La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs announces Young Sommelier of the Year 2014
La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs has announced Pier-Alexis Souliere, from Est Restaurant in Sydney, as its International Young Sommelier of the Year 2014.
The gastronomic society praised Souliere for his "superior display" of knowledge and "practically flawless" service skills, as demonstrated in the written tests, service tasks, and blind tasting assessments. He won €1,000 (£780), a Cordon Bleu wine scholarship, a Champagne sabre and Laurent Perrier Champagne.
The ninth annual international contest, held in Copenhagen, named Jane Lopes of America in second place, while third prize went to Tanguy Martin of Great Britain.
Martin, from the New Forest's Hotel Terravina, also won the British Young Sommelier's competition earlier this year.
The competition finalists were initially asked to take hour-long written test on wine and production, followed by a practical exhibition of service skills, and a blind taste assessment of four wines. The top three candidates then took part in a public decanting, serving of Champagne, wine list correction and a quick fire test of knowledge.
Philip Evins, bailli délégué for the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs UK, said: "The outstanding calibre of our young sommeliers continues to leave us utterly inspired. Competitions such as these not only serve to improve understanding and appreciation of the dedication it requires to excel at this level, but also to remind us that such prowess can come to us at an incredibly young age."
He added that it was important to nurture young talent as a key means of developing the industry.
The Young Sommelier Competition was first organised in Germany in 2007 to support and promote young sommeliers. The result comes days after the announcement of Peter Lex of Germany as the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Chef of the Year 2014.
Peter Lex of Germany wins Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Chef of the Year 2014 >>
Chaîne des Rôtisseurs' Young Chef and Young Sommelier of the Year awards are open for entries >>
