A WINE expert from a Hampshire hotel has been named the UK’s best.
Tanguy Martin of Hotel TerraVina in Netley Marsh has been named UK Sommelier of the Year 2015.
The 27-year-old from central Southampton went head to head with more than 100 sommeliers from across the nation in the prestigious competition at The Savoy in London organised by the Academy of Food and Wine.
The competition included a blind tasting, a food and wine matching exercise and a question and answer round and also tested his customer service, management skills and ability to cope under pressure.
It comes after Laura Rhys from the Hotel TerraVina won the prize in 2009 and hotel owner Gerard Basset, pictured with Tanguy, won in 1989 and went on to become European champion in 1996 and world champion in 2010.
Tanguy said: “I am so overwhelmed by the support I’ve received from my peers and particularly from Gerard. This award is the one that every sommelier aspires to win and it is the culmination of months of work.”
Gerard added: “I am so proud to share the success of one of my team. Tanguy has worked tirelessly towards this competition and is a worthy winner who has an exceptionally bright future ahead of him.”
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