Here Are China’s Top 10 Sommeliers

Sol Yang

Sol Yang is the owner of Les Cinq Wutian Cellar (Les Cinq 伍田酒窖), a wine retailer in Shenzhen. Cooperated with another sommelier, Yang also co-founded Wine Universe by Little Somm, where he worked as the sommelier before starting his retail business. Wine Universe is a trendy bar brand with branches in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

In recent years, Yang kept honing his skills – and his effort got rewarded by better competition results. In 2021, Yang won the championship in China’s Best Sommelier Competition of French Wine, a remarkable achievement following his  third place finish the previous  year. He also took home the third prize in the 2019 China’s Best Sommelier Competition of German Wine.

Facing economic slowdown challenges, Yang believes that the key is enhancing customer service through personal and thoughtful communication. .

“We need to handle the requests of customers better,” Yang said, “and at the same time, provide more emotional values.”