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Alain Ducasse sommelier wins first Wines of Portugal Wine Quest competition

Published:  27 June, 2014

Dorian Guillon, assistant head sommelier at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, has won the inaugural Wines of Portugal Wine Quest 2014 competition set up to help spread the word about Portuguese wine amongst UK's leading sommeliers.

Dorian Guillon, assistant head sommelier at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, has won the inaugural Wines of Portugal Wine Quest 2014 competition set up to help spread the word about Portuguese wine amongst the UK's leading sommeliers.

Guillon was one of 15 sommeliers that took up in the Wine Quest 2014 programme that saw them take part in a series of educational workshops resulting in a trip to Portugal to visit wineries and see the country for themselves.

The competition also saw Piotr Pietras, from Maze by Gordon Ramsay and Orsi Szentkiralyi, sommelier and tasting manager at Wotwine pick up runners-up prizes. Guillon received a winner's cheque for £3,000 with each runner up awarded £1,000.

Wine Quest was set up to by Wines of Portugal to "build strong and productive relationships with the industry's up-and-coming sommeliers".

All the participating sommeliers attended a Wines of Portugal Wine Academy educational session hosted by leading Portuguese wine experts. They were then taken on a trip covering northern, southern and central Portugal led by Wines of Portugal Wine Quest Ambassadors, Charles Metcalfe, Sarah Ahmed and João Pires MS.

Each ambassador then selected two Portuguese wines to champion.

The final of the event saw the sommeliers take part in a presentation day at The Westbury Hotel, where each one was judged on their skills and knowledge across a number of categories, including presentation, blind tasting and food and wine matching capabilities.

Tânia Branco Oliveira, senior brand and communications and area manager for Wines of Portugal, said: "It's been fantastic to work with such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable group of sommeliers. Together, they have explored, enjoyed and discovered Portugal and its wines and will no doubt now go out and spread the word. Congratulations to all of them, and of course particularly Dorian, Orsi and Piotr for rising to the challenge!"

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