The Syndicat des Grandes Marques de Porto, the Union de la Sommellerie Fran\u00e7aise and the Institut des Vins du Douro et de Porto are pleased to announce the candidates selected for the final rounds of the 17th edition of the Grand Prix “Master of Port”, an international event that crowns the excellence of expert port wine sommeliers. The national pre-selections took place yesterday in Paris, on the premises of the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin. No fewer than 32 candidates, aged between 19 and 42, had applied for a place in the semi-finals. The Technical Committee of the Union de la Sommellerie Fran\u00e7aise – comprising Fabrice Sommier, Master of Port and Director of Competitions, Denis Verneau, Master of Port, Benjamin Roffet, Meilleur Sommelier de France, Antoine Woerl\u00e9, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Jean-Pascal Paubert, sommelier, Didier Bureau, sommelier, Julien Dos Santos, sommelier – led by its President, Philippe Faure-Brac, set the theoretical and practical tests required to reach the final selections. These stages are based on the spirit of Port Wines and an overall mastery of its universe, with in particular an identification test, an organoleptic tasting and its synthesis in limited time, as well as a questionnaire covering culture, legislation, history, viticultural techniques… and for the first time, specific questions on responsible consumption. At the end of these national pre-selections, the demanding jury for the “Master of Port” trophy selected 11 applications from professionals (2 women and 9 men) working in prestigious venues in all regions of France: <\/p>\n
– Ga\u00ebtan BOUVIER \/ La Villa Florentine ( 69 – Lyon)<\/p>\n
– R\u00e9gis GABILLARD \/ Les caves de Joseph (35 – Rennes)<\/p>\n
– Jean Baptiste KLEIN \/ Le Chambard (68 – Kaysersberg)<\/p>\n
– Melissa LEZIN \/ Logis Hotel Le Pont Bernet (33 – Le P\u00efan M\u00e9doc) – Mica\u00ebl MORAIS \/Tomy And Co (75 – Paris 7e)<\/p>\n
– Yohan NGUYEN \/ Villa Ren\u00e9 Lalique (67 – Wingen-sur-Moder)<\/p>\n
– Tristan RINGENBACH \/ La Cave Triovino (69 – Lyon)<\/p>\n
– Yann SATIN \/ H\u00f4tel Barri\u00e8re Le Westminster (62 – Le Touquet Paris Plage)<\/p>\n
– Julia SCAVO \/ Le Milord C (06 – Beaulieu-sur-Mer)<\/p>\n
– Lionel SCHNEIDER \/ Ritz Paris (75 – Paris 2e)<\/p>\n
– Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric WOELFFL\u00c9 \/ H\u00f4tel M\u00e9tropole Monte-Carlo (98 – Monaco)<\/p>\n\n\t\t