Contest Grande-Bretagne
Moët & Chandon has a long-standing commitment to and investment in sommelier education. It has been the dedicated partner of the World’s Best Sommelier Competition – last won in Santiago in 2010 by Gerard Basset OBE – and of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale since 1989.
The prestigious UK Sommelier of the Year competition, organized by the Academy of Food & Wine Service, is open to professional sommeliers and waiting staff working in the UK. Entrants who achieve a 75% pass mark on an initial written questionnaire qualify for the regional finals.
This year, the 12 —out of 60 competitors at the regional final— successful applicants for the final, held on May 23rd at the London International Wine Fair, spent the day completing a series of high-level tasks set by world famous sommelier and hotelier Gerard Basset OBE, MW, MS, technical director of the Academy of Food & Wine Service. The tasks included a blind tasting, knowledge questionnaire, a series of snappy questions and a service skills test. The top 6 then went on to perform the pour of a bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne into eight glasses.
Just 3 of the 6 were selected to go through to the afternoon’s grand final. In front of an audience of invited guests, they were set rigorous tasks designed to test their wine and drink knowledge, service skills and ability to manage staff and deal with customers under pressure. The extremely demanding customers in the restaurant scenario were made up of eight previous winners of the competition. The finalists were also asked to correct errors on a wine list, complete a blind drinks tasting then a food and wine matching task involving a staged restaurant set-up, and finally the infamous perfect Champagne pour, in which a magnum of Moët & Chandon Rosé Champagne was poured equally into 16 glasses, without returning to any of them.
The winner, Jan Konetzki, 31, of London's three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, was announced at a Moët & Chandon Champagne Reception held after the judges had made their decision. He triumphed after a dramatic final against runners-up Laurent Richet of Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham and Clement Robert of Medlar Restaurant in London.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Jan came to London five years ago to join the Gordon Ramsay team at Maze. He has since worked for the group at Claridge’s and then at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Royal Hospital Road, where he became head sommelier 18 months ago. “It’s very exciting – I’m delighted to have won,” he said on receiving his award. “I really enjoyed the competition today; there was a real feeling of camaraderie amongst all the sommeliers. It was tough, but it was also fun.”
Jan also qualifies for selection for the 2013 European Sommelier of the Year competition, organised by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale.
Dominique PEYRAL-BON
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