Young sommelier Laurie Cooper is maturing in the industry

LAURIE Cooper has claimed this year’s title of Moët & Chandon Best Young Sommelier.

The 28-year-old from Durban runs all the viniculture on the 4-hectare estate in Midlands, KwaZuluNatal with her father.

Cooper said it all began when she needed a way to end the day on a good note.

“It all began in London. I was working in a corporate office job and I enrolled in the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) wine courses and fell in love with the world of wine,” said Cooper.

“I won a scholarship for the WSET diploma sparkling wine module and I decided to move back to South Africa and make wine a full-time career.”

The young sommelier graduated and as a winemaker at Abingdon Wine Estate has shown great knowledge of local and international wines and a range of other beverages.

She is also a head lecturer at her own school, the KZN School of Wine, which was formed in 2015. Cooper holds a distinction from the Michael Fridjhon Wine Judging Academy. She has served as a judge for the SAA wines selection panel, as well as the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and the London-based International Wine & Spirit Competition.

When she’s not busy with her school or business, Cooper likes to unwind with two of her favourite things: Champagne and oysters. She said as classic as it is, it’s well known that she is a sucker for all seafood and bubbly.

Cooper, along with runners-up Tayla Kirschner, of the Sommeliers Academy and LeRoi van de Vyver, from Belthazar Restaurant & Wine Bar, were judged by experts on their ability to taste and identify wines and spirits, as well as social skills and the ability to interact and perform standard service tasks.

Although the competition was open to all provinces, only three finalists made it to Cape Town, where the finals were held.

“When you are awarded an opportunity to compete in the Moët & Chandon Best Sommelier South Africa challenge, you have to practise, research and learn,” said Cooper.

“I am lucky to be able to learn from the best and absorb as much as I can from the South African Sommeliers Association (Sasa) members,” said Cooper.

Now held every two years, the competition has become a prestigious engagement for the next generation of sommeliers.

Barry Scholfield, chairperson of the board of Sasa, said he was deeply touched by the support shown by the wine community.

“If I had to sum up the Moët & Chandon Best Young Sommelier competition experience in one word, it would be ‘progress’,” he said.

“It makes me so proud to see not only the improvement in number and quality of sommeliers participating year on year, but also in the quality of the actual competition.”

Cooper won an all-expenses-paid trip to France to visit the Moët & Chandon Maison in Champagne, followed by a one-week visit to Barolo, Italy where along with a selected global group, she will participate in the inaugural Collisioni at the Barolo Festival.

The winner also receives a bursary for WSET education and an opportunity to compete in the Moët & Chandon Best Sommelier SA challenge in 2020.

Asked what she had learnt from the experience, she said: “Each step is a learning curve: how to present yourself, calm your nerves, perform under pressure and how to train and encourage others in the industry. It has been an incredible journey.”