After an intense competition, Lesley Liu was crowned Singapore Best Sommelier in French Wines 2023. Nimmi Malhotra reports from the judge’s table. Lesley Liu, head sommelier at three Michelin-starred French restaurant Odette has emerged as the winner in a Singapore sommelier competition. The Best sommelier in French Wines award is one of the longest-running sommelier events in Asia and is hosted by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Sopexa-Hopscotch. Each year, one winner is selected from key Asian markets, including Greater China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, and Singapore. The country winners compete in the Asian grand finale for the Best Sommelier in French Wines Asia title. Earlier this month, at Sofitel hotel, the four Singapore finalists came together from varied restaurant backgrounds. In addition to Liu, Sanjay Kumar Nayak, who finished runner up, hails from the famed 67 Pall Mall; fellow competitor Benedict Pang leads the wine programme at modern Chinese restaurant Mott 32 and Wyman Kok brought his expertise from Zeniya, a fine dining Japanese restaurant. The afternoon session was conducted by Richard Krystkowiak, Hopstoch-Sopexa managing director, as a panel of eight judges assessed the candidates through six timed workshops comprising service skills, wine knowledge, blind tasting, cocktails, and cheese service. The sommeliers completed most of their wine workshops, including decanting a magnum in record time, but the cocktail service trumped them with unfamiliar spirit labels. The cheese service workshop proved yet another hurdle with some uneven cheese cuts and mixed-up orders. From the judge’s viewpoint, all candidates showed
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
