When you think of wine, you may not immediately think of the Baltic country of Latvia, but that may soon change after Raimonds Tomsons was crowned as the world’s best sommelier in Paris on Sunday.

The 42-year-old from Riga was joined in the final three at La Défense by Nina Jensen of Denmark and China’s Reeze Choi, local favourite Pascaline Lepeltier from Anjou having been eliminated at the semi-final stage.

The three finalists were tested on their knowledge, tasting skills and service qualities: identifying wines tasted blind, ability to pair wines with dishes, and spotting errors in a price list – just some of the skills put under the microscope.

The final showdown was between Tomsons and Jensen, with the wine director at Barents coming out on top – Tomsons had previously finished third in 2019 and it was the second time in succession that Jensen had finished runner-up in the triennial competition.

“I have no doubt he will be a fantastic representative of ASI, and an inspiration to our global sommelier community,” said William Wouters, president of the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest.

Speaking ahead of the final, Tomsons believed it was an advantage not growing up in a typical wine-making culture, saying: “We don’t have a history and our minds are freer. In Latin America or classic countries like Spain and Portugal, they find it harder to open up to the wines of the world, because they are very proud of their own.”

The competition has been running since 1969, and it was the first time in more than 30 years that the contest had been held in Paris, a fitting precursor to this week’s Wine Paris and Vinexpo Paris event.