Hong Kong sommelier Reeze Choi has been named the winner of the ASI Asia-Pacific Best Sommelier 2025 competition, triumphing after four days of rigorous contests in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Choi outperformed top sommeliers from across the region, including challengers from China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, and Singapore.
Yi Ying Yong of 67 Pall Mall Singapore, representing Malaysia, took second place, while Kazakhstan’s Ratmir Akhmetov finished third. Choi will be repsenting China to compete in the ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2026.
In a post on social media, Choi expressed gratitude to the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), his fellow contestants, and the many supporters who had encouraged him along the way.
“With the HKSA Best Sommelier of Hong Kong 2012 being my first competition, 2025 is the 13th year of my sommelier competition life. A gold medal at an international competition was always so near and yet so far,” Choi wrote. “I can’t recall how many competitions I have taken part in, and how much study, training, and money I have put into competing. This year, I’ve finally reached the Grail. The world championship will be a strong motivation for improvement. And I will do my best to fight for it. But with or without it, this is already a beautiful journey and an important milestone.”
Choi is no stranger to breaking barriers. In 2023, he made history as the first Chinese candidate to reach the final of the World’s Best Sommelier competition, where he placed third. His latest victory marks another milestone in a career defined by persistence and hard work.
The grand finale, hosted by 2023 World’s Best Sommelier Raimonds Tomsons, put finalists through a series of demanding and time-pressured challenges designed to test memory, composure, service skills, and breadth of knowledge.
Tasks included identifying leading wine personalities from projected photos, describing a white wine in four minutes, and creating a food and wine pairing menu for five specific wines in just six minutes. Contestants also had to decant and serve a magnum to a table of six guests within six minutes, match fifteen international names to their corresponding islands, and blind taste six different drinks in five minutes.
These exercises highlighted not only technical skill and knowledge but also the poise and elegance required of a world-class sommelier.
Outside the contest stage, Choi has built a respected career as a consultant and educator. In 2020, he founded Somm’s Philosophy, a company offering sommelier and wine consulting services to restaurants, wineries, merchants, and wine organizations across Asia.
Discover more from Vino Joy News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
