Jorge Rodríguez retains title in a contested 25th Basque sommelier championship

Yesterday, Vitoria-Gasteiz became the epicentre of sommelier excellence as it hosted the 25th Basque Sommelier Championship. Twenty candidates, representing the three regional associations, competed in a contest where knowledge, technique, and composure were paramount.

The day began with a closed-door elimination phase, where contestants tackled a theoretical exam and a written wine tasting. Only the top four —Jorge Rodríguez, Davide Dall\'Amico, Kristell Monot and Cecile Cañari— advanced to the grand final, held in the bustling Plaza de Abastos market in the Basque capital before an eager audience.

The final round pushed the competitors to their limits. Within a strict time frame, they had to showcase their skills in tasting, pairing, service, and communication in English or French, as well as identify errors in a wine list —all while keeping their nerves in check under the scrutiny of the jury and spectators.

I had the privilege of serving on the jury for the first challenge: the tasting. This test had two parts. In the product identification round, the sommeliers faced four black glasses filled with unfamiliar liquids —a porter beer, a cider, a potato distillate, and a late-harvest Muscat. Then came the blind tasting, where they had to describe a Valserrano Finca El Ribazo 2018 (Rioja Alavesa) in either English or French, the official languages of the International Sommelier Association.

The next challenge tested their attention to detail: spotting errors in a wine list, with each mistake incurring penalties. Among the cleverly placed traps, the ancestral-method sparkling wine Sutsu from Álava’s Bat Gara winery was mislabelled as a traditional-method sparkling, while the legendary Opus One was mistakenly listed under Sonoma instead of Napa.

Yet, the real make-or-break tests were pairing and service. In the former, sommeliers had to match a six-course menu with national and international wines, including two from islands. Adding to the pressure, Jon Andoni Rementería, Spain’s Best Sommelier of 2018, threw in an unexpected curveball: a question about the precise age of the suckling lamb—one that left more than a few contestants momentarily stunned.

In the service test, competitors had to perform a candlelit decanting, a ritual that, while somewhat archaic, remains a compulsory element in these championships, where professionalism, elegance, and guest rapport are also under scrutiny. During this test, Kristell Monot, sommelier at Mugaritz, was able to react professionally when faced with a broken decanter, demonstrating composure and resolution in an unforeseen situation.

And just when they thought the ordeal was over, the final surprise challenge arrived: pouring a bottle of wine into ten glasses, ensuring equal measures while emptying the bottle completely. A test of precision and steady hands, it added a last jolt of excitement to the competition.

With razor-thin margins separating the top contenders, the championship remained contested until the very end. In the end, Jorge Rodríguez, sommelier at R de Roca (Miranda de Ebro) and member of the Ardoalde association in Álava, defended his title and once again donned the coveted txapela (Basque beret). Alongside runner-up Davide Dall'Amico, sommelier at Mina restaurant in Bilbao, he will represent the Basque Country in the Spanish Sommelier Championship final, set to take place on 10 April at Salón Gourmets in Madrid.