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At the renowned competition for the best sommelier in Europe and Africa of the year 2017 of the Sommelier Union Austria in Wien the 37-year-old Raimonds Tomsons from Riga in Latvia won. He works there in the restaurant Vincents as head sommelier

The final of the three days lasting championship took place in the ballroom of the Parkhotel Schönbrunn in Wien. Due to the close results in the preliminary rounds, the organisers decided to give four of the original 37 top sommeliers who had taken part the chance to win. For several hours David Biraud from France, Raimonds Tomsons from Latvia, Piotr Pietras from Poland and Julia Scavo from Romania took turns on the stage of the Parkhotel and fulfilled the tasks of the jury in front of an international audience

"We were looking for a sommelier who would best reflect the host's idea," Gerard Basset, head of the technical committee, summarized the decision. But what sounds so simple demanded the highest level of practical skills, theoretical knowledge and nerves of steel from the finalists of the competition

So for the final three restaurant tables were set up on stage, and the jury's first requirement was: "Serve these two guests a sake as an aperitif and explain your choice. You have two minutes and 30 seconds to do so." On the side table, several sake specialties were set up, one of them high-proof. It was precisely this built-in trap that one candidate overlooked in the heat of the moment. Another task was to recommend the appropriate wine accompaniment from a different country for a birthday menu. Here it was necessary to describe the wines precisely and to explain why they would go well with the respective dish. The time limit set for this was too short for two candidates - especially as one guest asked for a different wine from the recommended one as a small irritation. It became especially difficult for the final candidates when they faced ten black-coloured glasses. Two of the liquids in each of them were identical - but only in the product category. These drinks had to be identified and described as pairs on the basis of the basic product or method of production, and the pairing made had to be justified

The two candidates Suvad Zlatic from Austria and Torsten Junker from Germany were less lucky. They were eliminated after the first round

The European Sommelier Championship has been held since 1988. The aim is to promote the exchange of professionals in restaurants and the hotel industry and to motivate them to perfect their skills. According to Sommelier-Union Austria, more than 1,000 candidates have taken part in these competitions in recent years. The prerequisite for this is active work in a restaurant, a wine bar, a vinotheque or a wine-tourism section.

(uka / Photo: Erich Reismann)

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