Gaëtan Bouvier, ‘Best Sommelier in France’ 2016

Gaëtan Bouvier is the new ‘Best Sommelier in France’. The 32 year-old alumnus of the Lesdiguières Hotel School in Grenoble is now head sommelier at the Villa Florentine in the heights of Old Lyon.

He is the winner of a competition that began in February, in Lyon, with a selection phase to determine the nine participants in the semi-final. At the invitation of the Midi-Pyrénées Association of Sommeliers, the semi-final was held in Toulouse on Sunday, November 6.
The four finalists—Jean-Baptiste Klein (Le Chambard, Kaysersberg), Florent Martin (George V, Paris), Pierre Vila Palleja (Le Petit Sommelier, Paris) and Gaëtan Bouvier—then confronted each other this past Monday, November 7, in the Occitanie region’s Hemicycle, also in Toulouse.

The large audience gathered in the building on the banks of the Garonne River included several renowned sommeliers with titles such as ‘World’s Best Sommelier’, ‘Best Sommelier in France’ and ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’ in the sommelier category. Before this audience, candidates performed a number of tasks set them by the jury, who evaluated their skills in service and tasting, as well as their knowledge.

At about 6:00pm, UDSF president Michel Hermet announced the name of the successor to Jonathan Bauer-Monneret, winner of the competition in 2014. Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie region, then presented Gaëtan with the trophy for the ‘Best Sommelier in France’. It should also be noted that semi-finalist Tristan Ringenbach, winner of the new competition devoted to wines from the Portuguese archipelago, was designated Madeira Expert for 2016.

Source : http://www.sommelier-france.org/