Difficult decision for judges in international sommeliers contest

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Who is the world’s top young sommelier?

This is the question a panel of judges will have to answer when the 6th Concours International des Jeunes Sommeliers gets underway in Cape Town on the 21st of September.

Twelve finalists – from Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA, and all under the age of 35 – will face tasks like blind tasting of international wines, decanting of red wine, glass service, champagne service, food and wine pairing, and identification of white and brown spirits by nose only. They will also be expected to correct a faulty wine list, and to complete a one-hour written exam on the  wines and wine regions of the world.

The judging panel will include Brian Julyan, CEO of the Court of Master Sommeliers; the Court’s education director, Bryan Dawes; master sommelier Frank Kämmer; and the chairperson of the newly-established Sommeliers Association of South Africa, Neil Grant.

The competition will take place during a Grand Chapitre (multi-day wine and food event) of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs South Africa under Bailli Délégué (national president) Francois Ferreira, who has organised it with the help of and Allison Rutowitz, Bailli Délégué Honoraire (past national president) and a committee of volunteers.

Committee member which George Parkes, the Echanson (person acknowledged for their outstanding knowledge of wines and spirits) of the South African Chaîne said that, while the competition is expected to be stiff, four entrants stand out as favourites.

“The way things stand at the moment, it seems that the most likely contenders are Christopher Bates of the USA, Australia’s Yuki Hirose, Great Britain’s Arnaud Bardary, and our own Jeff Lopes – but we’re not ignoring any of the others,” he said.

“Every one of them has a superb knowledge of wines, and they’ve all acquired their skills through a lot of hard work and study over a considerable period of time.”

Christopher Bates is the general manager and executive chef at the Hotel Fauchère in Milford, Pennsylvania, and also makes his own wines with under the Element Winery label (which produces rieslings, pinot noirs, cabernet francs, and syrahs in the Finger Lakes region of New York). He is also an educator, an occasional correspondent for the American Sommelier Journal, and has contributed to a textbook produced by the American Sommelier’s Association.

Mr. Bates began cooking under his mother’s instruction, began working in restaurants at 14 years of age, and later studied at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He had passed the Court of Master Sommeliers’ introductory exams, and competed in the Best Sommelier in America Competition by the time he was 21 years old, and worked in Italy and t Germany before returning home, where he has held positions in various highly rated hotels.

Japanese-born Yuki Hirose came to Australia to study in 2005, and now calls Sydney – where he works in the famous Rockpool Bar and Grill – his home.

He was named Australia’s top young sommelier in May this year.

Arnaud Bardary – who works for Gordon Ramsey’s Maze restaurant in London – won Britain’s young sommelier’s competition in June of this year.

Mr. Parkes said that Jeff Lopes, assistant restaurant manager at Johannesburg’s Saxon Boutique Hotel, Villas and Spa, is the fifth South African to have entered the international competition.

“Miguel Chan, the group head sommelier of the Southern Sun Group, Luvo Ntezo, head sommelier at the One and Only in Cape Town, Francis Krone of the Saxon Hotel and – last year – Gareth Ferreira who is now working in Dubai to further his studies towards becoming a Master Sommelier, have all represented this country with distinction.”

He said that the young sommeliers will join members of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs South Africa to visit the most important wine growing areas of the Peninsula during the Grand Chapitre.

“During their stay, they’ll also get opportunities to enjoy Bon Courage wines from Robertson, Bouchard Finlayson wines from the Hemel en Aarde Valley in Hermanus, The Goose Wines, and the products of Hermanuspietersfontein, the Perdeberg Winery, Eensaamheid Estate, Hartenberg Estate, the Brandy Foundation, Die Bergkelder / Distell, Morgenster, KWV / Laborie Wine Farm, and Waterkloof Estate – as well as Amarula, of course.”

The 6th Concours International des Jeunes Sommeliers will take place over eight hours on September the 21st at the Mount Nelson Hotel, and the winner will be announced at a gala dinner and induction ceremony at the Table Bay Hotel during the evening of the same day.

The Grand Chapitre of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs South Africa will take place in Cape Town from the 15th to the 23rd of September.

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