In sommelier championships, Latvian wins by a nose

PARIS — A competitor from non-wine producing Latvia has caused a stir at this year's Best Sommelier of the World contest, trouncing the entrant from France and claiming the top prize with his dizzying "thirst for knowledge".

Raimonds Tomsons beat another contestant from northern Europe, Denmark's Nina Jensen who was runner-up for the second consecutive edition of the triennial competition.

"I can't believe it," said Tomsons on stage after the final, which took place on Sunday at the La Defense Arena just outside Paris.

The presenter asked Tomsons in a joking tone if there were vineyards in his country, which he confused with Lithuania, the neighboring Baltic country.

"Let's rather enjoy Latvian beers," Tomsons replied.

Though Tomsons was less artistic and relaxed than Jensen, he was more precise than her. Jensen had impressed spectators with her confidence, as seen in online comments during the live broadcast of the competition.

At the semifinal on Friday, Tomsons said not growing up in a wine-making culture had been "an advantage".

"We don't have a history, and our minds are freer. In Latin America or classic countries like Spain and Portugal, they find it harder to open up to the wines of the world, because they are very proud of their own," he said.

French competitor Pascaline Lepeltier failed to qualify for the final and came in fourth.

"In France we are spoiled children. The new countries that discover wine have such a thirst to learn and share — they have this incredible enthusiasm and they go very fast," she told Agence France-Presse after the semifinal.

The final rounds consisted of identifying wines blind, pairing wines with dishes, finding errors in a price list or guessing the bottle from a series of pictures.

But to get to this point, contestants had to go through more "hipster" workshops in the semifinal — identify five nonalcoholic drinks from around the world and imagine a vegan menu to accompany them.

The correct answers were not revealed until after the final and everyone, including jurors, agreed that it had been almost mission impossible.

"I'm very happy not to have had to do that," said Andreas Larsson, best sommelier in the world in 2007 and a jury member.

In another workshop, candidates had to mix classic cocktails — Aviation and Sazerac — with deliberately missing ingredients for which they had to find alternatives.

Agencies via Xinhua