Day 3

Wine + Spirit Festival
This is the first time such a wine and spirit exhibition is held in conjunction with the event for both trade and consumers.

 

Grand Finals
The grand final took place in a hall in Westin KL that was open to the public. It was encouraging to see students from hospitality schools attending the event to observe. All the contestants were called to the stage and the 3 finalists were announced: Alan Au Kok Hoong from Singapore, Hezron Febriando from Indonesia and Edmund Liew from Malaysia. A big cheer broke off in the crowd when the name of the Malaysian contestant was called, the excitement was apparent but pressure was on Edmund Liew. Malaysia has been the winning country since the start of this event in 2009 and to represent the hosting country, there was definitely a high expectation on Edmund.

Judges' decisions

A table of six was set on stage, with an additional table for two on the side and one tasting table at the front. The first task for the contestants was to taste 6 glasses of beverages, identify the beverage and do a professional analysis on each of them.

The second task was to serve the table of 6 of their aperitif – 3 champagnes and 3 martinis. This was to assess the sommelier’s skill on also his knowledge in the preparation of beverages other than wine. At this round, we observed that two of the contestants didn’t fill sufficient amount of champagne into the glasses. In the meantime, a lady from the next table ordered a bottle and champagne to be shared with her male companion. All the contestants served the right amount at the second table but the question was: should the lady be served first or the male companion after the lady has tasted the champagne? Do you top up her glass before serving her companion or the other way round?

From left: 3rd place Alan Au (Singapore), 1st place Edmun Liew and 2nd place Hezron Febriando

After that, the contestants were asked to decant a wine and serve to the table of 6 guests and to suggest a main course and dessert with that wine. The last chore was to explain the profile of a wine which name was presented to the contestant on the screen and to suggest suitable type of food that goes with it.