The organizers of Taste of Italy Houston are thrilled to announce that the Houston Sommelier Competition will return in 2022!

The brainchild of Houston-based sommelier Jaime De Leon, a regional wine buyer and manager for Kroger supermarkets, the Houston Sommelier Competition is modeled after the Court of Sommeliers exam, considered by many to be one of the most challenging in the wine world today.

Contestants will be required to complete a theory test (arguably the hardest of the three exams); a blind tasting where they have to identify the grape, the appellation, and the vintage; and a service test where they will have to serve wine in a mock dining room setting.

For the 2019 event (the last time the competition was held), more than 20 sommeliers participated. The winners (above) were awarded with honorariums intended to help them continue their fine wine studies.

De Leon will be enlisting some of the city’s top sommeliers and wine experts to serve as judges and proctors for the exams.

Stay tuned for more details!

Taste of Italy is scheduled for March 13-14, 2022 in Houston.

For more information, please contact Italy-America Chamber of Commerce deputy director and Taste of Italy director Maurizio Gamberucci at m.gamberucci@iacctexas.com.

Taste of Italy Houston is the largest trade fair in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian wine and food products.