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Yesterday, Sunday, February 12, the final of the Best Sommelier of the World, the competition organized by the Associatión de la Sommellierie Internationale (ASI) every three years (and since 1969) to choose the best sommelier in the world, was held in Paris (for the first time in three decades, it has taken place in France). And there is already a champion: Latvian wine consultant Raimonds Tomsons was proclaimed the winner of the contest. Second place went to Denmark’s Nina Jensen, who works for the Alchemist restaurant (Copenhagen), while Chinese consultant Reeze Choi took third place.
«I am extremely happy, I couldn’t imagine a better city than Paris or a better country than France for this title,» said Tomsons after the final, held at the Défense Arena indoor stadium on the outskirts of Paris.
68 participants from 65 countries
Over four days, the participants (68 in all, from 65 countries) underwent high-level tests, tastings and service tasks to demonstrate their abilities in professional situations. And Tomsoms, who came third in this same competition in 2019 and also boasts the Best Sommelier in Europe and Africa 2017 award, managed to stand out among them all.
It is worth mentioning that 65 members of the ASI association and the top three winners of continental competitions, such as ASI Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa 2021, ASI Best Sommelier of the Americas 2022 and ASI Best Sommelier of Asia & Oceania 2022, participated in this edition.
For her part, France’s Pascaline Lepeltier, who holds the title of best sommelier in France and was participating in her first international competition, came in fourth and did not qualify for the final; while Argentina’s Valeria Gamper, the only Latin American representative in the final phase of the competition, was a semi-finalist and ended up in sixth place.