Now in its 33rd year the UK Sommelier of the Year competition has become one of the most closely contested titles in sommellerie with past winners including Yohann Jousselin of the Vineyard at Stockcross (2011), Christopher Delalonde of Sarment Wines (2010) and Laura Rhys from Hotel TerraVina (2009).

This year’s judging panel includes three past winners – Matthieu Longuère MS of La Trompette (2000), Ronan Sayburn MS of Hotel du Vin (1998) and renowned sommelier and hotelier Gerard Basset OBE, MW, MS (1992).

The UK Sommelier of the Year competition seeks to find the best sommeliers by judging their wine and drink expertise as well as their ability to deal efficiently and knowledgeably with customers by demonstrating exemplary front of house skills.

The competition starts with a first round questionnaire, from which the top scoring candidates will be chosen to compete in the regional finals. Winners of the regional finals will then go forward to the final, being held on 23 May 2012 at the London International Wine Fair (LIWF) at ExCel London.

“We are very excited about this year’s competition and hope to receive a record number of entries from sommeliers with great wine and drink knowledge as well as good service skills. Holding the final at ExCel during the London International Wine Fair puts the competition at the heart of one of the wine trade’s most important events,” commented Academy executive director Sophie Roberts Brown.

Entry forms and further information can be obtained by clicking SOY 2012 entry form. The event also has its own website where information, entry forms and news will be updated on a regular basis – see www.sommelieroftheyear.co.uk. Alternatively call the Academy on 020 8661 4646. All entries must be accompanied by an employer nomination. The closing date for entries is 23 March 2012.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available, contact Sophie Roberts Brown at the Academy on 020 661 4646 for details.

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For further press information, please contact:
Academy of Food and Wine Service
Linda Pettit
T. 01737 823721, M. 07973 789853,
Linda@tilburstowmedia.co.uk

EDITOR’S NOTES

About the 2012 Academy of Food and Wine Service UK Sommelier of the Year

The competition is open to professional sommeliers and waiting staff working in the UK. All entries must be supported by an employer nomination. Entrants who achieve a 75% pass mark on an initial written questionnaire are selected to go through to one of five regional finals.

Twelve candidates will then compete in the national finals in the Waterfront Rooms at the London International Wine Fair on 23 May 2012. Attendance is by invitation only.

The winner will be announced the same day and will be awarded with a trophy and an all-expenses paid trip to South America’s leading organic and biodynamic wine producer, Emiliana. The Emiliana Bursary, in association with Boutinot Wines, will be a five-day tour of Chile’s vineyard regions.

About the Academy

The Academy of Food and Wine Service (AFWS), established in 1988, is the professional body for front-of-house service. It is dedicated to improving the status and awareness of food and beverage service as a viable career choice, raising standards across the industry and encouraging teamwork with other colleagues. AFWS can offer advice and training to anyone following, or considering, a career as a sommelier, wine waiter, waiter, bar manager or restaurant manager. www.afws.co.uk.

You will be immaculately presented and well spoken, with a stable and progressive background. As the first point of contact for guests, you will have a charming and outgoing nature and thrive on customer contact.

Handling reservations, meeting and greeting guests and offering advice and knowledge are all duties of the Assistant Maitre D’, along with having a positive and professional approach.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication and organisational skills, fluent written and spoken English and a passion for quality focused restaurants.

Previous working experience in similar environment such as reception or reservations is essential and knowledge of reservation system will be beneficial.

Due to the high volume of applications, only successful candidates will be contacted.

L’Anima have requested you send your CV with recent photo to info@lanima.co.uk

About us:

Visit www.lanima.co.uk

Please apply if you are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Recent experience includes running Italian estate in Tuscany where I did everything from running the accounts, dealing with VIP clients, organising the staff and a tour guide to the chef.

If you have any vacancies and would like more information please contact Helen@afws.co.uk for more details.

If you have vacancy in the Croydon and surrounding area for more information on this individual please contact helen@afws.co.uk.

This position is for a Senior Wine Waiter, so someone who is very knowledgeable about wines and who enjoys wine service.

 Job Title                Senior Wine Waiter  in our a la carte fine dining Oak Room restaurant  www.tylneyhall.com

Job Description      sent on application 

Salary                   £ attractive and live in is possible

Start date              Immediate

Location                Tylney Hall Hotel, Rotherwick, Hants RG27 9AZ

Visit                      www.elitehotels.co.uk

Telephone  01256 745530 or forward your CV to mchaplin@elitehotels.co.uk

Click here to view the embedded video.

Twenty candidates all passed the course, which having been approved by the BII Awarding Body gives them their NVQ Level 1.

This was the first Licence to Work course run by the Academy for the BII since the two professional bodies formed a strategic alliance earlier this year. This course was run in conjunction with David Hawbrook of ABV training, who will be responsible for rolling out the module in the Midlands, on behalf of the Academy.

See below for video clips from the course – we’ll keep you posted as we run more!

Click here to view the embedded video.

AFWS chairman Nick Scade

On Friday 11 November the  BII and the Academy of Food and Wine Service were invited by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to host a wine tasting event at the Embassy in London for a delegation of top officials. The event was hosted by Neil Robertson, BII Chief Executive, and Nick Scade, Chairman of the Academy of Food and Wine Service, and was designed to offer an appreciation of wine in the Western world, in terms of dining out, tasting and production.

Diageo and Justerini & Brooks kindly sponsored the wine tasting event, and were able to showcase a wonderful selection of fine wines to the delegates, who all went away with thorough tasting notes on the wines, having enjoyed a fun and informative evening.

BII and the Academy were honoured to be invited to provide this training, and would like to thank the Women’s Section at the Embassy for helping to organise such a successful event, and the Ambassador for kindly agreeing to let the event take place in the Embassy’s impressive function room. BII and the Embassy are excited about the building of future bridges between China and the UK hospitality trade, who still have much to share with one another.

For example about 18 months ago we were asked to look at creating some entry level training courses which would equip food and beverage service staff with the skills which industry wanted from a junior staff member. We worked with a focus group to identify the skill and knowledge areas an employer might expect a new staff member to be in possession of after a short course. Thus the Licence to Work programme was born. We have been successfully rolling out Licence to Work in Wine Service, Food Service (fine and casual dining options available) and Banqueting Service; with Bar Service and Hot Beverage Service in development.

More recently our members have asked us if we could look into creating a skills assessment and knowledge test. The idea being that business or individuals could assess potential candidates or current staff and establish what areas they were stronger in and where they may need further training.
Essentially it would be a web based (e-assessment) programme, accessed remotely with a user name and password. You could use it at intervew stage, induction or after staff had undergone their initial training. The programme will look at knowledge and skills across 5 primary areas (customer, food, wine, banqueting, and bar service) and following the assessment, managers/supervisors or interviewers will be able to see how well individuals scored in each area. Therefore aiding recruitment and training plan decisions.

We’re at the stage now where we’d like to garner a bit more feedback and so have developed a very short (7 questions, max 5mins) survey which can be found here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FXS9QX5

It essentially asks if this is something you or your business would find useful and what skills and knowledge areas you believe should be included.

I know you are all very busy but in order for us to meet the needs of our industry we really do rely on industry to feed back to us their requirements/thoughts. So if you can spend just 5 mins on this it really would be much appreciated.

Working within a small team we are looking for an enthusiastic Sous Chef to work with our dedicated Head chef and his committed team. To assist the Head chef to create professional & creative dishes for fine dining & pub food, for Breakfast, lunch & dinner services, and other functions. An opportunity to work using fresh, local & seasonal produce to create both daily & seasonal menus

We are looking for someone who has strong kitchen experience in a busy environment. A trustworthy, team player who is motivated & committed to producing quality food dishes, and prepared to learn new skills. The ideal candidate is ideally already working in a Michelin starred &/or 3 rosette establishment. They should have good communication skills, & a firm understanding of both spoken & written English.

Benefits of working with us. 28 days holiday inclusive bank holidays, development in staff training Benefit from tronc system, staff discounts, meals on duty & competitive salary.

To apply, please send your C.V. to info@thefeatherednestinn.co.uk