Association de la Sommellerie Internationale's annual Sommelier of Europe competition saw Isa Bal from Turkey taking home the title on May 19, after the final round of tests was held on the stage of Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia.

The event took place as part of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) yearly congress and conference, organised in partnership with the Bulgarian Association of Sommeliers (BAS), under the guidance of BAS president Maria Yordanova. It occurred from May 16 to 19, mainly at the Kempinski Hotel Zografski in Sofia.

At the congress and competition were representatives from ASI member countries from around the world, from ASI world president Kazayoshi Kogai from Japan to Asociación Mexicana de Sommeliers vice president Esteban García, along with all the European countries in which ASI has a chapter.

Thirty-one European sommeliers (the French term for wine stewards, used internationally) entered the contest, each one representing the best of his or her country in the profession. After the first round on May 17, 10 sommeliers (from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey) advanced to the semi-finals, where they again underwent theoretical and practical tests. The three finalists - Eric Zwiebel from France, Paolo Basso from Switzerland and Isa Bal from Turkey - were announced on May 19, minutes before they started the show-off in front of an audience of journalists, organisers, country representatives, friends and fellow sommeliers.

As the three names were read off, it was Bal's who received the loudest applause.

The men went through the evaluation separately, first serving three tables of on-stage "diners" wines that would suit their tastes and conditions, then being presented with a surprise test (could they identify rakiya?), then reviewing a list of wines and wine cellars and finding the mistakes in the list, then identifying and recommending dishes for three wines, and finally, identifying 10 unknown spirits, five of which were in dark-coloured glasses. All of the tests were timed.

For example, in the first segment of the test, a party of two ladies said that a friend of theirs had recommended a bottle of red 2007 (the exact varietal was not intelligible) from the Bulgarian cellar Katarzyna Estate, and would the sommelier advise as to what food should be ordered with? One suggested a beef carpaccio, and lobster in a red wine reduction accompanied by sautéed spinach. Another finalist recommended a salad of quails followed by baked pigeon, or a meaty fish to best complement the wine.

Following the finals, a performance of Bulgarian folk music was held for the guests, and then, finally, the winner was announced. Belvedere and Katarzyna Estate conferred awards on the top three contestants, consisting of bottles of wine with special labels.

Bal, who currently works at The Fat Duck in Maidenhead, Berkshire, the UK, brings home a trophy that is replica of a Thracian golden phiale, part of the Panagyurishte treasures. He dedicated it to the Balkans.