On Tuesday 9 March 2021, 12 ASI member nations* hosted the ‘International ASI Sommelier Diploma’ certification exam, and it is with great pleasure ASI announces 38 new ASI Diploma graduates!
This year’s examination was extremely complicated as the ASI Exam Committee was given the task of guaranteeing a fair and equitable process under the extreme duress of hosting the examinations during a global pandemic. According to ASI Exam Committee Director Giuseppe Vaccarini, “the work carried out in time of the pandemic was objectively complex in the test drafting phase and especially in the correction phase, carried out entirely online with the support of exam videos. However, thanks to the teamwork of the committee members and the local juries, the exam took place in the right conditions and the final result was more than satisfactory.”
While the examinations were challenging for both those writing and correcting the examinations, Mr. Vaccarini is pleased to announce not only 38 new candidates but for the first time in the history of the diploma “we have the pleasure of announcing two Best of Class candidates. I am pleased to announce Fabrice Sommier (France) and Hee Sung Park (South Korea) have graduated with Best of Class honours.”
Now the committee, under the direction of Mr. Vaccarini, have the task of preparing the 2022 examination. To support those seeking to pursue the ASI Diploma, an ASI Diploma Study Group has been formed as a group on the ASI Facebook page. In the coming months, information about the examination process, example questions will be shared on the group. The ASI Exam Commission will oversee the group, but it is hoped that it will be an open platform for sommeliers from around the world to help each other prepare for the ASI Diploma exam.
38 ASI SOMMELIERS = 13 GOLD, 22 SILVER, 3 BRONZE
Congratulations to:
| Austria | Netherlands |
| Patrick Aichlseder – GOLD | Sebastiaan Joosten – GOLD |
| Pascal Dinda – SILVER | Cas Kratz – SILVER |
| Simon Reiter – SILVER | Rianne Ogink – SILVER |
| Benjamin Zimmerling – SILVER | |
| Poland | |
| Belgium | Bartosz Nowakowski – GOLD |
| Tom Ieven – GOLD | Jakub Filipek – GOLD |
| Dries Corneillie – SILVER | |
| Stéphane Dardenne – BRONZE | Russia |
| Maxime Sanzot – BRONZE | Kristina Veselova – GOLD |
| China/Hong Kong | Taiwan |
| Keehong Kwon – SILVER | Sean Chang-Hsun Yeh – GOLD |
| Szu-Hao Tseng – GOLD | |
| Korea | Carlos Kuan-Chang Chen – SILVER |
| Hee Sung Park – GOLD Best of Class | Jimmy Yao- Chia Chang – SILVER |
| Dong Yeon Ko – GOLD | |
| Jin Soo Kim – SILVER | Ukraine |
| Soo Hyeon Heo – SILVER | Yan Biazruchka – SILVER |
| Wook Tae Han – SILVER | Maryna Revkova – SILVER |
| Pavlo Mnukhin – SILVER | |
| France | |
| Fabrice Sommier – GOLD Best of Class | Venezuela |
| Francesco Cosci – GOLD | Héctor Gascón – SILVER |
| Xavier Thuizat – GOLD | Gabriel Marquez Campins – BRONZE |
| Japan | |
| Ryoma Okinaka – SILVER | |
| Bungo Matsunaga – SILVER | |
| Chika Omae – SILVER | |
| Natsuki Saito – SILVER | |
| Kiki Yoda – SILVER | |
| Junichi Kurisu – SILVER |
* Due to the Best Sommelier of Australia 2021 Finals being held on 15 March 2021, Sommeliers Australia did not hold the ASI Diploma examinations this year. We look forward to welcoming candidates to sit the 2022 exams early next year.
