MASTER reacts to SOMMELIER World CHAMPIONSHIP

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I do not call myself a Sommelier because I believe that this title only belongs to people working on the floor in restaurants. However, I really enjoyed working as a Somm back in the day and I also enjoyed competitions, so I have loosely followed the Sommelier World Championship for a while.

However, I had some discussions with people from the trade about the competition and whether it is still relevant for the industry, as many of the most well-known Somms are not necessarily well known for winning any of these competitions, and as some parts of it might appear outdated.

The Association de la Sommellerie Internationale organizes the world cup roughly every three years in another city all over the world, and the winner is a World Champion for the rest of his life.

The ASI world championship is, in my opinion, the more highly regarded event and the Final in Paris was a huge production with a crowd of 4000 people, which was broadcasted live on the web.

This must have been intimidating, to say the least: Imaging trying to pass one of the most difficult exams of your career with 4000 people looking at you.

The competitors have usually won the best sommelier award in their home country to qualify for the world championship and most of them work as Sommeliers in their home country even though that is not a prerequisite.

This competition is a huge opportunity for them as it can lead to fame and fortune in an industry that does not always provide a lot of opportunities once you have become the head somm in a restaurant.

The former Sommelier World Champions I know tend to be hard-working professionals with a passion for wine and the humbleness you get from competing against the best.

But I don’t just want to talk about the event, I want to go through it with you. So let's start at the beginning: In the first rounds candidates are tested in blind tastings, Theorie exams, and service tasks until the best three are selected:

In the final Nina Jensen (Denmark), Raimonds Tomsons (Latvia), and Reeze Choi (China) were competing against each other for the title. Nina was the runner-up last time and Raimonds was also in third place. It was Reeze’s first time in the final and all three contestants could have become the first world champion of their country – and Nina could have been the first woman to win the title.