ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2019 contest: Semi-Finalists revealed!
Antwerp, March 12, 2019
After a first round of practical and technical tests that took place over two days, the semi-finalists who are still in the race for the title of ASI Best Sommelier of the World have been revealed.
Only 19 of the 66 candidates who came to Antwerp have been selected for the next round. They are:
Martin Bruno (Argentina), Loïc Avril (Australia), Antoine Lehebel (Belgium), Pier-Alexis Soulière (Canada), Reeze Choi (China), Nina Jensen (Denmark), David Biraud (France), Marc Almert (Germany), Julie Dupouy-Young (Ireland), Satoru Mori (Japan), Wataru Iwata (Japan), Raimonds Tomsons (Latvia), Martynas Pravilonis (Lithuania), Andrea Martinisi (New Zealand), Piotr Pietras (Poland), Julia Scavo (Romania), Aleksandr Rassadkin (Russia), Vuk Vuletic (Serbia) and Fredrik Lindfors (Sweden).
These 19 professionals will now undergo the a series of tests including a questionnaire on oenology, viticulture and winemaking, food pairings and service techniques; blind tasting of wines with comment in a second language; identifying beverages; serving wine; matching food with wine or other beverages, as well as a business scenario requiring sommeliers to apply their technical and commercial skills.
The names of the three finalists will be revealed in the early afternoon on Friday 15 March (CET/Antwerp time), just before the final round, presented in front of an audience of more than 1,100 people at the Elisabeth Center and live streamed on YouTube and Facebook. The streaming starts at 1.30pm CET, and the winner to be announced shortly after 4pm CET.
Check out ASI’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to find out as soon as they are announced.
Semi Finalists of the ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2019. (Photo: Jean-Marc Brasseur)
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