On Monday 2 March, 14 national sommelier associations organised the ASI Diploma certification exam for 74 candidates.
A total of 74 candidates took part in the 2020 exam and 52 of them were successful. This shows a great level of progression in candidates preparation since the ASI Diploma was introduced. Let’s not forget that becoming an ASI Sommelier opens doors all over the world!
Congratulations to this year’s Australian candidate – Maximilian Gurtler – who achieved GOLD certification!
The Sommeliers Australia’s National Executive Committee acknowledges this fantastic achievement, noting Max’s dedication in preparing for the exam. The standard of sommellerie in Australia certainly matches that of our international peers.
The NEC would also like to thank NEC/NSW Committee member Greg Richardson for preparing and supervising the the exam process in Sydney. Thanks also to 2019 ASI Diploma (Gold) recipients Cyril Thevenet and Yuki Hirose for assisting with the exam adjudication.
Here is the complete list of successful candidates; Australian sommeliers are in excellent company!
| Argentina | Korea |
| Martin Bruno – GOLD Excellence | Soo Min Cho – GOLD |
| Andrés Lafarge – GOLD | Jun Seon Choi – GOLD |
| Agustina Larriera – GOLD | Woong Hwang Ho – GOLD |
| David Paredes – SILVER | Jae Min Ju – GOLD |
| Leonor Soza de la Carrera – SILVER | Kyo Dong Kim – SILVER |
| Seon Woo Kim – SILVER | |
| Australia | Kwang Yeol Lee – SILVER |
| Maximilian Gurtler – GOLD | Seong Hoon Lee – SILVER |
| Jong Ho Roh – GOLD | |
| China/Hong Kong | |
| Reeze Choi – GOLD | Netherlands |
| Derek – GOLD | Tony Lecouroux – GOLD Excellence / Dux |
| Nick Koon – SILVER | Shelina Sars – SILVER |
| Hungary | Russia |
| Lazlo Angerman – GOLD | Grigorii Chegodaev – GOLD |
| Zsolt Bartalics – GOLD | Maksim Khizhniakov – SILVER |
| David Kinces – SILVER | Valeriy Kiselyov – SILVER |
| Mihaly Lippai – GOLD | Ksenia Kovchina – SILVER |
| Roman Ivanov – SILVER | |
| Japan | Vadim Martyniuk – GOLD |
| Tatsuya Asakura – SILVER | Polina Pobleskaia – SILVER |
| Ryosuke Imai – SILVER | |
| Daichi Hasegawa – GOLD | Serbia |
| Rie Matsuki – GOLD | Dragisa Damljanovic – SILVER |
| Keigo Nakura – GOLD | Josip Oriskovic – SILVER |
| Ryoga Nakamura – GOLD | |
| Misaki Otsuka – SILVER | Thailand |
| Masakastsu Yatabe – SILVER | Vongsatit Kaewnak – SILVER |
| Watchara Leelao – SILVER | |
| Kazakhstan | |
| Ratmir Akhemetov – GOLD | Ukraine |
| Alexander Averianov – SILVER | Stanislav Borysov – SILVER |
| Zulfiya Ibragimova – GOLD | Bogdan Pavliukh – GOLD |
| Anton Khasbiytev – SILVER | |
| Dayana Nassyrova – GOLD | Venezuela |
| Dinah Casares – BRONZE * | |
| Hector Gascon – BRONZE Excellence* | |
* Bronze is awarded at the same level as the Silver or Gold, however the candidates sit the exam in their native language, rather than a second language.
