One of the most prestigious Sommelier competitions took place on April 20th at Radisson Blu Carlton in Bratislava, Slovakia. This was the 5th competition of Trophee Hubert, which also served as nomination for the European Championship. Organizers of this event were Hubert J.E. together with the Association of Sommeliers of the Slovak Republic.
The main purpose of the competition is to spread the word and further develop the profession of Sommeliers in Slovakia as well as to develop wine knowledge and strengthen relationships between the professionals in this industry. Not only were Sommeliers from Slovakia, but also from Czech Republic, UK and USA. They put their expertise and talent into practice during three different stages of the competition. Also among the competitors were the top students from Hotel Academies who are preparing for Sommelier’s profession.
The first round was composed of three parts. 21 contestants were present (14 males and 7 females). The first part was written theory test, comprising of 50 questions about viticulture and winemaking, as well as questions about tea, coffee, cocktails and the Hubert Company. Everyone agreed that the theory test was extremely difficult; however, since this competition was also a selection for the European Championship, everyone had high expectations.
The second part was a blind tasting of four wines and one spirit. Wine number four caused a lot of discussion in the waiting room as it was a sample of a corked and oxidized wine. The distillate was plum liquor from Japan. The last part was a service portion of a red wine (decanting) for two guests with a 5-minute limit. Not everyone was happy with his or her results, but everyone agreed that is was an amazing experience.
The top three competitors moved to the finals, where they competed in five different tasks and all in English language. The first task was a service of sparkling wine for two VIP guests in a high-end restaurant.
The next was blind tasting of two wines and one spirit. The red wine took everyone by surprise and no one got the Alibernet from Slovakia correct. The third part was food and wine pairing. The Sommeliers had to describe three dishes and pick one that paired best with Hubert, Brut Rose. The last task was to recommend a cigar that would be best match the Sparkling wine. The finals were all in English so Sommeliers could prove their knowledge in the Europe championship. At the end, all three finalists had to identify pictures of famous wineries, wine makers or world known wine signs.
The results were as follows. The first place and the winner of Trophee Hubert was Rastislav Sutak from Kempinski River Park Hotel in Bratislava who was also the winner of this competition last time. The second place went to Matej Lacko from Emotionsenses Ltd. London and the third place was Gabriel Kollar from Corrigan’s Mayfare in London.
The head jury for the competition was Beáta Vlnkova-The President of ASSR .
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