{"id":17863,"date":"2025-01-30T20:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/?p=17863"},"modified":"2025-02-01T16:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T11:06:32","slug":"item_1_963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/item_1_963\/","title":{"rendered":"SAI: Jai Singh Aces as the Best Sommelier of India at The LaLit Mumbai"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"17863\" class=\"elementor elementor-17863\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4720b6a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4720b6a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-53f09f7\" data-id=\"53f09f7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70aab53 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70aab53\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\tPosted: Thursday, 30 Jan 2025 18:58\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ad9e937\" data-id=\"ad9e937\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cccb2a7\" data-id=\"cccb2a7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9669605 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9669605\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b62f3ec\" data-id=\"b62f3ec\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c0e78f1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c0e78f1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-12\">\n<h1 class=\"articlepagetitle_heading\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">SAI: <\/span>Jai Singh Aces as the Best Sommelier of India at The LaLit Mumbai<\/h1>\n<div class=\"articlepageintroline\">Jan 30, 2025: The Panel of Jury that included stalwarts like Henri Chapon MS, Saiko Tamura-Soga, Nina Basset FIH, Salvatore Castano and Sonal Holland MW crowned Jai Singh as the \u20182025 SAI Best Sommelier of India\u2019, with Pankaj Singh and Amber Deshmukh at second and third positions respectively at the first Award to select World\u2019s Best Sommelier, writes Subhash Arora who attended the historical event and was invited to be one of the judges<\/div>\n<div class=\"articledata\"><figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17867\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1-300x169.webp\" alt=\"Amber Deshmukh (#3), Jai Singh (#1) and Pankaj Singh (#2)- Finalists of 2025 ASI Competition \" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amber Deshmukh (#3), Jai Singh (#1) and Pankaj Singh (#2)- Finalists of 2025 ASI Competition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Jai Singh<\/strong>&nbsp;will also make history by representing India for the first time ever at&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>2025 ASI Contest Best Sommelier of Asia &amp; Pacific&nbsp;in Malaysia&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>the&nbsp;2026 ASI Contest Best Sommelier of the World&nbsp;in Portugal. <\/em>Held every 3 years by the<em> International Sommelier Association (ASI) of <\/em>which Sommelier Association of India is a member, it had crowned the <strong>Late Gerard Basset<\/strong> as the World\u2019s Best Sommelier in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>There were initially 16 Sommeliers slated to contest but eventually only 14 participated. After intense quarter-finals and semi-finals, the grand finale saw&nbsp;<strong>Jai Singh<\/strong>&nbsp;crowned as the&nbsp;<em>\u201c2025 SAI Best Sommelier of India\u201d<\/em>, with&nbsp;<strong>Pankaj Singh<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Amber Deshmukh<\/strong>&nbsp;securing second and third places at the elimination rounds held at Hotel Lalit on 23 January, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The top three winners will now embark on an exciting journey\u2014attending the prestigious ASI Education Boot Camp in Singapore this July.&nbsp;This will help the three hone up their skills further and bring them up to international standard of excellence and give each of them an opportunity to grab the title eventually. As <strong>Nina Besset FIH<\/strong>,&nbsp;Co-Founding Trustee of G\u00e9rard Basset Foundation stressed in her opening remarks, her late husband had made 6 attempts before winning the coveted Title, sharpening his skills at every attempt. Therefore, <b>this <\/b>was a ground level effort for the Indian participants and more is yet to come their way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also Read : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/item_5_962\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Opportunity to compete on 23 January to become \u2018Best Sommelier in the World\u2019 in 2026<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The inaugural <b>competition&nbsp;<\/b>serving as the national qualifier for top international platforms, drew talented sommeliers from across India and Indian Sommeliers working in Dubai, Maldives, Singapore, Italy, New Zealand and International cruise ships.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Amrita Singh,<\/strong> the MW student from Mumbai, who currently resides in Bordeaux and is a co-founder and President of SAI which has done an enviable job of organising the competition in less than a year of setting up the Association, said that the level of skill and passion displayed during the competition, gave them the confidence that Indian sommeliers were ready to shine on the&nbsp;world&nbsp;stage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mattia Antonio Cianca, <\/strong>Co-Founder and Vice-President of the Sommeliers Association of India and Best Sommelier of Australia in 2017 and Italy in 2019 said that the participants were on the cusp of achieving outstanding success on the international stage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also Read : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/item_2_962\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">SAI organises Best Sommelier of India 2025 Competition for World Stage<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Credit goes to <strong>Charles Donnadieu,<\/strong> Corporate Sommelier of The LaLit Suri Hospitality Group, who came from Delhi with his team to organise the event as the hospitality partners. Though the Lalit wine team is well lubricated under the stewardship of this French Sommelier of over 9 years, &nbsp;Charles was humble in admitting that <strong>Keshav Suri,<\/strong> Executive Director of the Lalit Group was the inspiration for the wine programs and was very supportive of their wine initiatives in the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17949\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop-300x118.webp\" alt=\"Organisers:, judges and the 3 finalists\" width=\"400\" height=\"158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop-300x118.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop-1024x404.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop-768x303.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sai-results-crop.webp 1119w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organisers:, judges and the 3 finalists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The dinner was hosted in the Lawn of the Hotel with excellent cuisine from their 4 restaurants in Mumbai. There was plenty of wine poured by Good Drop Wine, Angel\u2019s Share, Rad Elan, Fratelli Vineyards, Grover Zampa Vineyards and Vallonn\u00e9. The largest producer Sula and the Luxe sparkling wine producer Chandon were conspicuous by their absence, though.<\/p>\n<p>SAI was formed last year and the first thing they did after completing the basic formalities was to align with The Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and convince them to recognize SAI as the international body who will be able to send the candidates for the regional titles and the World title so that they could organise this competition and compete for the world title which is held every three years. It was great to welcome <strong>Saiko Tamura-Soga<\/strong>, Vice President of the Asia and Pacific Region as their representative and have her as one of the judges.<\/p>\n<p>Kudos to Sommelier Association of India (SAI) for covering several steps in the very first year; On to putting the Best Sommelier of World soon from India.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also Read : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/item_3_955\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">SAI: Newly formed Sommeliers Association of India thinks Global<\/span> <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/blog_164_669.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Jai Ho! <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Subhash Arora<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted: Thursday, 30 Jan 2025 18:58 SAI: Jai Singh Aces as the Best Sommelier of India at The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[722,111,846],"class_list":["post-17863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-headlines","tag-722","tag-from-archives","tag-top-icewine"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped.webp",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-300x169.webp",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-768x432.webp",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1024x576.webp",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped.webp",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped.webp",1200,675,false],"slider-bg":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1200x600.webp",1200,600,true],"card-grid":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-600x675.webp",600,675,true],"card-list":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-600x675.webp",600,675,true],"morenews-featured":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-1024x576.webp",1024,576,true],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-825x575.webp",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sai-winners-cropped-590x410.webp",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/author\/admin\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/category\/other-headlines\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Other Headlines<\/a>","tag_info":"Other Headlines","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17863"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17989,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17863\/revisions\/17989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}