Carine Patricio, former star sommelier at Hamburg’s Jellyfish restaurant and currently sales and customer service specialist at legendary German winegrower JJ Prüm, has made waves in the sommelier community of her home country. Her victory in the recent Best Sommelier of Portugal competition makes her the first woman to hold that title. She is very aware of her groundbreaking role: “I do not represent myself, but a country, a complete association. So I want to do it well of course. I want to be happy with my performance and know that I did the best that I could, independent of a good placement.”
Noting that preparing for the contest was no easy task with a full-time job and two kids, she cited a legendary figure in the ASI’s history as one of her inspirations: Three years ago in Vienna I promised Gérard Basset that I would do my best to be at the European Championship in 2020 and represent Portugal. I am more than happy that I did it.” Brava!