The jury for the qualifying rounds of the China National Sommelier Competition, by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), has chosen eight candidates, rather than an originally planned six, to participate in the finals in Shanghai on July 7. According to a press release for the event, the candidates are:
- Frank Hao – The Opposite House, Beijing
- Lin Chun Ke – The Opposite House, Beijing
- Leo Jin – Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai
- Ma Jun – Les Millesimes, Beijing
- Hans Qu – Intercontinental, Shenzhen
- Jason Shi – China World Hotel, Beijing
- Vivian Tian – Kee Club, Shanghai
- Diego Zhang – Intercontinental Puxi, Shanghai
The finalists will face not only food and wine pairing, decanting, blind tasting, and written tests, but also the public: “the lunch service that will be open to public, and those interested can purchase a ticket to partake as guest judges….” The winner will represent China at the Best Sommelier of Asia-Oceania competition in Japan later this year. For more details, see the Asia Wine Institute site.
On top of this, a “Junior Sommelier Seminar and Competition” will be held on July 5 and July 6 in both Shanghai and Beijing. I will soon post more details on this.
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