~

By Jim Boyce

Are you able to open a bottle of wine hands-free? Is your sabrage tool of choice a butter knife? Can you rattle off Les Grands Crus classés en 1855… backwards… and in French?

Good for you. You won’t need those skills for the 2013 China National Sommelier Competition but they might be amusing at parties.

This annual competition, started in 2009 by Tommy Lam, is serious stuff. It is open to Chinese citizens working in the food and beverage sector in China. Last year, there were 47 contestants. Lam expects even more this year.

Details:

• Qualifying rounds are slated for August 12 in seven cities: Beijing, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi’an and Xiamen.
• The qualifying round results, and the top ten sommeliers, will be announced that evening.
• The top ten will be invited to Shanghai for the semi-final and final slated for September 7.

If you are interested, you can click here for the application form.

Here are links about previous contests and sommeliers in China:

• Attn F&B managers in China: ‘Sommelier’ to be an officially recognized profession (2013)
• China National Sommelier 2012: Guo Ying of Four Seasons leads Pudong sweep (2012)
• Sommelier showdown: Park Hyatt Beijing takes the China wine services title (201
• Gerard Basset to China sommeliers: Your job is sales (2012)
• Tommy Lam: State of wine service in China, national sommelier finals, and more (2009)
• Photo essay: Pouring, pondering, and penning at China National Sommelier Competition (2009)

And here are the “top three” contestants from past competitions:

2009

1. Han Qu, Intercontinental Hotel Shenzhen

2: Jason Shi, China World Hotel Beijing

3: Vivian Tian, Waldorf Astoria Shanghai

2010

1: Yang Lu, Peninsula Hotel Shanghai

2: Larry Yang, JW Marriott Beijing

3: Vincent Lee, Camus Lounge Beijing

2011

1: Lee Mei-yue, Park Hyatt Hotel Beijing

2: Ken Song, Shangri-la Pudong Shanghai

3: Tommy Ying, Jean George Shanghai

2012

1: Ying Guo, Four Seasons Hotel Pudong Shanghai

2: Henry Zhou, Shangri-la Pudong Shanghai

3: Jerry Liao, Park Hyatt Pudong Shanghai

Sign up for the Grape Wall newsletter here. Follow Grape Wall on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And see my sibling sites World Marselan Day, World Baijiu Day and Beijing Boyce. Grape Wall has no advertisers, so if you find the content useful, please help cover the costs via PayPal, WeChat or Alipay. Contact Grape Wall via grapewallofchina (at) gmail.com.