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By Jim Boyce
Pudong in Shanghai seems to be sommelier central given that hotel staff from the area took the top three spots in the 2012 China National Sommelier Competition held on September 24.
Guo Ying of Four Seasons Pudong emerged from 43 first-round candidates and 10 semi-finalists to take the trophy at the fourth annual edition of this event, says organizer Tommy Lam, certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Ying was previously sommelier at Shanghai restaurants Jean Georges and Cristal.
Henry Zhou of Shangri-la Pudong and Jerry Liao of Park Hyatt Pudong took second and third places respectively.
Held in Shanghai, the full-day competition covered everything from blind tastings and correcting wine lists to decanting and food and wine pairings. Lee Meiyue of Park Hyatt Beijing won the competition last year.
The judges included three master sommeliers: Brian Julyan, CEO of Court of Master Sommeliers, Evan Goldstein, and Yohann Jousselin, 2011 Piper-Heidsieck UK Sommelier of the Year.
Lam stated that the following ten candidates had the highest scores on the qualifying exam administered on August 27:
- Ben Sun, China World Beijing
- Gary Zhang, China World Summit Beijing
- Henry Zhou, Shangri-la Pudong Shanghai
- Jerry Liao, Park Hyatt Pudong Shanghai
- Minos Kwok, Shangri-la Guangzhou
- Sean Dou, Park Hyatt Beijing
- Steven Yin, Shangri-la Qingdao
- Tank Tan, Shangri-la Ningbo
- Tommy Ying, Jean Georges Shanghai
- Ying Guo, Four Seasons Pudong Shanghai
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