Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in ASI Magazine, Issue No. 1. It is republished here as part of our ongoing effort to preserve and celebrate some of the magazine’s most enduring stories. Please note that the positions, affiliations,…
Emma Denney, Director of Wine at Claridge’s, was crowned UK Sommelier of the Year 2026. Denney emerged victorious after one of the country’s most demanding competitions. Following two days of theory examinations, blind tastings and practical service assessments, Denney eventually…
This conversation with Alejandra Ried & Paz Levinson was originally published in ASI MAG Issue #1, February 2022. Editor’s Note: Following the ASI Best Sommelier of the Americas held in Santiago, Chile in 2022, we were inspired to create…
Last month more than 200 sommeliers, producers, educators and wine professionals gathered in San Miguel de Allende as the Asociación de Sommeliers Mexicanos (ASM) celebrated International Sommelier Day 2026 with a full programme dedicated to learning, competition and the recognition…
In my glass today are wines that even just fifteen years ago I might have dismissed without trying or certainly sipped with a hint of hesitation and mistrust. I came up of age in a wine world defined by certainty. The benchmarks were clear and widely agreed upon. A South Australia Shiraz prized…
Cyprus continues to shine a light on its indigenous wine heritage through International Xynisteri Day, celebrated annually on May 15 and organized by Cyprus Sommelier Association (CΥ SΟMMS). As grape variety celebrations continue to gain momentum globally, International Xynisteri Day…
A Conversation with Jane Lopes There’s a moment in many wine careers when the trajectory quietly shifts. For Jane Lopes, it came via a bottle of 1983 Chevalier-Montrachet, but what followed was less about a single epiphany and more about…
The passing of Armand Melkonian on April 1st marked the end of a chapter that few in the profession today have truly witnessed, yet all of us have inherited. In 1969, when Melkonian stood atop the podium at the ASI…
