Ruinart

Ruinart organizes the Sommelier Challenge for the second time

The Maison Ruinart is delighted to announce the second Ruinart Sommelier Challenge in Switzerland. After the great success of the first Ruinart Sommelier Challenge in March 2017, the Maison is delighted to be able to hold the award again on March 26, 2018 in Lausanne. For this exclusive gathering, Ruinart would like to invite talented sommeliers and offer them a unique opportunity to demonstrate and prove their skills. The event aims firstly to reward the talent of the sommeliers, but above all to contribute to their training and strengthen the sommelier community. The challenge is organized in 15 countries. Among the candidates who register online, the best will be selected to take part in the Ruinart Challenge in Switzerland. Here is a brief overview of what to expect: Firstly, they will take part in a blind tasting of four different wines in front of a jury, and secondly, they will have to fill in a questionnaire on general facts related to these wines. Finally, the candidates have to formulate tasting suggestions for each of the wines evaluated.


It goes without saying that the jury for this competition
is made up of renowned personalities: Frédéric Panaiotis, Paolo Basso and Samuele Calistri. Frédéric Panaiotis has been cellar master at Ruinart for nine years and is the creator of the characteristic taste of the Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Ruinart Rosé cuvées as well as the premium products Dom Ruinart and Dom Ruinart Rosé. The Italian-Swiss sommelier Paolo Basso was named "Best Sommelier of the World" in 2013, making him one of only six sommeliers to have been awarded both the European and global title of "Best Sommelier". Samuele Calistri is the winner of the first Swiss Ruinart Sommelier Challenge, which took place in Lucerne in 2017. The 26-year-old Calistri has been a sommelier at the Michelin-starred restaurant Il Lagu at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva since 2014. Born in Italy, he studied oenology at the University of Viterbo. Like Samuele Calistri, the winner of the Ruinart Sommelier Challenge 2018 will receive a four-day trip to Champagne. The top two winners will also receive a magnum bottle of the exquisite Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. The entry period for the Ruinart Sommelier Challenge runs at www.ruinartchallenge.chuntil February 26, 2018.