Greater than 4,000 wine professionals and fanatics gathered within the French capital to look at the world’s finest sommeliers vie for glory.
Native favorite Pascaline Lepeltier, a Grasp Sommelier from Anjou, was eradicated on the semi-final stage, leaving simply three consultants to battle for the title.
Tomsons was up in opposition to Nina Jensen of Denmark and China’s Reeze Choi, all of whom have been put by their paces in a collection of duties designed to check their data, tasting abilities, service acumen and talent to stay calm underneath stress.
They needed to establish wines that have been tasted blind, pair wines with varied dishes and spot errors in a worth checklist, amongst different challenges.
Choi took the bronze medal, resulting in a straight showdown between two sommeliers from northern European nations that aren’t precisely famend for wine manufacturing.
Denmark’s Jensen impressed the judges together with her all-round talent and confidence, but it surely was Tomsons that finally took the highest prize.
William Wouters, president of the ASI Finest Sommelier of the World contest, stated: ‘I’ve little question he will probably be a improbable consultant of ASI, and an inspiration to our world sommelier neighborhood.’
Tomsons stated that rising up in a rustic with out a wine producing heritage had supplied him with a bonus over some rivals.
‘We don’t have a historical past and our minds are freer,’ he stated in his post-event interview. ‘In Latin America or traditional nations like Spain and Portugal, they discover it more durable to confide in the wines of the world, as a result of they’re very pleased with their very own.’
Tomsons beforehand completed third on the ASI Finest Sommelier of the World competitors when it was held in Belgium again in 2019.
He works because the wine director of Riga-based importer Barents Wine Collectors, whereas he additionally co-founded a wine training platform referred to as WineTeach.
The ASI Finest Sommelier of the World contest has been held in varied nations, but it surely made a triumphant return to Paris this weekend.
‘It took greater than 30 years for this contest to return to Paris and it was well worth the wait,’ stated Wouters. ‘From the primary day candidates arrived, they have been handled to the hospitality and wonderful gastronomy of France. As for the competition itself, it honoured the dedication of our candidates by being each difficult and honest.’
