The 14th edition of the sommellerie contest associated to the Percée du Vin jaune event confirmed the success of this competition organized by the association of sommeliers from Jura & Franche-Comté presided by Philippe Munos. This year, it took place in the small village of L’Etoile that welcomed the famous Percée, and got together 31 candidates: sixteen in the Junior category (students aged under 23 years) and fifteen in the Senior category.
After the theoretical and practical tests about the Jura wines, the three finalists per category have been announced by UDSF president of honour and patron of the edition, Michel Hermet.
In the Junior category, Emma Bastide (student in sommellerie in Toulouse and apprentice at the restaurant “En pleine nature”), Jordan Demoncy (student in tableware and service in Ambérieu-en-Bugey and apprentice at the restaurant “Les Caudalies”) and Titouan Roche (sommellerie student in Guebwiller and apprentice at “La Huninguoise”) were the first to struggle. Food and wine pairing with the Jura gastronomy and wines, organoleptic analysis of a red wine and service of a Cremant from Jura enabled to establish a ranking and to select Emma Bastide as the winner.
In the senior category, the first tests were more difficult because most of them are professionals. It did not prevent Dorian Toussaint, also a student in Guebwiller and apprentice at “La Quille” (Mulhouse) but aged over 23, to reach the finals where he faced Manon Bras (restaurant “Petit sommelier” in Paris) and Alexis Attal (from the Belmond Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford).
The tests were also different with among othes an interesting workshop about the cheese from Jura-Franche Comté and a pairing with Marc du Jura. Showing more facility and mastery at each stage of the finals, Alexis Attal, 28 and native from Franche-Comté, stood out and could proudly bring the trophy back to the UK in the restaurant of double-starred French chef Raymond Blanc.
Jean Bernard
Launched in 2000, the contest used to reward only one candidate. Only in 2012 did two categories appear to make a difference between the students and the professionals :
2000, Christophe Menozzi ; 2001, Stéphane Planche ; 2002, N. Borne ; 2005, Philippe Troussard ; 2008, Florian Balzeau ; 2009, Amandine Ballandras ; 2010, Camille Blanc ; 2011, Xavier Frache ; 2012, Philippe Vogel et Gabriel Angermaier ; 2013, Charles-Elie Rodenstein et Maxime Credoz-Grenard ; 2014, Damien Poitout et Pierre Detroit ; 2015, Marc Lacroix et Noémie Paris ; 2016, Charles Groshenry et Mathieu Quetglaz ; 2018, Alexis Attal et Emma Bastide.
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