The Korea International Sommelier Association gathered on October 18, 2020 to crown a new winner of the Korea Best Sommelier Contest. The event, held this year in Daejeon DCC, was the 16th edition of the event.
Hyuncheol CHO of l’Escape Hotel bested a tough group of competitors, including runner-up Jungmin AN of the SPC Group and Jooyong KIM of Impression.
The annual contest was followed by a special Best of Best Sommelier contest which is held once every three years. For that event, all the sommeliers who have placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the past 3 years gather to select Korea’s representatives for major upcoming international contests.
The Best of the Best contest was won by Jungmin AN of the SPC Group. AN, Gold ASI Sommelier, who previously participated in the 2019 Best Sommelier of the World Contest in Belgium, will now represent Korea at the Best Sommelier of the World contest in Paris, France in 2022. Sommelier Kibeom SONG of Hyundai Green Food was selected for second place, and he will join AN at the Best Sommelier of Asia-Oceania event to be held in Melbourne, Australia in 2021.