Winner of China National Sommelier Competition 2009 hails from Intercontinental Shenzhen:

            Raise your glasses to the winner of the China National Sommelier

            Competition ?Hans RJ Qu from Intercontinental Shenzhen, who

            triumphed over 7 other finalists at The Westin Bund Center on 7th

            July to represent China at the Association Sommelier

            Internationale (ASI) Asia-Oceanic competition in Osaka in

            November. Also participating in the regional event is runner-up,

            Vivian Tian from Kee Club, the only female finalist in this

            male-dominated profession.

            Asked about the performance of the sommeliers, Chairman of the

            Technical Commission of ASI and previous world sommelier champion,

            Mr. Tasaki said, he performance of the sommeliers was quite good,

            similar to countries like Singapore? However, he also noted that

            there lacked a benchmark standard, and there was further improvement

            to be made in the industry. Hailing from Japan, which has a

            sommelier association with 8500 members, China sommelier industry

            is still in its infancy stage. Organizer Mr. Tommy Lam, who teaches

            wine programmes in Tianjin University of Commerce, is currently

            addressing the need for China very own Sommelier Association,

            which could hold training programmes, and form an industry network

            to update players on the latest international happenings. The

            exuberant winner Hans Qu also felt that "the competition has helped

            the sommeliers realise the difference between our current standards

            and international standards, but I am eager to learn more from now

            till November to better represent China on the international

            platform!"

            In order to address the above gap, prizes of visits to overseas

            wineries were also given out to the top performers. Winner Hans won

            a trip to Spain sponsored by Torres, and Ma Jun from Beijing won a

            trip to Australia sponsored by De Bortoli, on top of a trip to

            Alsace and Bordeaux wineries in France as the French Trophy winner.

            The Argentinean Consul General was also present to give out 2 trips

            to Argentinean wineries to the second and third place winners. Other

            sponsored trips include a trip to the Vievinum fair in Austria next

            May.

 
Hans RJ Qu from the Intercontinental Shenzhen who Triumphed of the other finalists

            The judging of the competition was overseen by Mr. Tasaki, along

            with sponsors and volunteers from the wine and spirits industry,

            including Torres China, ASC, Balblair. From early morning,

            competitors sat through 2 hours of written examinations and blind

            tastings, followed by decanting and food and wine-pairing exams,

            where they were tested not only on their wine knowledge, but also on

            wine management. Then their hospitality skills were also put to test

            during the lunch segment, which was attended by media,sponsors and

            guests, who graded them on their service attitude and grooming.

All the finalists with the Judges

            All in all, everyone noted that the competition was an eye-opener to

            the wide-ranging skill sets and knowledge required for this

            profession, and will wait in anticipation to see how China performs

            at Osaka.