Martin Bruno, one of the 15 Best of the World
About 5,900 bottles of wine and 14,000 glasses: that was the balance of the last ASI Best Sommelier of the World Contest 2019, held in Belgium between the 10th and the 15th of March. Martín Bruno, representative of the Argentine Association of Sommeliers (AAS), had a more than outstanding performance: he managed to be among the best 15. This meant a jump of 14 positions since the previous World Cup, which took place in Mendoza in 2016. On that occasion, his colleague Paz Levinson reached the fourth place.
In 2017, Bruno became the Best Sommelier of Argentina and achieved the second place in the ASI & APAS Best Sommelier of the Americas Contest. To take part in the sixth edition of the World Cup, he had to go through an intense training, made possible thanks to the support of the AAS and the Argentine Center for Wines and Spirits (CAVE), institution from which he graduated.
Reaching the semifinal of a contest of this level is an exceptional achievement. Bruno recognizes that it was “his best performance” and appreciates the support received.
The first place of this edition was for Marc Almert, from Germany; Nina H. Jensen, from Denmark, obtained the second position and Raimond Tomsons, from Latvia, the third. The contest’s final was held in Antwerp, where more than 1100 spectators witnessed the different tests the semifinalists and finalists had to go through.
The final had a bit of everything: service tests, blind tastings, recommendation of pairings under the eye of juries of the likes of Jancis Robinson (British Master of Wine), and some novel challenges, such as uniting grape varieties with producers from all over the world (an Argentine Pinot Noir from Río Negro appeared on that challenge).
The Association of the Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) is the organizer of this event that takes place every three years. Matías Prezioso, president of the AAS, pointed out that: “On behalf of our Association and, I think, of the entire group of Argentine sommeliers, I would like to congratulate Martín Bruno for this great achievement. His skills and great professional effort were demonstrated in this competition in which he has represented our country in such an excellent way. It is a great achievement for the Argentine sommellerie which continues to confirm that we are on a good path, growing and working solidly”.