The Nordic Championship for sommeliers, organized by the Finnish Sommelier Association, got its winner in Helsinki on October 9, 2017 At the exciting final the first place was won by Fredrik Lindfors from Sweden. The second place went to Henrik Dahl Jahnsen from Norway, and the third to Rasmus Marquart from Denmark.
The other accomplished competitors were Ástþór Sigurvinsson and Harpa Dröfn Blængsdóttir from Iceland, Ellen Franzén from Sweden, Francesco Marzola from Norway, Mathias Jensen from Denmark and from Finland Taneli Lehtonen and Kirsi Seppänen.
The Nordic Championship for sommeliers is organized each year by the sommelier associations in their respective country, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. At the competition there are two participants from each country and the jury is composed by representatives from the competing countries. This year the judges were Karina Tholin from Sweden, Christian Aarø and Tim Vollerslev from Denmark, Heini Petersen from Norway, Brandur Sigfússon from Iceland and from Finland Christina Suominen and Samuil Angelov, who was also the head of judges. The secretary of the jury, Liora Levi, was the winner of the previous Nordic Championship organized in Finland.
The Finnish Sommelier Association was privileged to host the Secretary General Michèle Aström Chantôme and the President Andres Rosberg from the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale – A.S.I. Straight after the announcement of the winner the President stated a comment. “It is the first time that a president of the International Sommelier Association joins the Nordic finals, but I believe it won’t be the last. This was an inspiration for both young Nordic sommeliers and other sommelier associations around the world. They say that a rising tide floats all boats: competitions like this show the way of excellence. It shows it was not a coincidence that Scandinavia had five of the fifteen semifinalists in the last ASI Best Sommelier of the World in Argentina last year. The whole event was fantastically organized by the Finnish Sommelier Association, is an example for others to follow, and ASI will definitely promote the development of more of these contests in the future.”
At the same occasion took place a top professional event, Wine Symposium, addressed to the wine and restaurant industry. The lecturers this year were Laura Rhys MS, Nigel Wilkinson MS and Taina Vilkuna MW from the Finnish Monopoly Alko. During the two days industry leaders talked about how to approach wine tasting, explained the philosophies of different wine education programs, look into the future of wine service in restaurants and much more.
Events were organized by Finnish Sommelier Association with a support from its sponsors. Association sends the warmest thanks to all of them for contributing to the success of the event.
The final was broadcasted live on KAUPUNKI.TV on Youtube.
Samuil Angelov, Chairman of the Finnish Sommelier Association,
Deputy Treasurer - Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI):
tel. +358.50 5238682
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