All about the bubbles: Swiss champagne champion crowned at IHTTI

The Swiss national final took place on September 18 at IHTTI in Neuchâtel with Reto Künzi named the new Swiss Champagne Ambassador. Tzvetan Mihaylov, IHTTI’s Wine & Bar Lecturer took home the prestigious award in 2011 and now sits on the judging panel. Read Tzvetan’s interview to learn more about the competition.

From 5 star hotels from Geneva to Zurich all the way to Neuchâtel – How was IHTTI selected to host this year’s competition?
Swiss Education Group has cooperated with Comité Champagne for over 9 years now and the idea arose to host the Swiss Finals at one of our schools. IHTTI became the natural choice with Neuchâtel’s central location in Switzerland and easy access by train.

What doors open for the winning Swiss Ambassador of Champagne?
The title, which is given for life, open doors to champagne cellars around the world from small producers to fantastic “maisons” such as such as Roederer, Krug, Ruinart, Moët or Veuve Clicquot. In the last few years, I am really pleased to see the contest getting even more popular amongst profesionals, which is attracting more heavy hitters to apply for the prestigious title.

In 2011, you won the Swiss Championship! How is the experience different as a judge?

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I definitely prefer to be a judge – it’s a lot less stressful yet I still learn so much every time.

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Its especially enriching to see how different candidates from different countreis are able to find such distinctively different ways to share their presentations.

How does this competition contribute to the education of our students?
The content is designed for professional sommeliers only, so our students cannot participate. However, we have designed a Swiss Education Group Contest based on the same model which invites our students across our campuses to compete through a tasting and presentation of 3 different wines from Champagne in front of a jury. The winning students receive a 3 day all expenses paid trip to Champagne, France with a full schedule of visits and tastings.

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The competition here in IHTTI has been opportunity to show our students how to take their champagne skills to the next level – I am sure that sooner or later we will have a Swiss Education Group alumni as Ambassador either in Switzerland or abroad!

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