Macau somm wins WOSA Asia Cup

The sommelier of Macau’s glitzy Studio City, Joe Yang has won the Asia semifinals of Wines of South Africa’s (WOSA) prestigious Sommelier Cup.

Joe Yang with Tersina Shieh, Herve Pennequin, Debra Meiburg MW, Nelson Chow and Michaela Stander

Ten of some of the region’s most talented sommeliers converged at the L’Hotel Causeway Bay in Hong Kong yesterday to take part in Wines of South Africa’s third annual Sommelier Cup which recognizes the rising stars of the world’s wine service industry.

The day kicked off with a blind tasting of a white and red wine which was later revealed to be Bellingham The Bernard Series Whole Bunch Roussanne 2014 and Kershaw Syrah 2012 – a cool climate Syrah which appeared to be more akin to a Pinot Noir in style.

Next, each of the sommeliers appeared in front of a tough panel of judges, Debra Meiburg MW; Nelson Chow, chairman of Hong Kong Sommelier Association and Herve Pennequin, former head sommelier of the Hong Kong Jockey Club to recommend particular South African wines with the set menu which included smoked salmon, foie gras, sea bass, salt marsh lamb and chocolate cake served with Morello liquor sorbet. Finally, they had to correctly open, serve and decant a bottle of red wine.

And it was Joe Yang, sommelier of glitzy Studio City in Macau who was deemed the overall winner; impressing the judges with his knowledge of South African wines, and especially his excellent customer service. Yang will head off to the Sommelier Cup finals in the Cape Winelands in September and compete against other finalists from Europe, North America and Africa.

The runner-up was also Danny Ng from Hong Kong’s prestigious members-only American Club.

WOSA’s Asia marketing manager, Michaela Stander said:

“Here today, we have a fantastic representative sample of some of the best sommeliers in the region and we’re thrilled to welcome our first female sommelier, Setsuko Mukai from Japan. Everyone has proved that Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world for excellent wine knowledge and customer service and we’re delighted to welcome Joe to South Africa for the finals.”

The event also coincided with Nelson Mandela International Day 2016 which celebrates South Africa’s national hero. Supporters are encouraged to spend 67 minutes (one minute per year of Mandela’s public service) doing something charitable or for the good of others – as Stander quipped that “everyone today has spent much longer than 67 minutes doing that.”

The 10 semi-finalists this year represented Hong Kong, China, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, Korea and Thailand and were:

• Bruce Li, China World Summit Wing Hotel, Beijing China
• Danny Ng, American Club, Hong Kong
• Felix Zhang, Hakkasan, Shanghai China
• Gus Han, Cellist’s Kitchen, Taiwan
• Joe Yang, Studio City, Macau
• Justin Ho, Private Room TTDI, Malaysia
• Masayoshi Shiokawa, Takashimaya Nihombashi, Japan
• Nathan Kim, Conrad Seoul, Korea
• Setsuko Mukai, KAZZ, Japan
• Yuthapichai Polnakoo, U Sathorn Bangkok, Thailand

Held every three years, the WOSA Sommelier Cup has grown to be one of South Africa’s most prestigious wine events and aims to promote knowledge of South African wine across the globe.