The 23 May at Château Gassier saw the 4th edition of the Château Gassier in Provence Challenge! This challenge is aimed at student sommeliers and was created with the objective of placing the spotlight on a new generation of passionate young sommeliers and their discovery of the wines of Provence. This year, under the expert eye of Florent Martin, Best Sommelier in France, not just one but two student sommeliers were declared winners: Justine Droit from the Marseille Hospitality School and Lou Ulian from the Occitania Hotel and Tourism College in Toulouse. The priority for all of the teams at Château Gassier was to fly the flag high for Provence and its wines, both in France and around the world.
On the 4 February the 15 candidates who received the highest scores in a questionnaire on wine cultivation and the Provence wine region were invited to take part in the second eliminatory trial on the 28 March. The ten successful students were then invited to Château Gassier for the two final trials on the 22 and 23 May. The 4 finalists were named at the end of this last selection. The finalists this year were Valentin Calichon (Tain-l’Hermitage Professional Hospitality School), Justine Droit (Marseille Bonneveine Hospitality School), Lou Ulian (Occitania Hotel and Tourism College in Toulouse) and Maïwenn Moussion (Gascony Hospitality School in Talence). They were judged on their poise, their tasting skills and their food and wine pairing suggestions in a trial that required careful thought as well as a high degree of technical knowledge.
For the final, the trials were designed with the objective of promoting the diversity of the terroirs of Provence and above all with the objective of encouraging the young sommeliers’ knowledge of this wine region. This educational approach was the result of a collaboration between Château Gassier, the Alpes-Marseille-Provence Sommeliers Association and the Sommelier Training Association.
Each of the candidates awaited their turn to take part in the 4 different trials. The first was the simulation sale and service of a wine with the aim of testing their sales and service skills. This was followed by a Provencal food and wine pairing trial which went straight to the core of their profession and savoir-faire. The students were then judged on their ability to convincingly describe and sell a wine from Provence, a wine that had not been disclosed until the beginning of the trial, in the presence of the winemaker himself. The final trial was the highly anticipated ‘surprise trial’. This year the students, who were accompanied by their teachers, were asked to identify the three varietals that make up the cuvée 946 Rosé 2021 from Château Gassier and then, with the help of a map of the vineyards, locate a vine leaf belonging to each varietal from the domaine’s vineyards.
During each trial the candidates were asked questions by the jury and marked on the basis of their answers. Once again this year the jury was composed of renowned sommeliers including Florent Martin, Best Sommelier in France 2020 and Head Sommelier at the Peninsula in Paris, Jérémy Cauvin, Head Sommelier at Relais de la Magdeleine, Christian Péchoutre, ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’ for the Sommellerie category, Robert Desbureaux, President of the Sommelier Training Association, Andrea Chassaing, assistant Sommelier at the Pavillon Ledoyen and winner of the 2021 Château Gassier Challenge, Stéphane Opiard, President of the Alpes-Marseille-Provence Sommeliers Association, Marie Wodecki, winner of the 2nd edition of the Château Gassier in Provence Challenge, Stéphane Spitzglous, manager of Château Henri Bonnaud, Christian Scalisi, consultant sommelier for the Franck Thomas institute and Bruno Butz , sommelier at the Table de Beaurecueil.
By the end of what was an emotional and very enriching morning, two students sommeliers were named as winners of the 2022 Château Gassier in Provence Challenge for student sommeliers: Justine Droit, age 26, from the Marseille Hospitality School and Lou Ulian, age 22, from the Occitania Hotel and Tourism College in Toulouse. The competition rules this year stated that, in the event of victory by a candidate aged over 23 years, a second candidate from the under 23’s category would also be declared as winner of the Challenge.
Lou Ulian and Justine Droit displayed extremely promising skills and there is no doubt that they have a bright career ahead of them. This young generation of sommeliers will now be able to fly the flag high for this diverse terroir and the remarkable potential for rosé wines, namely in gastronomic restaurants in France and around the world.