’s ‘Percorsi di vite’ addresses an extremely important theme, achieving the dual objective of teaching children the value of the land and agricultural work while fostering a sense of personal responsibility among teenagers.”
“The Surgiva Award – stated Sandro Camilli, National President of AIS – is concrete proof of how a technical partnership, born from the need for water with the ideal purity for tasting, can evolve into a deep communion of values. For the Italian Sommelier Association, this award has become a key driver of innovation.
Our role is not only to train professionals but also to encourage our local chapters to be active protagonists in their territories, addressing issues of sustainability and social commitment. The Surgiva Award allows us to give recognition and a prominent platform to those who, every day, work to transform wine culture into a valuable tool for the community.
This year’s finalist projects embody this mission: the victory of Campania with “Percorsi di vite” demonstrates our ability to take on complex educational themes. But the initiatives from Emilia and Sicily also represent exemplary models of how our chapters can become cultural hubs and engines for local promotion. We are proud of this internal vitality and to be able to celebrate it alongside a partner like Surgiva.”