A tasting of life

What to be a Sommelier means?

Text by Jorge Irribarren

How many times have you tasted your own life? I mean, an organoleptic tasting. I am not kidding, it would definitely help you to live intensely and probably in some way hedonistic or epicure.

Who can nowadays says that a pleasant life is not a target? But how to get and enjoy one if you are not willing to taste? An organoleptic tasting is the one carried out with the senses. It is normally applied to food and beverages. But in general it is an analyses using your senses in order to describe a product, a substance and why not in addition, moments that are finally what life is made of.

A sommelier is a curious person who is willing to make his senses work every moment. He tastes besides products also moments, looking for the best pleasant one. In this way it is easy to understand how a sommelier thinks, the more he tastes (feels) the more he lives.  

During the second week of the latest March I had the opportunity to attend the “ASI-Best Sommelier of the world 2019 contest” in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. There I was involved with people who have a profession related to the word tasting. They were full of energy and enthusiasm for discovering new sensations and sharing what they know to help others to experiment and get their own new ones.

There too, I also knew a young sommelier from Germany. This was his first time in a world contest and his main target was just to be part of the 19 on the Semi-finals overtaking the other 47 participants. He was not prepared for something different. So his nightmare began the moment when he didn’t listen his name during the Semi-finals award. “Oh mein Gott” he has whispered while the others two finalists congratulate each other. He was then part of the three bests of the world. But the fortune had been given and it was totally different of what he had thought. In a hard final step of the competition he, unlike his two rivals, played without being nervous, he had nothing to lose, he had gotten much more as he would expected and that was his main advantage.

At the end, the three of them stayed together on the stage waiting for the nomination: Raimonds Tomsons from Latvia went to the third position and a few seconds later, Marc Almert was proclaimed as the Best Sommelier of the World 2019 while Nina Jensen from Denmark clap accepting the second position. Marc was astonished, a step asides, a hand to his face breathing out, a German flag that arrives over his shoulders, a huge from the president of his association, also some pictures for the press… And then, another step to the other side, a hand again to his face and this time maybe some tears wanted to come up remembering his years of preparation, his big effort and the final result that totally exceed his expectations taking him to the glory… But abruptly arrives what every German needs to listen for going back to the correct way, his president shouted: “Alles gut!” crashing his hands against Marc’s hands with strength. Then “alles war wieder gut” or why not saying, it was the end of the nightmare and the beginning of a wonderful new life.

The contest takes place every three years in a new country willing to be tasted by sommeliers, gastronomes, business developers, specialized journalist and enthusiastics from all over the world, who also share their knowledges, discover new products and develop business opportunities.

Marc Almert is now and for the next three years the best sommelier of the world. Therefore, he has now a chance to expand the scope of his main task: give the correct advice to help others to enjoy better his own life, at least about eating and drinking in a high pleasant performance.