Young Sommeliers Competition 2013

Loic Avril of The Fat Duck was the proud winner of the 2013 of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Sommelier of the Year Award. Loic will now represent the UK at the World stage of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs International Finals in Washington DC in October this year.

Coming a close second was Bouger Romain of The Vineyard at Stockcross — and in third place was Loic’s own colleague, Lukasz Jan Kolodziejczyk of The Fat Duck. Both Avril and Kolodziejczyk were mentored by the legendary Isa Bal.

The judges stressed that they had enjoyed being party to the ‘exceptional skill and knowledge’ of these three contestants and that the final placing was very close. Chairman of Judges, Gerard Basset said:

‘This year we had a noticable increase in the number of entrants for the competition. The quality of the contestants never ceases to impress the judges and this year was no exception. Each of the contestants demonstrated great passion for their craft and flair and we have high hopes for Avril in the International Finals later this year’.

The competition, based on the Master Sommelier Advanced Examination, is broken down into three parts; theory, service and blind tasting. Finalists must demonstrate their knowledge and skill in an hour-long written test on wine and production, a practical exhibition of service skills and a blind taste assessment of six wines, as provided by the judges.

Prizes include a champagne sabre from Gaggenau, and glasses from Schott Zwiesel as well as a trip to Turkey for both the first and second placed winners.

The evening concluded with our traditional Santé du Chef et du Service proposed by Vice President Marie Jones.

For further details please contact: or Leslie Cuthbert, Echanson or Philip Evins