Agnieszka Swiecka named Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year 2023

Agnieszka Swiecka has been crowned Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year 2023 at the London Hilton Park Lane after “one of the closest” finals in the competition’s history.

The head of wine at Audley and Mount St restaurant in London’s Mayfair beat 2023 runner-up Martin Kleveta, head sommelier at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, and Dion Wai, assistant head sommelier at Hide Above.

Commenting on her win, Swiecka said: “I’m very happy. It was such a pleasure to compete with such amazing sommeliers and close friends, so it was a joy. It raises the level of the competition as we push each other to do our best.

“I enjoyed the most the blind tasting of the wines. The most difficult [element was] the multi-table task and managing your time.”

Swiecka, who was the runner-up in the 2022 iteration of the competition, also thanked Queena Wong of Curious Vines for “supporting all the female sommeliers”.

Following the London regional heats held in May, 11 sommeliers were invited to compete in the finals day this morning, which involved tasks such as emptying a bottle of wine into a set number of glasses.

A further process of elimination in the afternoon led to three candidates being selected to participate in the live element of the competition, which was hosted by Nicolas Clerc, president of the UK Sommelier Academy.

Clerc later told the audience this was “certainly one of the closest contests we encountered”.

The final three were required to identify errors on a wine list, undergo blind tasting tests of wines and spirits, offer food pairing options, and serve in a bar and restaurant scenario.

This year also featured the reintroduction of the cheese and beverage identification task, during which candidates had to name the potential country, region and milk used for each sample of cheese and pair it with a suitable drink.

The afternoon culminated in the careful pouring of a magnum of Taittinger Prestige Rosé between 20 identical glasses in front of more than 200 spectators in six minutes.

Speaking about the competition, Kevin McKee, UK director at Champagne Taittinger, said: “Champagne Taittinger are delighted to once again be supporting the UK Sommelier of the Year competition with our friends at The Caterer. Against a background of hospitality having one difficulty after another thrust at them in a seemingly neverending cycle, it’s so good to promote an aspect of dining out that is simply not available at home.

“Our competitors are the best in their class and challenging themselves at levels of knowledge that are quite outstanding. The Taittinger family are huge supporters of the on trade and the talents of the sommelier in encouraging exploration of all things vinous.

“We have enjoyed watching today’s final and extend big congratulations to Agnieszka and to all the finalists, who all deserve recognition for the commitment and excellence they have shown.”

The Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year 2023 is organised by The Caterer in partnership with the UK Sommelier Academy and recognised by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale.

Katherine Larsen was the head judge, joined by Nina Basset, Isa Bal, Tanguy Martin and Jan Konetzki.

Larsen added: “I thought it was a great competition and all the candidates did really well. It was great to see so much new young talent coming forward and entering the competition and doing so well”.

She advised future applicants to “study as widely as you can, taste as widely as you can”.

The UK Sommelier of the Year competition has been searching for the best wine waiter or sommelier since it first launched in 1980.

During that time, it has recognised some of the UK’s most prominent sommeliers, including Gerard Basset, Ronan Sayburn, Gearoid Devaney and Xavier Rousset.

This year’s competition was sponsored by headline sponsor Taittinger, as well as venue sponsor Hilton and sponsors Berkmann Wine Cellars and Winterhalter.

The finalists for the 2023 competition were:

• Agnieszka Swiecka, head of wine, Audley and Mount St restaurant by Artfarm
• Dion Wai, assistant head sommelier, Hide Above
• Christopher Parker, independent sommelier, British Somm
• Alexios Stasinopoulos, director of wine, Seren Collection
• Mark Ron Patana, assistant head sommelier, Medlar
• Daniel Stojcic, deputy head sommelier, Estelle Manor
• Matthew Bottrill, assistant head sommelier, Maison Estelle
• Dolly Chao, junior sommelier, 67 Pall Mall
• Martin Kleveta, head sommelier, Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester
• Antony Adinolfi, head sommelier, Maison Estelle and Estelle Manor
• Lorenzo Tonelli, head sommelier, Maison Estelle

Photo: Sarah Lucy Brown