The Lithuanian Sommelier association held its championship, the Franklin & Sons Grand Prix 2020, on 14 September. Despite the difficult circumstances of the pandemic, the event provided a successful and welcome return to the world of sommelier competition.
The winner was Martynas Pravilonis, of the Grand Hotel Kempinski Vilnius. Narimantas Miežys of the wine bar SOMM finished as runner-up, while Kristijonas Valančiūnas of Restaurant “Muros” was third.
After the event, Pravilonis had praise for both the organizers and his fellow competitors: “I imagine that the greatest difficulty was that up until the very last minute we did not know if we would be allowed to do the competition. That added additional pressure both for organizers and competitors. Training time was also limited – many restaurants have reduced staff numbers, so sommeliers must play a broader more universal role at work and have less time to prepare.”