New Zealand Sommelier of the Year Award 2022 

Conducted by the NZ Sommeliers and Wine Professionals association, the New Zealand Sommelier of the Year Award 2022 will be held on Sunday, 31 July 2022 in Auckland.

Usually only open to NZSWP members to compete, through a special reciprocal invitation 2 candidates will be welcomed from Sommeliers Australia for the 2022 competition, offering them international competition experience ahead of the ASI Best Sommelier of Asia Oceania 2022 in Taiwan.

Sadly, the Sommeliers Australia team will not be eligible to take out the title.

Sommeliers Australia extends its thanks to NZSWP for their generous invitation, and we wish all of the candidates the best of luck!

9:00 am – 10.30am   Tasting and Theory

• Taste and write notes for one white and one red wine
• Answer questions on New Zealand and International wines

10.45 am – 1 pm Service Practical

Task 1 Decant and serve a red wine under cork

Task 2 Food and Wine Pairing

Task 3 Spirits blind tasting

5pm NZ Sommelier Final with 3 Finalists competing together

Task 1. Precision Pouring – Method Traditional poured in 5 minutes

Task 2. Wine list – spot the mistakes

Task 3. Recognize this photo? A series of images of people and places to test your general knowledge of international wines

6.30 pm – 10 pm New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals Awards Dinner

Winners announced during dinner.