The title of the World’s Best Sommelier goes to 31 year old Swede, Jon Arvid Rosengren following the 15th finals held by A.S.I (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale) in Mendoza, Argentina, last night.
French born Julie Dupouy from Ireland came third and David Biraud from France came second. Julie Dupouy is the second woman ever to achieve a top three finish. Number four is Paz Levinson, the candidate from Argentina.
Guillaume Deglise, Vinexpo CEO, handed the Vinexpo Trophy to the winner. Jon Arvid Rosengren will animate the Vinexpo Challenge, a blindtasting contest open all Vinexpo participants, and which will take place on May 24 during Vinexpo Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.
After a demanding three day competition with 61 sommeliers from 58 countries, 15 semi-finalists were reduced to the trio who faced off in a grueling final challenge on stage in front of 500 enthusiastic spectators.
Rosengren made a jubilant and gracious thank you speech to grand applause, “Wow that was unexpected. It really felt like a very, very tough final and I did not expect to be the winner.”
Jon Arvid Rosengren lifts the title from Swiss Paolo Basso who was crowned three years ago in Tokyo. Rosengren is no stranger to winning having already taken the crown of Best Sommelier in Europe in 2013. Jon Arvid is the second Swede to win the Trophy, the first was his compatriot Andreas Larsson who was awarded at the Best Sommelier of the World competition held in Rhodes (Greece) in 2007.
THE 15 SEMI-FINALISTS:
Gareith Ferreira (South Africa), Paz Levinson (Argentina), Elyse Lambert (Canada), Christian Jacobsen (Denmark), Heidi Mäkinen (Finland), David Biraud (France), Julie Dupouy (Ireland), Hiroshi Ishida (Japan), Satoru Mori (Japan), Raimonds Tomsons (Latvia), Henrik Dahl Jahnsen (Norway), Piotr Pietras (Poland), Rassadkin Aleksander (Russia), Jon Arvid Rosengren (Sweden), Robert Andersson (Sweden).
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