Marina Kitchen Sommelier and Bar Manager Joshua Orr is advancing to the Top|Somm US Sommelier Championship, organized by the Guild of Sommeliers. Orr won the Top|Somm West Regional Competition, which took place February 24, 2014, in Los Altos, CA, advancing him to the national finals. The top six winners of the Regional Competition (four regional winners plus two wild card spots) are moving on to the US Championships, taking place May 4, 2014 in San Francisco, CA, and vie for the Top|Somm trophy and title.
The Top|Somm US Sommelier Championship is a competition for wine service professionals administered under the framework of the Guild of Sommeliers. The competition is judged by Master Sommeliers and governed by the standards of the US Court of Master Sommeliers. Each competition recognizes excellence and encourages mastery of wine and spirit knowledge and service. Top|Somm allows wine service professionals to fine-tune their skills and compete for the Top|Somm.
The US Championship competition format is based on the Advanced Sommelier Exam conducted by the Court of Master Sommeliers. The format features three areas of competition: theory, practical service skills, and tasting. The theory portion consists of a written theory exam similar to the online preliminaries. Competitors also participate in a practical service skills test and a blind tasting.
Joshua Orr holds an Advanced Sommelier certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently preparing for the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination. Orr was recently named Ranch & Coast’s 2014 Best Sommelier in San Diego for the second time in history (Orr first won the honors in 2012). In 2013, Orr was named a Top 25 Sommelier in the 2013 Court of Master Sommelier’s Top Sommelier Competition, and earned Marina Kitchen Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Wine List Award. In 2012, he was the 4th Place finisher in the Chaine de Rotisseurs’ Best Young Sommelier National Competition. In addition to wine certifications, Orr is certified as a specialist of sake from the Sake Education Council and holds a bartender’s certification through Pernod Ricard’s Bar Smarts program.
Posted by Meghan Ogilvie
4/7/14
