The inaugural World's Best Champagne Sommelier Championship (WBCS) is a groundbreaking, two-day event that crowns the World’s Best Champagne Sommelier - the world’s ultimate Champagne expert!
However, this isn't just another closed-door sommelier concours. For the first time on this scale, everyday champagne lovers can step out of the audience to test their own knowledge alongside world-class sommeliers and industry celebrities.
Hosted during the Riga Wine & Champagne Festival’s signature Bubble Parade, the WBCS breaks the traditional wine competition mold. While the primary goal is to crown the undisputed Champion - the most knowledgeable and technically skilled Champagne sommelier in the world - the event brings unprecedented twist and accessibility to the format. Much like a mass-participation race following an elite marathon, regular champagne enthusiasts are invited to rub shoulders with the pros and test their Champagne knowledge in a parallel setting.
The Championship features two distinct fields: 20 elite professional sommeliers competing for the crown, and 100 champagne enthusiasts joining the action!
20
Reserved for top-tier professional sommeliers worldwide to guarantee a world-class field of play.
Applications:Open November 21, 2026, through January 31, 2027.
Selection:Reviewed and approved by the Championship Jury based on merit, track record, and achievements.
Entry Fee:No fee for qualified candidates based on Jury review.
SUBMIT APPLICATION100
places left
Open to champagne lovers, writers, bloggers, and passionate fans looking to put their palates to the test!
Applications:Open November 21, 2026, through February 28, 2027.
How It Works:First come, first served - registration closes the moment we hit 100 participants!
Entry Fee:€499. An all-access pass to the Championship tests, tastings, lunches and/or dinners, exceptional champagnes, entry to Bubble Parade, all while rubbing shoulders with world-class Champagne celebrities. (Partial or full waivers available for students, educators, and key Champagne advocates).
SUBMIT APPLICATIONThursday, April 1, 2027
Competitors and judges land in Riga for participant briefings and the official Opening Ceremony.
Friday, April 2, 2027
To truly rank everyone on the same global scale, Day 1 is practically identical for both Pros and Champagne Lovers! It is a rigorous day of evaluation testing the sheer depth of everyone’s expertise across the exact same core modules:
The Only Difference? The Pros will also face high-pressure Service Simulations (technical table service and high-stress hospitality tasks), while the Champagne Lovers get to skip the service tasks!
Saturday, April 3, 2027
While Day 1 tests everyone on the same brutal baseline, Day 2 is where the paths split. It is an interactive, high-energy spectacle where finalists take the stage in front of judges, chefs, and hundreds of cheering fans!
Venue:Hanzas Perons (Open to the public during the Bubble Parade and Champagne + Chefs lunch)
Every answer, every sip, conclusion and stage moment translates into points.
Our international jury scores both fields rigorously to forge an official Global Champagne Rank for every participant at the end of the event. Here is what it takes to climb the leaderboard:
Deep theoretical and technical Champagne knowledge.
Theoretical knowledge (testing alongside the pros!).
Elite blind tasting and palate precision.
Elite blind tasting and palate precision.
Flawless, high-pressure table service.
World-class communication and hospitality.
On-stage showmanship and the ability to win over the crowd.
Passion, flair, and showmanship for the Top 10 finalists. Zero service tasks here just Champagne love!
Founder, Riga Wine & Champagne
Champagne Writer & Educator, ChampagneGuide.net
2023 ASI Best Sommelier of the World
President, Latvian Sommelier Association
2007 ASI Best Sommelier of the World (TBC)
Invited Grower / Champagne House Owner
Global WBCS Rank for Everyone! No one leaves empty-handed.
Every single participant - Pro or Champagne Lover - walks away with an official medal and a certificate detailing their official Global Champagne Sommelier Rank!
World’s Best Champagne Sommelier (1st Place):€5,000* cash prize, the official Champion trophy, and the ultimate global title for outstanding precision and professionalism.
Two Excellence Awards (2nd & 3rd Place):€2,500* cash prize each, celebrating finalists who display exceptional mastery and immense future promise.
Audience Choice Award:€1,500* cash prize for the finalist who captures the crowd’s hearts with natural charm, stage presence, and hospitality charisma.
*Prior to any tax deductions
Champion Lover (1st Place):A special Jeroboam of Champagne + Champion trophy.
2nd & 3rd Place:A special Magnum of Champagne each.
Top 100 Recognition:Every amateur participant receives a commemorative participation medal and official certificate confirming their global rank among the Top 100 Champagne lovers in the world!
Bottle sizes, to scale
Some 34,000 hectares of vines across 319 villages in five départements, in four regions. Each region has its own grape, soil and style.
Select a region to zoom in
Four regions, three grapes
The vineyard lies about 150 km east of Paris, at the northern limit of where grapes ripen reliably. Chalk, a cool climate and three grape varieties are what the four regions share; what sets them apart is which grape leads and what it grows on.
Explore a region
Pinot Noir on chalk
A forested plateau between Reims and Épernay, with vines wrapped around its flanks in a horseshoe. This is Pinot Noir country. The north-facing slopes of Verzenay and Verzy give taut, structured wines; the south-facing slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay give riper, fuller ones.
Grands crus · 9
Sub-regions
Meunier along the river
The vineyard follows the Marne west from Tours-sur-Marne, past Épernay, to beyond Château-Thierry. The valley is frost-prone and the soils turn to clay, marl and sand, which suits late-budding Meunier: supple, fruit-forward wines. The Grande Vallée around Aÿ is the exception, with Pinot Noir on chalk.
Grands crus · 2
Sub-regions
Chardonnay on chalk
An east-facing chalk escarpment running south from Épernay. It is planted almost entirely with Chardonnay and is the home of blanc de blancs: precise, mineral wines that can age for decades. The region also takes in the Chardonnay slopes further south and east.
Grands crus · 6
Sub-regions
Pinot Noir on Kimmeridgian marl
The southern vineyard, in the Aube, more than 100 km from Épernay and closer to Chablis than to Reims. Pinot Noir grows on Kimmeridgian marl, the same limestone and clay as Chablis, giving round, generous, fruit-driven wines. It makes up nearly a quarter of the appellation.
Grands crus
None. The Côte des Bar has no grand cru or premier cru villages.
Sub-regions
Vineyards, rivers and borders: IGN (BD TOPO, BD CARTO, ADMIN EXPRESS). Village positions and outlines: geo.api.gouv.fr. Region outlines are indicative.
Every bottle in the championship is kept and served at the right temperature in Liebherr wine cabinets. In a blind tasting, temperature is part of fairness.
NECom, one of the leading event agencies in the Baltics!
We have successfully developed the Rimi Riga Marathon, created campaigns for a series of leading Latvian companies, established the capital’s music festival Pink Noise Riga, and tirelessly cultivated wine culture in the Baltics!
Our founder, Aigars Nords, was the first in the Baltics to obtain the highest WSET diploma in wine studies. He has traveled to countless wine regions around the world, finished the wine marathon in Médoc, and published the all time best-selling book on wine in the Latvian language – “Vīns un Nords” (Wine and Nords)!
