Best Sommelier of the Americas 2009
by Spence Cooper on 10/21/09 at 8:21 am
 |
The Best Sommelier of 2009
In June, Elyse Lambert, a young Canadian sommelier from the restaurant Le Local in Montreal, won the Best Sommelier Contest of the Americas for 2009, held at the hotel Panamericano in Buenos Aires. Lambert beat fifteen candidates representing eight countries: two from Canada, two from the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and the rest from all over South America.
A sommelier is a trained wine professional who specializes in all aspects of wine service: wine procurement, storage, wine cellar rotation, and expert advice to customers. Due to the economy and because of budget short falls, in some cases today’s sommelier duties may be expanded to cover beers, liquor and mineral waters.
The competition for this event is intense and includes oral tests against the clock in two languages, serving a sparkling wine, advising judges on the best match of food and wines, decanting and serving a red wine, blind taste test involving three wines, identifying five spirits, and correcting errors on a wine list.
Lambert has vowed to win the April 2010 World’s Best Sommelier Competition in Santiago, Chile, which takes place only once every three years. For an in-depth and educational interview of Elyse Lambert’s struggle to achieve this year’s award go here.
Related Articles
Related Posts
- New York Wine Expo 2009 at the Jacob Javits Center
- FriendsEAT Picks for the Best Summer Wines of 2009
- Weekly Twitter Updates for 2009-05-03
- FriendsEAT Picks the Top 5 Chilean Sauvignon Blancs of 2009
- 2009 Chicago Gourmet Dine Around
