UDSF Beaune
Just after the finals of the contest of the Best Sommelier of France marked by the victory of Jonathan Bauer-Monneret, the UDSF members prepared the highlights of 2015 and welcomed 12 new master sommeliers among them.
One year after their jaunt in Corsica, the members of the Union of French Sommellerie met in the cellars of Albert Bichot at Beaune for their general assembly. On that day UDSF president Michel Hermet stressed on the summit of the sommellerie to take place in Nîmes.
Until this second stage, they mainly dealt with the contest issue, these appointments that underline the professionals' talent and also enable to set the profession of sommelier under the spotlights.
Thus after the finals of the Best Craftsman of France in early February (see article), the Contest of the Best Young Sommelier of France-Duval Leroy Trophy will mobilize everyone's energy as from March. With the strong support of the Association des sommeliers formateurs, the selection will be marked by a bigger participation than before of the students in complementary mention and professional certificate. As for the finals, they will be organized in next June in Bordeaux during Vinexpo.
The twelve new Master sommeliers of the UDSF all received the golden bunch
that mark the years of professional activity and loyalty to the Union.
Fabrice Sommier, in charge of the contests, has also evoked the coming Master of Port competition. The selections are scheduled in next April and the finals, always staged in Paris, will appoint Bertrand Bijasson's successor in October.
Certainly very full with important appointments, the first half of 2015 will be marked by the selection of the candidate who will represent France at next World contest scheduled in spring 2016 in the province of Mendoza in Argentina. “We need a best sommelier of the world, Serge Dubs stressed, himself the winner of this contest in 1989. Thosewho want to fly the flag of the UDSF have to prepare intensely and a real French national team has to be created to take the candidate in charge and give him even more assets.” An idea that has already been evoked a few years ago but that had not really been materialized in the facts. This time, with the support of a specific budget, the Union has clearly stated its will to mobilize energy so that Olivier Poussier, consecrated in 2000 in Montreal, has a successor at this level.
The meeting ended with the annoucement of the 12 new master sommeliers of the UDSF. They were given their diploma and the golden bunch that symbolizes the title by Michel Hermet and Michel Widehem, in charge of this commission.
They are Roselyne Aguesse (Champagne-Ardenne), Maurice Laurent and Dominique Derozier (Auvergne), Alain Chaplin and David Fontaine (Loire Valley), Cyril Jaegle and Fabrice Volpi (Monaco), Jean-Pierre Bareille (Lyon-Rhône-Alpes), Patrice Robail (Languedoc-Roussillon – Rhone Valley South), Sébastien Pradal (Paris), Raphaël Pierre Bianchetti (Corsica) and Carlos Claessen (Nord-Picardie).
Jean Bernard
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