Latvian leaves opponents spitting as he wins world wine tasting competition

A competitor from non-wine producing Latvia has caused a stir at this year's Best Wine Taster in the World contest, claiming the top prize at the prestigious Paris showdown.

Latvian Raimonds Tomsons poses after winning the Best Sommelier in the World 2023 contest. © AFP - Bertrand Guay

"I can't believe it," said Raimonds Tomsons on the stage after the final of the contest, which took place in public on Sunday at the La Defense Arena just outside Paris.

Raimonds Tomsons beat another contestant from northern Europe, Denmark's Nina Jensen, who was runner-up for the second consecutive edition of this triennial competition.

To the presenter who asked him, in a joking tone, if there were vineyards in his country, Tomsons replied: "Let's rather enjoy Latvian beer".

Less relaxed but more precise, Tomsons beat Jensen who impressed spectators with her confidence in the competition which was broadcast live.

[RÉSULTATS - PODIUM - M.S.M. 2023]
"Meilleur Sommelier du Monde 2023"
1 🥇 / Raimonds TOMSONS - Lettonie
2 🥈 / Nina JENSEN - Danemark
3 🥉 / Reeze CHOI - Chine
Notre candidate 🇨🇵 Pascaline Lepeltier termine à une brillante 4ème place 👏.
Crédit Photo : ASI & HRVPROD#udsfsom pic.twitter.com/VdhbjyORiD

— Union de la Sommellerie Française - U.D.S.F. (@udsfsom) February 12, 2023

At the semi-final on Friday, Tomsons told French news agency AFP that not growing up in a wine-making culture had been "an advantage".

"We don't have a history and our minds are freer," he said.

"In Latin America or classic countries like Spain and Portugal, they find it harder to open up to the wines of the world, because they are very proud of their own," he said.

Reeze Choi from Hong Kong finished third, while French competitor Pascaline Lepeltier failed to qualify for the final and came fourth.

"In France, we are spoiled children. The new countries that discover wine have such a thirst to learn and share, they have this incredible enthusiasm and they go very fast," she said after the semi-final.

Non-alcoholic drinks, vegan menus

The final rounds consisted of identifying wines blind, pairing wines with dishes, finding errors in a price list, and guessing the bottle from a series of pictures.

But to get to this point contestants had to identify five non-alcoholic drinks from around the world and imagine a vegan menu to accompany them.

The correct answers were not revealed until after the final and everyone, including jurors, agreed that it had been almost mission impossible.

In another test, candidates had to mix classic cocktails - Aviation and Sazerac - with deliberately missing ingredients for which they had to find alternatives.

'Having skills in all drinks'

For Philippe Faure-Brac, president of the Union of French Sommeliers and winner of the competition in 1992, having skills "in all drinks" around the world is now essential.

Compared to the environment of the first edition of the competition in 1969, consumers now have "much more information" and the profiles of sommeliers "who can travel and train in different places" are diversifying.

As for the "nolo", the alcohol-free or low-alcohol drinks, very popular in the English-speaking world and Scandinavian countries and also gaining ground in France, "we cannot fight against the evolution of tastes and give up along the way on people who want to enjoy things differently," he added.

(With AFP)