Haram Svorte was crowned in Lisbon on 16 October after a final staged before a live audience at the historic Coliseu dos Recreios. Pascaline Lepeltier of France finished second and Wataru Iwata of Japan third.
A total of 66 sommeliers, each representing an ASI member association, competed in the 18th edition of the competition. After two days of quarterfinals, 20 semi-finalists were announced on 14 October. The three finalists were revealed on stage on Friday afternoon.
First to take the stage, Haram Svorte set the tone with his composure, remaining calm and collected throughout as he moved from tasting to service.
Speaking to Decanter after his performance, and before the result was announced, he admitted reaching the final had taken him by surprise. ‘I was nervous, but I was just trying to enjoy it,’ he said. ‘I was very happy with the tastings. I think they were very clean and logical, and the menu tasks were good too. I had a great time, and I am very, very proud.’
His victory crowns several years of dominance in Nordic competitions. He has won the Norwegian Sommelier Championship four years running (2023–2026) and took the Nordic title in 2025. A sommelier since 2018 and former head sommelier at Speilsalen in Trondheim’s Britannia Hotel, Haram Svorte now works as product and sales manager at Norwegian Champagne importer Remuage by Moestue.
Haram Svorte succeeds Latvia’s Raimonds Tomsons, who won the title in Paris in 2023 where Lepeltier finished fourth and Iwata fifth.
Lepeltier is beverage director at Chambers in New York; Decanter Rising Star 2024 recipient and author of One Thousand Vines. Iwata is a beverage director at The Thousand Kyoto and managing director of the Japan Sommelier Association.
Meanwhile, UK's candidate Maria Boumpa, wine director at two-Michelin-starred Da Terra in London, finished eighth in what marked her first international competition.
The competition was organised by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and hosted by the Associação dos Escanções de Portugal, marking only the second time Portugal has hosted the contest, almost half a century after Lisbon first staged it in 1978.
India, Kenya, Lebanon and Moldova were represented for the first time.
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