Gaggenau Sommelier Awards 2016

The cultural capital of Vienna was the venue for the award ceremony of the winners of the second Gaggenau Sommelier Awards. Traditionally, special attention is paid to the culture of wine and coffee consumption. During the tense struggle in the finals, the five promising sommeliers demonstrated their skills to the expert jury and journalists from different countries, and also told about their perception of the functions and duties of the sommelier.
The culmination of the event was a festive evening, held in the historical palace of Liechtenstein, built more than 300 years ago by the princely family of Liechtenstein, a place ideally suited for a symbiosis of the refined culture of conscious consumption, music and architecture.

Here the finalists presented the wines recommended by them to each of the five dishes included in the menu.

The evening opened a chamber concert for piano performed by a titled pianist pianist and jury member Zhao Yinyin. Then the guests were surprised with their skills by the young promising Austrian virtuoso of culinary art Harald Irka (Harald Irka), known for his innovative culinary philosophy.

He prepared dishes that impressed the guests with their compositional harmony and aroused intense gustatory sensations.

At the end of the two-day international competition for the sommelier of 2016, Marc Almert was elected winner and ambassador of the Gaggenau brand, second and third places were taken by Tansy Zhao and Norbert Dudziński, respectively.

In addition to the main prize, Nail Gaggenau, the winner of the Sommelier Awards 2016 Marc Almert was given the opportunity to undergo a special mentoring and training program in Tuscany, one of the best wineries in Europe, Fattorie dei Dolfi. Its owner Giovanni Dolphi is an excellent specialist and connoisseur of winemaking culture. In addition, in order to expand knowledge in the field of wine consumption culture, the winner, as an international ambassador of the Gaggenau brand, will visit events in different parts of the world. Other sommeliers will show their skills at various events in their home countries.