First Time Experiencing The Nordic Championship

Image above: Martin Mortensen from Sweden

When I got home from Oslo this year, my spouse asked me to describe how my trip was. I found it hard to describe, as I was still processing all that had happened in just a weekend. So, she asked me to pick one word, and I chose “amazing.” But that doesn’t really do it justice. Let’s backtrack a bit, and I’ll explain why!

First times

2024 has been a crazy year for me. Being in the finals of the Danish Championship, qualifying for the Nordic Championship, and traveling to Spain to attend the ASI Bootcamp in between—I couldn’t have dreamt of a better setup. All of this happening during my first time ever competing—imagine the boost of confidence and motivation this brings you.

The competition took over two long days, so be mentally prepared for that. The first half of day one consists of tasks I’ve (sort of) seen before: three wines, all white; two spirits (you assume); and downward-facing papers. I prepared my mind for a written blind tasting and spirits identification. Trained it before, done it before—I can do this! The go is given, the papers are turned, and here the fun begins, because now comes the unexpected: there are three papers, and only the one for identifying spirits turns out to be as expected. The wine identification had a twist: name only the grape, vintage, and country. Sounds easy at first, but then you read the last box: “Name the common denominator.” That twist got my brain working in overdrive and can easily lead you astray in your conclusions.

The last page was one of my favorite tasks: “Winelist Errors.” It is so hard to prepare for—you just look at a list of wines with vintage, producer, name, grape, country, and appellation. You must know the wines to have a chance at identifying the errors, so it is difficult to prepare for and requires huge producer knowledge. I usually see this task on the stage, so I was not prepared to face it this early. After the first three task papers, we were handed another stack of papers. Now we were facing 60 questions to be answered within 60 minutes. Sounds easy, right?

I am no novice when it comes to wine. I can write Vinakademiet, WSET 3, CMS Certified, Spanish and French Wine Scholar on my CV. Yet, I was baffled by the level of the questions. Never have I faced a paper with so many questions that I didn’t know the answer to. Fondly, I saw the question “Name the sub-appellations of Rías Baixas” and thought, “Finally, a question I know by heart!”… and it was gone. Just gone. I can name them in an instant today—it’s a flashcard that Anki deems easy for me. Yet, in that moment, I blacked out. A proof of how the pressure you put on yourself in these situations really impacts your brain capacity.

Phew, first half done. Time for some coffee and some food. Now the fun really starts, because now you get to discuss your answers with the other competitors. Do you agree? If not, who has the right answer? With the phones taken away, there is no way of knowing 100%. My best advice here is to just let it go and move on!

Surprising second round

The second half of day one is where I find the Nordic Championship most different from the Danish Championship: practical tasks that are not on the stage. It’s a great way to build on your expertise regardless of how far you make it in the competition.

So, the practical part is divided into two separate rooms. The waiting takes place in soft chairs just outside the first room. In my mind, I go over the practical tasks I have prepared: decanting, Champagne service, wine service, food pairing, cocktails, etc. … The door opens, and I enter the room.

There are judges sitting at a table, and on the table are… three cups of tea leaves????

First task: Identify the teas, suggest brewing temperatures and brewing time.

Second task: Suggest how you would run a tea program at a restaurant in front of the judges. No preparation time is given.

Third task: A winelist of 10 pages and four minutes to suggest changes to the wine list and argue your case.

“You may now leave the room,” was said, and I had no idea how it went.

In the second room, judges sat at a table in a familiar setting.

I experienced déjà vu—three cups, but this time something I assumed was black tea was brewed into the cups. Next to the cups were three glasses of identical red cocktails.

First task: Identify the three cups of tea, identify the cocktails, and list the ingredients used.

Second task: “Make me a cocktail,” the judge inquired. Which one, you might ask? Luckily for me, I remembered to ask the judge before proceeding; otherwise, I would have had no way of knowing.

Third task: Serve a glass of red wine. I did. I asked if they would like a food recommendation. I made a couple of small errors, but other than that, I found this to be a more straightforward task. Later, I learned that there were in fact two identical bottles of red wine with different temperatures—of course there had been a trap!

With the final tests of the day done, there were several hours before the results were revealed. In the meantime, it was time for the social part of the event.

The Final Cut

The three finalists are disclosed. I don’t progress to the finals, so I can enjoy a relaxed night. Not advancing to the finals on my first attempt is, of course, somewhat disappointing, but it also comes with one important benefit: you get to watch all the finalists perform and take a lot of notes on how people better than you do it. So, place yourself in the front seats and make sure to watch closely!

To set the scene for the next part of the competition, I will describe the stage for you:

A big screen. A tall table all the way to the right, with a mise en place just behind it and a wine fridge. In the middle of the stage: one table with two judges, one table with one judge, and one table with four judges.

The first contestant is called onto the stage.

“The stage is your restaurant. For the first task, you have six minutes to give a full organoleptic description of the two wines placed on the table. When the time is up, you have 15 minutes to complete the rest of the tasks. Listen carefully, as the tasks will only be said once. Your time starts now!” Okay, game on!

The first task is straightforward: blind taste the wines. The shift into the next tasks, however, is not so straightforward, because you’re just told the time is up when the six minutes have passed. Do you approach one of the tables? Do you calmly look at your "restaurant" to get an overview? Now the real fun begins!

First task: The table with one judge. “Please serve me a glass of sweet wine and recommend some food to go with it,” is the order. Straightforward, right? Well, suddenly, when you serve the wine and start recommending food, it turns out the judge is diabetic!

Second task: The table with four judges. Decant and serve a magnum bottle of a specific red wine, explain the producer, and answer whether it is a good investment.

Third task: The table with two judges. This one had me going, “Wow….” The contestants are handed a five-course menu, to which they should recommend a wine pairing. If they don’t ask the judges about their preferences, they will quickly learn that the judges want “only sparkling wine, and as many different countries and styles as possible.” Now, if this doesn’t throw you off track, the judges have more tricks up their sleeves. In the middle of your suggestions, they might just decide they prefer wines with no Pinot Meunier, no rosé wines, no 100% Pinot Noir… You suggested a wine made with the saignée method? Well, they suddenly prefer wines that weren’t.

Now the time’s almost up, but you still have one task to complete, and whether you have time or not depends on how well you’ve fared until now.

Fourth task: Back at the table with four judges. Recommend a different wine in the same style as the magnum you served earlier.

Phew, done. Most, but not all, managed to finish all tasks on time.

The above part of the stage is, of course, individual, and only one contestant is on stage at a time. The others are placed in a secluded location so that they can neither see nor hear what’s going on beforehand.

The next part of the stage takes place with all of the contestants present. For this part, the big screen is included: the picture task.

A picture of a vineyard with a sea view shows: “Name the wine region.”

A picture of a woman among vines shows: “Name the producer.”

A picture of a bottle of wine shows: “Name the inaugural vintage.”

And they have only a matter of seconds to write their answer on a whiteboard.

Now that it’s all over, the finalists can do nothing more but wait for the results. I can only begin to imagine the feelings going through them! In what looks like a close race, Martin Mortensen from Sweden is finally crowned the winner! A big congratulations!

On top of the competition

A lot of this article has been about the competition so far, but I would like to leave that part for a bit before my personal conclusion to highlight what the trip to the Nordic Championship also had to offer.

Ketil and I arrived the day before, just to be sure we were well-rested and prepared. We also had a chance to experience a small bit of the city. Oslo is really beautiful!

We had a dinner in the evening with all the contestants and the organizers. These events are great for socializing, building your network, and getting to know your colleagues from different countries. Even though you might not speak the same national language, you share the lingua franca of wine and hospitality, and you get to exchange views on how to run a restaurant and a wine program as well as deepen your understanding of different markets. For me, it is inspiring and motivating to listen to all the tales told by sometimes more experienced peers!

There was also the wine fair—oh, the wine fair!

This part is something I always look forward to and something you are at more liberty to enjoy if you don’t qualify for the finals. In two great halls of the hotel, the event took place. There were stalls, wines, and producers/retailers in great numbers! Ready to hand out samples, stories, and business cards to all who took interest in them—a great place to discover something new. I myself found a producer of Franciacorta and thought to myself, “I’ve never really gotten that deep into Franciacorta,” so I went there. Now I’m eight different styles of Franciacorta samples, producer stories, and deep, hands-on knowledge richer! If you leave there thirsty, it’s your own fault!

The wine fair was open to the public and members of the sommelier association. I got to meet a lot of new acquaintances, not even associated with the competition! Network, network, network!

The evening after the finals, the great Championship Dinner was held. All members of the ASI organization, sponsors, and, of course, the contestants were welcome. I cannot emphasize enough how great of an opportunity this is to meet new friends, colleagues, and potential rivals in upcoming competitions.

Ketil, having competed a lot and having a huge network, was doing a great job of introducing me to new acquaintances. I had the great honor to sit at the table with the director of Star Wine List and one of the Judges of Honor, who is a Master Sommelier. Let’s just say I was starstruck and did not waste this opportunity to get all the information I could from them.

The Takeaway

It’s time to end the article, so I would like to paint a bigger picture of my experience and what I’ve learned from this trip.

Compete. I cannot stress this enough—just do it!

The competitions will put your skills to the test, push you to the extremes, and take you to the edge and beyond. If you compete, under the pressure from yourself and the judges, you will learn SO much in such a short time—about yourself, about being a sommelier, about people.

Expect the unexpected. Even if you have vast knowledge and education, challenge the way you study. These competitions dig deep, and so should you! You know all the DOCGs of Italy? Great! But remember that one DOC that only uses one local, almost unknown grape! Remember tea, remember coffee. Even the non-alcoholic universe is expanding and is not to be underestimated! Get to know the country’s local beers, spirits, and traditions.

Even if you do not want to compete—which is totally okay!—join the events, join the dinners. The socializing aspect of these events is not to be underestimated! I learned so much and got motivated and inspired just by talking to people and listening to how they worked!

And when you return to your own restaurant, to your own comfortable habitat, some things might even seem easier. Imagine having trained decanting, pouring even sizes, using port tongs, pairing obscure wines, all under time pressure in an unfamiliar environment. Now, suddenly, you can perform without the pressure, but the skills you honed will be sharper than ever! It is a great feeling—that is at least my experience.

I’m hooked, and you will see me compete until I win. Why? Because I’ve learned so much that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t had this goal in mind.