What’s News

Champagne Ruinart, together with Sommeliers Australia, is excited to announce the winner of the 2019 Australian Ruinart Sommelier Challenge, Manuel Conti of BLACK Bar & Grill. The Sommelier Challenge reflects Champagne Ruinart’s commitment to the development of the global, and local, Sommelier community. The competition was open to all Sommeliers holding a Sommeliers Australia membership … Continued

Friday 15 March saw the completion of the ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2019 competition, hosted in Antwerp, Belgium, after a week of serious competition. A record 66 talented sommeliers represented 63 countries at the competition, which is in itself extraordinary! As a first time ASI competitor, Sommeliers Australia’s Loic Avril, conducted himself with … Continued

Antwerp, March 15 2019 At the end of a final round where the three top competitors had to show their knowledge of wine and talent for service and hospitality in front of an audience of over 1,100 people, Marc Almert, a 27-year-old German sommelier who works at the Baur du Lac Hotel in Zurich, was declared … Continued

Champagne Ruinart and Sommeliers Australia are delighted to announce the 25 selected finalists to take part in the 2019 Ruinart Sommelier Challenge, to be held in Sydney on Monday, 18 March. The finalists represent Australia’s top sommelier talent, who will go in the running for chance to win a once in a lifetime business class trip to … Continued

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 … Continued

Antwerp, March 11, 2019 –Today marks the beginning of the most highly-awaited event in the sommelier world: the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest, where 66 candidates from 63 countries – a record number, on both counts – will see years of learning, study and practice culminate, with one sommelier coming away, on 15 March, … Continued

Earlier this month, the Australian recipients of the New Zealand Wine Sommelier Scholarship returned from more than 10 days across the ditch on an intensive programme that included Sommit™, the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in Marlborough and the Chardonnay and Sparkling Wine Symposium in Gisborne. First launched in association with Sommeliers Australia in 2015, the … Continued

Certification from Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) gives sommeliers the opportunity to be recognised worldwide as having a high level of knowledge and skills. Newly ASI certified sommeliers will become part of an elite group of international sommeliers (only 195 to date), many of whom are the winners of continental and world contests! Created … Continued

On Tuesday 27 November, seven highly qualified Australian Sommeliers were assessed as part of the National Sommelier Selection Process: Banjo Harris Plane, Carlos Simoes, Cyril Thevenet, Loic Avril, Mattia Antonio Cianca, Miguel Giteau and Yuki Hirose. The gruelling assessment covered three components: tasting, theory and service, and was designed to replicate difficult international competition standards, … Continued