Young Sommeliers Competition 2015
The winners of our Young Professionals Competitions were revealed at a glittering ceremony at the prestigious Dorchester Hotel in London in March. This was an occasion for us all to celebrate the talents, enthusiasm and desire for learning of the up and coming young people in our member establisments. Maître Hotelier Roland Fasel the Managing Director of the hotel always ensures that the evening goes off without a hitch.
The evening started with Bob Cotton, previously CEO of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), giving, in a keynote address, some challenges to the industry partipants on three major areas he felt they should focus on during 2015.
Taking the top accolade of Young Sommelier of the Year was Mathias Camilleri of Medlar, London (London City).
The Finals of the Young Sommelier competition were held earlier in the same week at the Wigmore Street showroom of our main partner, Gaggenau. The finalists fought all day to impress the judges with their knowledge of wine, ability to blind taste, their service skills of decanting and opening champagnes and most importantly of matching wines with food. Chairman of the judges, Echanson Gerard Basset, sadly had to be in Australia, the remaining judges being Christelle Guibert, Tasting Director at Decanter Magazine, Bailli Délégué Philip Evins, Maître Sommeliers Dimitri Mesnard, Nigel Wilkinson and Nicholas Clerc, and Xavier Rousset. Again, the three placed winners on the day did not know until the dinner in what position they would be placed. Our winner was Matthias Camilleri of Medlar (London City) and second Romain Bourger of The Vineyard, Newbury (Wessex). Joint third place winners were Piotr Pietras from Maze (London City) and Alwine Mascaro from Hotel Terravina (Wessex).
Amongst the rewards each Young Sommelier received was a Champagne Sabre from Gaggenau and sets of hand blown tasting glasses from Schott Zwiesel.
Philip Evins added ‘I would especially like to congratulate Joe and Mathias, who were up against some very talented competitors. It’s pleasing to see competitors trying again to take top place. In both competitions the winning candidates improved on their previous entries showing the learning thoughout the year. It is always daunting to have to perform in a competitive environment, but they both held their own and thoroughly deserve their winning positions. We wish them both the best of luck in their challenge for top international honours in Budapest and Adelaide in September.’
For further details please contact: or Leslie Cuthbert, Echanson or Philip Evins
