I have the pleasure to introduce to you Finnish top sommelier Samuil Angelov. I’m always surprised when I do the interviews with all of these wonderful sommeliers that many of them just rolled in to the role of sommelier :-) Some are professor, have PhD, mechanic, etc… but somehow decided to make a big career switch and follow their passion. With Samuil this ‘switch’ might have been smaller, but he did studies to become a chef and also worked a while as chef… but somehow he found his way to his actual passion. Which is great because you can only do a perfect job it passion is there!! The least we can say is that Samuil is a highly regarded sommelier and wine educator in Helsinki. He has won

After having put all these lady top sommeliers in the spotlight, it is time to put another male top sommelier in the spotlight before they start feeling left out :-) . This time I’m putting no one less than the pride of the Belgian sommelier world aka Aristide Spies in the spotlight. For our readers who don’t know Aristide, Aristide is the sommelier who was able to become 3rd during the ASI World Championship in Tokyo in 2013 which is until now the best achievement of a Belgian sommelier in the ASI history (before him this ‘title’ was for our president William Wouters who became 4th, Marc Wattiez who was 2nd in 1989 and Herman Dedapper who was 3rd in 1983). Aristide’s passion for wine alread

This time I'm taking you to meet a sommelier from over the Atlantic Ocean or better from Canada. Please meet Elyse Lambert. After finishing her studies at the' Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec' in 1998 she specialized herself in wine by stuyding an extra year at the 'École Hôtelière des Laurentides' and graduating as sommelier. The most logical step after going to hotel management school is start working in a restaurant or hotel or in Elyse's case working in some of the most renowned and restaurants in Canada like the l’Eau à la Bouche, Auberge Hatley, XO restaurant of Hôtel Le St. James in Montréal or at The Ritz Carlton Montreal’s Maison Boulud. Today Elyse is working as a S

For the next sommelier we go a bit up north from the country where our previous sommelier, Croatia. A country that has a special place in my heart as my grandparents originated from Zadar. Anyway this is not to put me in the spotlight but the sommeliers, please allow me to introduce to you Daniela Kramarić owner from the Michelin starred and in the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world of San Pelegrino Plavi Podrum. Although Daniela did studies in International Correspondence, after taking her first wine courses at the Croatian Sommelier Club she found her new passion. Years later the student became the teacher as Daniela is a lecturer and examiner for the HSK. Daniela did keep writ

The reason I put all these wonderful sommeliers in the spotlight, is because to my opinion they deserve the same attention as chefs do. Sommeliers are an important part in giving guests a complete gastronomic experience! The sommelier I want to introduce to you today is Greek top sommelier George Loukas (not the Star Wars guy :-)) In 2002 George was nominated as ‘Best Greek Sommelier’ and also participated to various International sommelier/wine competitions both as contestant as judge. During his career George worked at several highly rated restaurants and hotels all over Greece and has travelled a lot to learn as much as possible about wines... no better way to do this then by visiting vin

I know that with all those foreign top sommeliers that it almost seems I don’t put our own Belgian sommeliers in the spotlight anymore. The following sommelier I wish to put in the spotlight is Sybille Troubleyn. It wasn’t easy to convince her to do the interview as she was of the opinion that she isn’t a sommelier anymore (not working in a restaurant/hotel). I saw/see it different. For me she is definitely a sommelier as she wants to share her knowledge about wine just like the ones working in a restaurant… the only difference is that she does it in front of a class room. For our readers who wouldn’t know Sybille, she is also known as Miss WSET as it is thanks to her that WSET (largest win

I was already very fortunate to put some wonderful sommeliers in the spotlight... but being able to interview a legend like Pierro Sattanino who became the 2nd ASI sommelier world champion in 1971, does something with a person :-) !!! It is to legends like Piero that the job as sommelier got much recognition in Europe and opened doors for many young people. Already at young age Piero started working in his (grand) parents’ trattoria, where he step by step grew and developed his knowledge. He does still regret that he didn’t get much chances to work abroad, with exception of a few times where he worked in France in Evian Les Bains, in Lausanne Switzerland, in Brighton in the UK and on a ship

The following sommelier I want to introduce to you is without any doubt one of the most respected sommeliers of Portugal. I’m talking about the one and only João Pires. If I look at his career I can only say that I’m very impressed with the path he has walked…sommelier trainings in some of the best restaurants in the world like La tour D’argent** (Paris), Le Cinq ***(Paris), Alain Ducasse *** (Paris), The Crillon** (Paris)…to continue working at The Vineyard at Stockcross** (Newbury/U.K.), Capital Hotel** (London/U.K.), Gordon Ramsay RHR*** (London/U.K.), DINNER by Heston Blumenthal ** (London/U.K.), The Ritz Four Seasons (Lisbon, Portugal) and the list goes on and on… If you already found

After Albania we now come it a bit closer to home to introduce to you another sommelier. This time I was fortunate enough to interview Dutch top sommelier Edwin Raben . Like many other top sommeliers Edwin already came in contact with good food at young age...the passion and fascination for gastronomy only grew after that. Edwin is classically trained, meaning that he went to hotel management school. The career after school started at the 3 Michelin starred Paris restaurant Lucas Carton. The ones that followed were all of the same caliber :-) La Rive (*), De Zwethheul (**), Wolfslaar (*) to name a few. Today Edwin is more busy then ever as next to being Chairman of the Dutch Gild of Sommel

After the very interesting articles from our dear friend Andy De Brouwer about his wine trip to Lebanon it is time to put another sommelier in the spotlight. This time I want you to meet Dashamir Elezi from Albania. What surprised me was to find out that Elezi graduated in Mechanic Engineering at the University of Tirana in 1988… a big change towards the world of wines I’d say :-). This does prove again that if you want something bad enough you can do it!! I know you might expect that Dashamir started his ‘wine/sommelier’ career in Albania, but being so close to Italy, Dashamir decided in 1997 to go to a Sommeliers school in Italy or better the AIS Marche – Ascoli Piceno Delegation to be mo

De rol van de mens Niet enkel de natuur heeft zijn rolletje in de geslaagde wijnbouw van het land ook de beschikbaarheid van (gast)arbeiders zorgt voor het artisanaal onderhoud van de wijngaarden en handmatig oogsten in alle wijndomeinen. Zo goed als alle wijnbouw is er BIO daar ziektes in de hooggelegen wijngaarden zo goed als niet voorkomen en chemische pesticiden en dergelijke in geen enkel wijnbouwersdiscours voorkomt. En wacht maar tot de vele recente aanplantingen wat aan maturiteit zullen hebben gewonnen. Het kan alleen nog verbeteren en dat zullen de volgende generaties alleen maar ten goede komen. Bovendien is er meer mogelijkheid tot opleidingen en studies. Ook buitenlandse stages