Diego Tornel, best sommelier in the Canary Islands

The Cabildo of Gran Canaria, with the support of the Gran Canaria Chamber of Commerce, has promoted the celebration of III Sumilleres de Canarias Competition, with the collaboration of Hecansa, Hotel Escuela Santa Brígida.

in the championship, qualifier for the National Competition, A total of 3 women and 11 men, all of them sommelier professionals from the Canary Islands, winning Diego Tornel, sommelier Hotel Paradisus Gran Canaria by Meliá. “Participating in this contest is very rewarding and also, take first prize in this edition, it's a pride. So I want to thank the Association of Sommeliers of the Canary Islands, to the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria because without them this would not be possible and encourage, above all, to the students to apply for the following years”. In second and third place were classified Oscar Maril, from the Hotel Paradisus Salinas by Melia in Lanzarote and Alfredo Di Marzi, sommelier at Royal River Luxury Hotel in Tenerife, respectively.

Juan Manuel Gabella, insular director of Industry and Commerce of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, explained that “the celebration of this III Sumilleres de Canarias Competition It is very important for the program Gran Canaria I like it because it manages to put the room at the forefront of the gastronomic sector, thus promoting the marketing of local products and highlighting the work carried out by all these professionals in the sector.”.

Every year, This official contest has more followers and, in this edition, fifty vocational training and Hecansa students also attended as an audience.

The initial test lasted an hour and a half and was based on two phases: a, blind tasting and another theoretical, of which the three best scores have been obtained that went to the close final. “We are happy because this year more professionals have registered and participated than the last edition and, besides, he 25% of the participants are women”, comment David Ghosn, president of the Association of Sommeliers of the Canary Islands and member of the judging committee of the National Championship held every year in Madrid, within the framework of the Salón Gourmets fair, in Ifema.

For your part, the director of Internal Trade of the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria, Ramon Redondo, He pointed out that “in this edition the new setting where the Sommelier Competition was held has been very important because the new generations in the room have been able to see first-hand the entire development of this test and that it serves as professional motivation for them.”.

He III Sumilleres de Canarias Competition has had the support of the Innova Gastrocan Cluster and El Corte Inglés, responsible for offering the prize. The awards were presented by the director of the Hotel Escuela Santa Brígida de Hecansa, Ricardo Gil, third prize; the second prize from the Chamber of Gran Canaria, Ramón Redondo delivered it, Director of Internal Trade; and the first prize, The English Court, delivered by Virgilio Silvestre, and Juan Manuel Gabella, insular director of Industry and Commerce of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria.