Norway’s Nikolai Haram Svorte won the 2026 ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition, taking the title on his first attempt. France’s Pascaline Lepeltier placed second, while Japan’s Wataru Iwata came third.
The final took place in Lisbon on 16 October before a live audience at the historic Coliseu dos Recreios. Of the 66 sommeliers representing member associations of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), 20 advanced to the semi-finals after two days of quarter-final rounds. The three finalists were announced on stage on Friday afternoon.
Haram Svorte was the first finalist to compete. He remained composed as he moved between tasting and service tasks. Before the result was announced, he told Decanter that reaching the final had surprised him. He said he was nervous but had tried to enjoy the experience, and was pleased with his tastings and menu tasks.
The win caps a strong run in Nordic competitions. Haram Svorte has won the Norwegian Sommelier Championship four years in a row, from 2023 to 2026, and took the Nordic title in 2025. A sommelier since 2018, he previously served as head sommelier at Speilsalen in Trondheim’s Britannia Hotel. He now works as product and sales manager for Norwegian Champagne importer Remuage by Moestue.
He succeeds Latvia’s Raimonds Tomsons, who won the title in Paris in 2023. Lepeltier finished fourth in that contest and Iwata fifth.
Lepeltier is beverage director at Chambers in New York and the author of One Thousand Vines. Iwata is beverage director at The Thousand Kyoto and managing director of the Japan Sommelier Association.
The UK’s Maria Boumpa, wine director at London’s two-Michelin-starred Da Terra, finished eighth in her first international competition. The contest was organised by the ASI and hosted by the Associação dos Escanções de Portugal. It was only the second time Portugal had hosted the event, following Lisbon’s first edition in 1978. India, Kenya, Lebanon and Moldova were represented for the first time.