2025 saw a record uptake of the ASI Sommelier Diploma, Certification 1, and Certification 2 exams across Europe. National associations in the UK, Ireland, Nordics, France, Portugal and Central Europe incorporated ASI pathways more deeply into their official training calendars, making 2025 a defining year for credential harmonisation across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UK Sommelier Academy confirmed ASI Certification 2 for its national examination structure, with sessions in London and Manchester. This move strengthened the ASI-aligned professional ladder in one of Europe\u2019s most important hospitality markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Spain\u2019s Regional Competitions Expand with Increased ASI Involvement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2025 was marked significant by growth for Spain\u2019s sommelier ecosystem with new regional championships in Catalonia, Andalusia, and Basque Country expanding candidate pipelines. The Spanish Sommelier Union also continue to strengthen its alignment with ASI. Following hosting ASI Bootcamp in Seville in 2024, the Spanish Sommelier Union has adopted ASI standards, adding new structured exams and mentoring pathways for Spanish sommeliers to join in the ASI examination pathway. 3. Europe\u2019s Subregional Contest Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Europe is seeing the growth of regional, sub-continental contests as member ASI sommelier associations seek to work collectively to prepare their best for continental and world contests. New to 2025 was the first Iberian Sommelier Contest 2025, which was hosted in Lagoa, Algarve, Portugal. The inaugural winner was Spanish sommelier Marta Cortizas<\/em>. Europe\u2019s northern countries continued in their long tradition of mutual support highlighted by the Nordic Sommelier Championship and the Vana Tallinn Baltic Sommelier Grand Prix. Norway\u2019s Nikolai Haram Svorte took first place at the Nordic Sommelier Championship while Lithuanian Ignatij Semionov won the <\/em>Vana Tallinn Baltic Sommelier Grand Prix 2025 held in Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. A Year of Champions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Across Europe, 2025 proved to be a standout year for national sommelier championships, with a new generation of talents rising to prominence alongside seasoned professionals. In Belgium, Elizio Masson claimed the title of Best Sommelier of Belgium, while in the Czech Republic, Martin Par\u00fdzek secured his third crown at the BOHEMIA SEKT Troph\u00e9e, underscoring his enduring mastery. Denmark celebrated Oliver Carr as its national champion, and Finland awarded its top honour to Dmitry \u201cDima\u201d Frolov of Restaurant Finnj\u00e4vel. In Germany, Niklas Breithaupt emerged as the country\u2019s Best Sommelier, and in Italy, Ilaria Lorini of Tuscany captured the prestigious AIS national title. Spain\u2019s 30\u00ba Campeonato de Espa\u00f1a de Sumilleres Tierra de Sabor crowned Marta Cortizas of El Celler de Can Roca, while Sweden recognised Albert Wendesten as its leading talent. Switzerland honoured Mika\u00ebl Grou of the iconic Restaurant de l\u2019H\u00f4tel de Ville de Crissier, and the United Kingdom celebrated Maria Boumpa as its 2025 Sommelier of the Year, rounding out a remarkable year of European excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Wine in Moderation \u00d7 ASI Partnership Renewed in Brussels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU-based organisation Wine in Moderation renewed its partnership with ASI, reinforcing Europe\u2019s leadership in responsible drinking advocacy. Sommeliers across Europe including Spain, Italy, France and the Nordics, took part in educational activations, integrating moderation messaging into service training. The continued partnership highlights ASI, and its member countries, continued commitment to promote the healthy consumption of alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sommeliers in the News<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Louis Le Conte (France)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Louis Le Conte emerged in 2025 as one of the brightest young talents in European sommellerie, earning the coveted title of Meilleur Jeune Sommelier de France after an exacting final at Bordeaux\u2019s Cit\u00e9 du Vin, this past June. His rise is the result of a steady, quietly determined trajectory that reflects both classical French training and a willingness to test himself in some of the most demanding dining rooms in Europe. A graduate of the Lyc\u00e9e H\u00f4telier de Chamali\u00e8res, Le Conte first discovered wine while working in a bistro in Clermont-Ferrand before refining his technical foundations through an apprenticeship with Maison Pic in Valence, splitting time between the bistro and the three-Michelin-starred flagship under head sommelier Edmond Gasser. That experience, combined with seasonal work in Meg\u00e8ve and time spent alongside winemaker Henri Chauvet, gave him both service discipline and a producer\u2019s sensitivity. Since April 2024, he has served as sommelier at Pic au Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, where daily exposure to the precision of Anne-Sophie Pic\u2019s culinary world has sharpened his palate and instincts. His 2025 competition win, earned against more than 80 candidates and through rigorous tests from blind tasting to J\u00e9roboam service, signals more than early promise: it positions him as a likely contender for future national and European titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria Boumpa (United Kingdom)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria Boumpa achieved a new level of recognition after being crowned UK Sommelier of the Year 2025 a triumph that immediately marked her as one of the United Kingdom\u2019s most compelling wine professionals. Since 2021 she has served as Restaurant Manager and Wine Director at the two-Michelin-starred Da Terra, where her deep respect for terroir, fine-tuned service and storytelling-driven wine lists have helped define the restaurant\u2019s sophisticated wine programme. Originally from Metsovo, Greece, she first stumbled into hospitality while studying economics, as a part-time job that revealed an early passion for wine and service. That spark led her to a formative stage at the celebrated Nordic restaurant Kokkeriet, where a 20-course tasting menu, each course paired with wines, broadened her horizons and deepened her curiosity for global wine culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her second ever competition (she was also on the podium in 2024) Boumpa displayed poise, refined technique, and nerves of steel. Through a gruelling series of blind tastings, pairing tests, service challenges she stood out for her precision, calm under pressure and impeccable timing. With her trajectory from a curious economics student in Greece to a top-tier sommelier in London and world class international sommelier, Boumpa embodies a new model of sommelier whose education is rooted in classical training but driven by global ambition, versatility, and a storyteller\u2019s love of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marta Cortizas<\/strong> (Spain)<\/strong> Her training reflects both depth and intent: certification from the Instituto Galego do Vi\u00f1o, WSET Level 3, and hospitality studies at CETT in Barcelona. She often describes wine as \u201cgeography, history and soils,\u201d a perspective echoed in her thoughtful service style. That combination of technical discipline and creative perspective helped her secure her second major title of the year: Best Sommelier of Iberia 2025. Winning the inaugural Campeonato Ib\u00e9rico de Sumilleres in Portugal, Cortizas outperformed leading professionals from Spain and Portugal in blind tasting, service challenges and scenario-based tasks designed to mirror the pressure of dining-room reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her achievements mark a significant shift within Spanish and Iberian sommellerie, not least because she becomes of the few women to have earned Spain\u2019s top title. With her rapid rise, polished professionalism, and grounded sense of place, she is widely viewed as a future contender on the international stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Europe\u2019s sommelier community entered 2025 with a sense of momentum, cohesion and renewed ambition. This was displayed not only by championship victories, but by the strengthening of professional pathways, cross-border collaboration and a growing cultural influence for sommeliers across the continent. From the UK to the Nordics, Spain to Central Europe, national associations increasingly aligned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[37],"class_list":["post-3491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3491"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3838,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions\/3838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3491"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=3491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Spain also delivered one of Europe\u2019s headline sommelier moments when Mohamed Benabdallah, head sommelier and restaurant manager at Asador Etxebarri was acknowledged as \u2018best\u2019 by The World\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants. The award recognised both technical precision and a deeply guest-centred philosophy, cementing Spain\u2019s place among Europe\u2019s most dynamic sommelier cultures following recent momentum in Barcelona, San Sebasti\u00e1n, and Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/almasus.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Louis-Le-Conte-photo-somm-international-1.jpg\")
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In 2025 Marta Cortizas became one of Europe\u2019s standout sommeliers thanks in part to her victories at two sommelier contests. Her breakthrough came when she was crowned Best Sommelier of Spain 2025 at the Campeonato de Espa\u00f1a de Sumilleres Tierra de Sabor, held during Sal\u00f3n Gourmets in Madrid. The competition tested rapid blind tasting, wine and spirits identification, decanting and service, and real-time wine list correction, all disciplines in which Cortizas excelled with calm precision and a refined sensibility. Originally from Galicia and now representing the Asociaci\u00f3n Catalana de Sumilleres, she works at the famed El Celler de Can Roca, where her artistic background, shaped by earlier interests in fashion and performance, informs an expressive, culturally attuned approach to wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/almasus.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/marta-cortizas-1.jpg\")
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