So you think you are a wine expert
I recently spent a week in Paris, the cradle of gastronomy, reporting on the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest.
For those who may not know, a sommelier is a wine expert. Sommeliers historically work in restaurants, although many now also work in wine retail stores, as wine agents or as consultants. There are about 150 sommeliers in Atlantic Canada, about half of whom are currently working in this hospitality business.
The pinnacle of the sommelier profession is the rarified title of Master Sommelier (the top echelon of the Court of Master Sommeliers) and the ASI (Association de la Sommellerie) Best Sommelier of the World. During the past 45 years, more than 300 people in the world have attained the title of Master Sommelier, and at the recent competition I attended, Raimonds Tomsons of Latvia became only the 17th person to be awarded the ASI Best Sommelier of the World title. Tomsons beat 67 other candidates from around the world for the title. The contest involved multiple rounds of testing and a grand finale, in which Tomsons had to perform the duties of a sommelier in front of a live audience of 4,500 people at Paris’ La Defense Arena.
Here are a sample of some of the easiest questions from the quarter-final round. How would you do? What is the sensory threshold for acetic acid in wine? What is ‘Barolo Chinato’? What is the legal definition of “PétNat”?
Here is part of a question and answer session I had with Tomsons:
Q: What is it like to know you are now the Best Sommelier of the World?
A: For the first couple days it was a bit like a dream. I was a bit in disbelief. I had to ask my wife ‘is this a dream or real?’ Now that I am back to work (Tomsons runs a fine dining restaurant and wine distribution company in Riga, Latvia), and trying to get back to normal life, the feeling is unbelievable.
••••
Q: This contest is like an Olympic competition. When did you start on this journey?
A: The dream began in 2010 at the Best Sommelier of the World contest in Chile. It was my first world competition. I was very unexperienced and still quite young … From that point on I started to build a plan for this vision. The turning point was 2016 in Mendoza when I qualified for the semi-finals, for the first time, ultimately finishing seventh, which was a great accomplishment for someone
Saltwire Network’s Mark DeWolf was recently in Paris covering the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest for Saltwire and the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale. from Latvia. From that moment I started to believe in myself … which was confirmed when I won the 2017 Best Sommelier of Europe contest in Vienna.
••••
Q: In the 2019 Best Sommelier of the World contest, you were the favourite. Describe the pressure of these contests.
A: There was an immense amount of pressure on my shoulders in 2019 in Belgium. I have no excuses for my final performance (Tomsons finished third). This was a very painful but also very good lesson. I realized, I did not pay enough attention to my mental and physical health. I also realized with all the obstacles such as family life, work, and all the different things you need to manage, you need to have a good plan and you must stick to it. It was all too much in Belgium, but I learned how to handle it, thanks also to visiting a therapist who helped me to get rid of the trauma of Belgium. I also took time off with my family in the Maldives before this contest. This allowed me to come to the contest in a very positive frame of mind, and in very good physical condition.
••••
Q: What’s next for Raimonds Tomsons?
A: As I look around me at the walls of my office, which are still covered with wine region maps and printouts of information about wine, I must ask myself that question. This is a little bit of a joke as I do have some plans which include giving back to the industry.