Final of the Best Wine Merchant in France

Diam Bouchage has been a partner of the Best Wine Merchant competition since the first edition. In this unique year we were, of course, once again among the organisers! 

The 39 semi-finalists convened in the morning of Monday 14th September to take the qualifying tests (a questionnaire and a blind tasting) that took place at Maison de Champagne Canard-Duchêne. At the end of the day, 8 participants were then selected to participate in the final. 

The Competition Final took place on the 18th and 19th of October. This event, which should have taken place in Paris, was finally held in Bordeaux. The singer Thomas Dutronc was the patron of the event made possible by the Radisson Blue Hotel and the Cité du Vin in collaboration with the teams of the Terre de Vins magazine.

Monday the 19th was an emotion-packed day for the 8 finalists with 4 high-level tests held in the impressive Jefferson Amphitheatre. These four tests consisted of: a blind tasting of 5 liquids in 1 and a half minutes, a real world ‘live from the store’ activity, an oral presentation and finally a knowledge quiz. 

This day ended with the award ceremony and a gala dinner in the ‘La salle des colonnes’ in the Cité du Vin.

The 8 finalists received an invitation to visit our factory in Céret, in the Pyrénées Orientales to discover our manufacturing process in more detail and exchange with our teams. 

The list of winners:
Gold: Matthieu Potin, La Vignery – 78100 SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
Silver: Julien Lepage, La Vignery – 78100 SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
Bronze: David Morin, La Cave de Villiers sur Marne – 94350 VILLIERS SUR MARNE
4th: Philippe Ball, La Cave des Anges – 67480 FORSTFELD
5th: Serge Colin, Le Repaire de Bacchus De Maistre – 75018 PARIS
6th: Olivier Thibaut, La Treille d’or – 75014 PARIS
7th: Olivier Leseul, Cavavin Chelles - 77500 CHELLES
8th: Franck Naudot, Les Caves Naudot – 03700 BELLERIVE SUR ALLIER

The two special awards of this 2020 edition:
Best Young Wine Merchant Award: Alexis Zaouk, La Cave d’Alex – 92000 NANTERRE
The People’s Choice Award: Franck Naudot Les Caves Naudot – 03700 BELLERIVE SUR ALLIER

Photos from the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_hvEvc2dEI
Watch the interview with Matthieu Potin: https://www.terredevins.com/actualites/interview-matthieu-potin-meilleur-caviste-de-france-2020