THE inaugural winner of the Wines of South Africa Sommelier World Cup is Christopher Bates from the United States.
He came away with the top overall score after a rigorous series of theoretical and practical examinations in the knowledge of South African wine. He was up against 11 other professional specialists in wine service, all chosen as their national representatives in the challenge conceived and arranged by the industry organisation, Wines of South Africa.
The first runner-up is Stefaan Camerlinck of Belgium and second runner-up Veronique Rivest of Canada.
A sommelier is a professionally trained wine steward, specialising in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food matching.
The 12 finalists were examined by a seven-member panel of internationally trained and certified sommeliers and wine educators.
Competitors came from the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, the US, Canada and South Korea, all countries which import South African wines and that enjoy an established culture of professional wine service.
The competition culminated in a multi-part examination, involving a written test followed by a blind tasting and the top four scorers taking part in a contest with the judges acting as restaurant patrons.
There was a large audience present of wine producers and members of the local hospitality industry.
