China’s Best Sommelier Competition of French Wine winner announced

Wang Fengyuan, sommelier at Shanghai’s Bund 27, House of Roosevelt was crowned the winner of the 2017 China’s Best Sommelier Competition of French Wine competition this week.

Wang Fengyuan, sommelier from The House of Roosevelt in Shanghai, won the 2017 China’s Best Sommelier Competition of French Wine competition. The award was presented by Thomas Rollet, vice consul of Consulat général de France à Shanghai, and Jean Pascal Paubert, honorary president of l’Union de la Sommellier Française.

Held on 17 July at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai, the competition was organised by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry and Sopexa China, to develop the public recognition of sommeliers and French wine, and to disseminate French wine culture by ‘presenting its charm,’ according to the organisers.

The six finalists from across China battled it out in the finale after going through six rounds, testing their serving skills and professional knowledge of aperitifs, Champagne, cheese, red wine and blind tasting in addition to a final Q&A section.

The first runner-up was Sun Xin from Shanghai Jing An Shangri-la Hotel, while the second runner-up was Wu Xiaobin from L’Atelier de Robuchon in Shanghai.

Judges included Jean Pascal Paubert, honorary president of l’Union de la Sommellierie Francaise; Nelson Chow, International Sommelier Association, president of Hongkong District; Li Demei, oenologist and professor of Beijing Agriculture University; Wataru Iwata, champion of 2017 Japan’s Best Sommelier Competition; LV Yang, global wine director of Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts and Augustin Missoffe, Sopexa China/Hong Kong director.

Prix Cognac Concours Sommelier 2017, the additional prize established by BINIC in this competition, was won by Liu Feifei from The Temple House, a Swire Group hotel in southwestern Chengdu. Liu was the only female contestant in the competition and was praised for her excellent performance during the blind tasting section, where three out of the total four wines were Cognac.

The winner Wang Fengyuan was awarded a one-week wine voyage-training in Bordeaux in early 2018, and the first and second runner-ups can participate in Asia’s Best French wine Sommelier competition in Taiwan in December this year.

All the three winners will have the opportunity to participate in the International Sommelier Competition (Greater China region), held by ASI this year in September.