INSIDE THE BEST SOMMELIER OF THE WORLD COMPETITION
by Doug Frost, MS, MW; president,
Best USA Sommelier Association
On February 12, 2023, the new champion of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale’s (ASI) Best Sommelier of the World competition was crowned in Paris: Raimonds Tomsons of Latvia bested a field of 67 other competitors from around the world, including Mark Guillaudeu of the U.S. It was an honorable end to a great run for Guillaudeu—at least for now: The next global competition will be in 2026.
Guillaudeu was chosen to represent the United States by the Best USA Sommelier Association (BUSA). As BUSA board member Evan Goldstein, MS, states, “Given the recency of BUSA’s formation (created only in 2019), we couldn’t be more pleased with Mark’s performance. Not only did his coming in at 14 (out of a field of 68) demonstrate his skills and tenacity, but his result marked the highest placement for an American ever in this preeminent competition and the first time an American has made the semifinal round.”
If you haven’t been on top of these developments, you’re probably not alone. For the past decade or so, the U.S. hasn’t participated in the global competition. ASI’s name gives away the game: The Europeans, and more specifically the French, have a firm hold on the competition’s rules and regulations—including the requirement that all participants must compete in a language other than their own native tongue. Even more confoundingly, only French, Spanish, and English are allowed. Guillaudeu, being a native English speaker, had to compete in French or Spanish. His language studies, which represent a significant part of his training over the past several years, have served him well; one judge, speaking to me off the record, said that Guillaudeu’s French was never a negative factor in his performances.
Guillaudeu won his U.S. title at the BUSA national finals held in June 2022 in Hermann, Missouri (site of some of the earliest successes in American viticulture), where he won out over five other U.S. sommeliers: David Bérubé, Eduardo Bolaños, Max Goldberg, Kaysie Rogers, and previous U.S. champion Dustin Chabert. Immediately, he began a regimen of blind tasting, training, and language immersion and even completed the arduous BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource) Five-Day Certification Program only two weeks before leaving for Paris. He was accompanied on the trip by his coach, Jienna Basaldu, as well as myself, though I think that I was of less help than others. As president of BUSA, I was there more in an honorary role, and once we arrived in Paris, I advised Guillaudeu to stop cramming and find a way to relax. Wine (and spirits) can be a great help in such circumstances.
But in truth, Guillaudeu’s training has at times been ad hoc. While many candidates are the beneficiaries of their home countries’ zeal to win trophies, the U.S. wine industry is still lagging in its support. Tomsons, the eventual winner, offered his praise to a team of a dozen trainers and coaches, and it was not his first attempt at the big prize. Most competitors are veterans of the ASI contests and as a result have benefited from their longer tenure and the experience they gain from regional competitions held in addition to the global contest once every three years. Both Guillaudeu and Chabert appeared at the Americas competition in Chile in February 2022, when both reached the semifinals.
As the only U.S. contestant at the global competition, Guillaudeu breezed through the quarterfinals into the semifinals. But he was not chosen as one of the three finalists: Instead, Nina Jensen of Denmark and Reeze Choi of Hong Kong as well as Tomsons were the last three standing. They spent almost four hours on the stage at Paris’ La Défense Arena—a high-tech, 30,000-seat sports venue—blind tasting wines, spirits, and even nonalcoholic beverages in addition to serving a series of ever-more-demanding tables of judges—all while racing the clock and answering arcane questions such as “Which vintages of Vega Sicilia Unico were not bottled?”
“All three candidates were extremely skilled and, more important, as kind and genuine off the stage as on,” says Guillaudeu. He admits that finding good training was part of the challenge he faced given that the U.S. has participated in these competitions only intermittently (although some might recall that such famed American sommeliers as Michael McNeil, MS; Larry O’Brien, MS; and Andrea Robinson, MS, were competitors only a few decades ago). Guillaudeu has gone farther in his endeavors than any American before him, and he is eager to continue. “The experience I gained from this competition was invaluable,” he says, “and I will be even better prepared next time.” Though Guillaudeu has already proven that he is one of the world’s top sommeliers, he believes that he now knows how to grab the top spot in 2026.
The contestants of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale’s 2023 Best Sommelier of the World competition.
Mark Guillaudeu sets the table for service at the 2023 Best Sommelier of the World competition in February.
