2017 TEXSOM Best Sommelier Competition Presented by Texas Monthly
Irving, Texas (August 14, 2017) –– TEXSOM co-founders and Master Sommeliers Drew Hendricks and James Tidwell today announced at the TEXSOM Grand Tasting presented by ProWein that Andres Blanco of Caracol Restaurant in Houston is the 2017 TEXSOM Best Sommelier. The 2017 TEXSOM Best Sommelier Competition, presented by Texas Monthly, takes place during TEXSOM, the most prominent and influential wine education conference in the United States, held annually at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.
Blanco topped an impressive field of 26 other competitors in a rigorous three-part wine examination involving service, blind tasting and theory. An elite panel of Master Sommelier judges named Blanco the 2017 TEXSOM Best Sommelier at a ceremony on Monday evening. The competition is a key part of TEXSOM. To participate, candidates must be a current resident of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, or Texas and must not have passed the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Advanced Sommelier Examination.
“TEXSOM was founded on an idealistic vision to advance our industry and elevate standards in a constant quest for excellence,” said Tidwell. “The TEXSOM Best Sommelier Competition is an opportunity for those individuals who show real promise in these areas to demonstrate their prowess. We offer enthusiastic congratulations to Andres for winning the competition this year. We see a bright future for him and look forward to following his career with interest.”
In addition to laying claim to the title of “2017 TEXSOM Best Sommelier,” Blanco received a scholarship of $2,500 from SommFoundation to be used for a Court of Master Sommeliers certification program. Mandi Nelson of New Waterloo in Austin was the runner up and will receive a $1,500 scholarship, and the 3rd place winner David Donalson of Classified Wines in Dallas will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Held August 11th to 14th at the Four Seasons Resorts and Club and co-presented by the not-for-profit organizations Court of Master Sommeliers-Americas; GuildSomm; SommFoundation; Wine & Spirits Education Trust; and Society of Wine Educators – TEXSOM is the only event of its kind in the United States. The speakers and judges constitute a who’s who list of the nation’s top wine professionals. Dozens of Master Sommeliers (MS), Certified Wine Educators (CWE), Masters of Wine (MW) and other respected industry professionals were integral parts of the conference.
The 2017 TEXSOM conference featured a stellar line-up of speakers and competition judges, including:
- Serafin Alvarado MS
- Gillian Ballance MS
- Christopher Bates MS
- Wayne Belding MS
- Shayn Bjornholm MS
- Bree Boskov MW
- Dilek Caner PhD MW
- Christy Canterbury MW
- Elaine Chukan Brown
- Jim Clarke
- Charles Curtis MW
- Frederick L. Dame MS
- Matt Deller MW
- Laura DePasquale MS
- Mary Ewing Mulligan MW
- Jay Fletcher MS
- Keith Goldston MS
- Jamie Goode PhD
- Mary Gorman-McAdams MW
- Peter Granoff MS
- Nicole Hakli
- Greg Harrington MS
- Ian Harris DipWSET
- Jay James MS
- Geoff Kruth MS
- Pascaline Lepeltier MS
- Shelley Lindgren
- Michael Madrigale
- Mary Margaret McCamic MW
- Andrew McNamara MS
- Sally Mohr MS
- Melissa Monosoff MS
- Antony Moss MW DipWSET
- Peter Neptune MS
- Nicholas Paris MW
- Luis Pato
- Francis Percival
- Josh Raynolds
- Sean Razee MS
- Jean K. Reilly MW
- Laura Rhys MS
- Treve Ring
- Sheri Sauter Morano MW
- Ronan Sayburn MS
- Jane Skilton MW
- George Skouras
- Joseph Spellman MS
- Larry Stone MS
- Guy Noel Stout MS
- Bernard Sun
- Kelli White
- Nigel Wilkinson MS
- Laura Williamson MS
- Debbie Zachareas
2017 Sponsors: The event is made possible by the generous support of many sponsors, with scholarships provided by the SommFoundation.
Sponsors include:
(Presenting Sponsors) Court of Master Sommeliers-Americas; GuildSomm; SommFoundation; Wine & Spirits Education Trust; and Society of Wine Educators.
(Platinum Sponsors) Aqua Panna; Balzac Communications & Marketing; Broadbent Selections; Classic Wine Merchants; Fortessa; Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas; Napa Valley Vintners; ProWein; Republic National Distributing Company; Ribera y Rueda; San Pellegrino; The Sorting Table; Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits; TEXSOM International Wine Awards; Washington State Wine; Wines of Chile; Wines of Spain.
(Gold Sponsors) Australia Classic & Rare; Banfi Vintners; Banville Wine Merchants; Classic Wine Imports; Champagne Taittinger; Chappellet Winery; De Grazia Imports; Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.; E&J Gallo Winery (LUX Wines); GoVino; Irving Texas Convention & Visitors Bureau; Italian Wine Central; Kistler Vineyards; Lake County Winegrape Growers; Loosen Bros. USA; Louis Roederer Champagne; Mutual Trading Company; Old Bridge Cellars; Oregon Wine Board; Rhone Valley Wines; Texas Fine Wine; Vino Nobile di Montepulciano; Wilson Daniels; Wine Ring; Wines of South Africa; The World of Fine Wine.
(Silver Sponsors) Brazos Wine Imports; Cape Classics; DSWS; Domaines Albert Bichot; Empson USA; Esprit du Vin; Europvin USA; Folio Fine Wine Partners; Gerard Bertrand; Iron Horse Vineyards; Jackson Family Wines; Jeroboam; Kobrand Fine Wine and Spirits; Laureate Imports; Les Vins de Graves; Multicarte Inc.; MundoVino; New Zealand Wine; North Berkeley Imports; Old World Vines; Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance; Rioja; Serendipity Wines; Sideshow Wine Freaks Tour; Sogevinus; Terlato Wines; TexasMonthly; The Cultured Cup; Vina Cobos by Paul Hobbs; West Sonoma Coast Vintners; Wine Australia for Australian Wine; Wines of Germany; Wines of Greece; Wines of Portugal; Wine of Uruguay; Vintus; Winesellers, Ltd; Yraden Inc.
(Bronze Sponsors) Achaval Ferrer; Adelsheim; Alexander Valley Vineyards; Almaviva; Ambiente; Araex Brands; Arinzano; Austrian Wine; Avignonesi; Barnett Vineyards; Becker Vineyards; Bellavista; Bending Branch Winery; Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana; Champagne Jacquart; Classic Wines Bonafide Wine Estates; Clos du Val; Compagnie Medocaine des Grands Crus; Constellation Brands; Copain Wines; Cornell Vineyards; Craft + Estate; Crimson Wine Group; Dalla Terra Winery District; Dunstan Wines; Ehlers Estate; Emeritus Vineyards; Fisher Vineyards; Flowers Vineyard & Winery; Fredrick Wildman & Sons; Gonzales Byass; Groth Vineyards & Winery; Hahn Family Wines; Hanzell; Hently Farm; The Hess Collection; Hope Family Wines; Jordan Winery; Joseph Phelps Vineyards; Keenan Napa Valley; Lang & Reed Wine Company; Le Grand Courtage; Leonard Locascio Selections; Lede Family Wines; Left Coast Cellars; Lewis Wines; Llano Estacado; Long Meadow Ranch; Messina Hof Winery & Resort; Meteor Vineyard; Mionetto USA; Ontanon; Pahlmeyer Wayfarer; Patz & Hall; Penfolds; Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance; Premium Port Wines; R & R Selections; Ramey Wine Cellars; Ranchos de Ontiveros; Revana Family Vineyard; Revelry Vintners; Rex Hill; Rodney Strong Vineyards; Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans; SM Wine Group; Spring Mountain Vineyard; Ste. Michelle Wine Estates; St. Supery Estate Vineyards & Winery; Tabali; Talley Vineyards; Tamber Bey; Trefethen Family Vineyards; Torbreck; Villa Maria; Ventisquero; Vineyard Brands; Vinkara; Vino del Sol; Vintage Point; William Chris Vineyards; ZD Wines; Zuccardi.
ABOUT TEXSOM
Founded in 2005, the TEXSOM conference was started by Master Sommeliers James Tidwell and Drew Hendricks to help promote professional wine service standards, outline paths for further wine education and certification, and raise public awareness about the professional standards and certifications for sommeliers. Today the conference draws more than 1,200 attendees, of whom more than 800 are sommeliers and other beverage industry professionals. In addition to the conference, the group also manages the TEXSOM International Wine Awards, one of the largest, most respected, and longest-running in the United States.
