(Come Wine With Me) Argentina’s top sommelier Paz Levinson went through to the semifinals of the Concours A.S.I. du Meilleur Sommelier du Monde Argentina 2016 – the only Latin American candidate to do so and one of four female somms.
While Team Argentina anxiously awaited the results that slashed 60 sommeliers to 15 for the next round in Mendoza, Levinson’s entry was frankly a given; in 2015, she took first place in the stringent Americas’ competition.
Tough written and practical tests await Paris-based Levinson and her 14 competitors; the first round consisted of a 60-question multiple choice paper and Champagne service. Host nationArgentina’s second candidate Martín Bruno didn’t make the next round.
The 15 semi finalists were revealed by former world’s best somm Gerard Basset OBE MS MW MBA at the Park Hyatt Mendoza this evening, albeit in no particular order. Japan, Sweden and its Nordic neighbours fared extremely well with two candidates from the latter two countries making the next round.
Levinson’s competitors in the 2016 world contest are:
Sweden’s Robert Anderssen
Denmark’s Christian Jacobsen
Finland’s Heidi Mäkinen
Poland’s Piotr Pietras
Russian Federation’s Alexander Rassavkin
Norway’s Henrik Dalh Johansen
South Africa’s Gareth Ferreira
Japan’s Hiroshi Ishida (best somm in Asia 2014)
France’s David Biraud
Canada’s Elyse Lambert
Ireland’s Julie Dupouy
Latvia’s Raimonds Tomsons
Japan’s Satoru Mori
Sweden’s Arvid Rosengren (best somm in Europe 2013)
Ph: Argentine Association of Sommeliers