Europe has a new top sommelier, after a nail-biting final in Belgrade to find the ASI’s Best Sommelier for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In all, 48 sommeliers battled it out in a series of heats last week, with the semi-finals resulting in a contest between three contenders: Mikk Parre of Estonia, Martynas Pravilonis representing Lithuania and Pascaline Lepeltier of France. Each navigated a gruelling series of tasks, performed in front of a judging committee and a live audience at the Serbian National Theatre, with Parre emerging victorious. The Buyer’s David Kermode watched the event unfold, details the challenges they faced, and catches up with the winner.
The contest to find the Best Sommelier for Europe, Africa and the Middle East is all about celebrating the art of service, and those skills were very much in evidence on the crowded stage of Serbia’s National Theatre, as the three finalists battled it out to stay focused and calm as they faced a daunting volley of exam questions, tasting challenges and service tasks.
The three finalists: Pascaline Lepeltier, Mikk Parre, and Martynas Pravilonis.
Mikk Parre of Estonia, Lithuania’s Martynas Pravilonis and New York-based Pascaline Lepeltier, representing France, had already won selection in their home nations, before powering through the quarter and semi finals to make it through to the final three, performing live on stage in front of an audience of fellow somms, press, sponsors, dignitaries and ticket holders in an event organised by the Association de la Sommellerie International (ASI) and hosted by the Serbian Sommelier Association.
The three finalists were asked to draw a number, to indicate the order in which they would perform, with Parre going first. Each candidate performed exactly the same routine, under strict time conditions, so Pravilonis and Lepeltier were locked away backstage, to ensure there could be no advantage from seeing proceedings unfold.
Each contestant had to go through a series of live sommelier challenges on stage.
First task
The first task, allocated eight minutes, entailed serving a table of three guests “a glass of Austrian Champagne (sic), a glass of Champagne and a glass of Sake” from a selection of wines provided on a bar. This seemingly straightforward service task felt pressurised and was accompanied by distracting questions from the guests...
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