Lisbon Calling: Denmark's Jonathan Gouveia MS Goes for the World Title

From the left: Jonathan Gouveia and Tim Vollerslev. Image: DSF

From 11 to 17 October, sommeliers from 66 countries meet in Lisbon for the ASI Contest Best Sommelier of the World 2026. Denmark's candidate is Jonathan Gouveia MS, and he arrives with unfinished business.

Three Years of Build-Up, One Week in Lisbon

The world championship for sommeliers comes around every three years, and every national title, continental final and late-night tasting group in between points towards it. This is the 18th edition, and it brings the contest back to Lisbon for the first time since 1978, when Italy's Giuseppe Vaccarini took the title. The host is the Associação dos Escanções de Portugal, one of the four associations that founded ASI in the first place.

The title currently belongs to Raimonds Tomsons of Latvia, who won in Paris in 2023.

The week tests the whole job. Candidates are examined on theory and gastronomy, blind taste wines, spirits and other drinks, pair drinks with food and work through complex service tasks. The quarterfinals run on 12 and 13 October, the semifinals on 15 October, and the Grand Final follows on Friday 16 October on the stage of the historic Coliseu dos Recreios. The winner is announced straight after.

For all the technical demands, ASI is clear about what it is really looking for. President William Wouters describes the sommelier's core skill as “the ability to connect people to a moment, through a glass, with care and intention.” Reigning champion Raimonds Tomsons puts it more plainly: “You need to read the consumer to understand what they are expecting.”

Denmark's Candidate

Jonathan Gouveia did not plan a life in wine. He sent his CV to the Michelin restaurants in Copenhagen, two of them answered, and one suggested he either train as a waiter or learn about wine. He chose wine, and started at Dansk Sommelier Uddannelse in January 2017.

Since then the results have come steadily: the Danish Under-30 title, Danish Sommelier Champion in 2021 (beating Andrea Sala of Geranium in the final), Best Sommelier Nordic 2023. In July 2025 he passed the final part of the Master Sommelier exam in Vienna, becoming one of only three Danes to hold the title.

Jonathan Gouveia. Image: DSF

It was never a straight line. His first trip abroad, to a young sommelier competition in Mexico, went badly. He failed his first attempt at the Advanced exam and emailed the board the next day to ask for a resit. What turned it around was advice from Katrine Larsen, Denmark's first Master Sommelier, and a new way of tasting: instead of blind wines without context, he poured the ones he kept confusing side by side. Sancerre next to Albariño, again and again. “Suddenly I wasn't guessing. I was understanding,” he says.

The study habits are just as hands-on. Flashcards, endless repetition and wine maps pinned to his bedroom walls, which he looked at every day. When a cancellation handed him a place at the Master Sommelier exam, he had three months to prepare instead of the usual nine. He passed service on the first attempt.

He knows the difference between an exam and a competition. “In competitions, it's fast-paced, and you don't necessarily have to be great at everything,” he told sommelier.dk after his MS result. “With the MS exam, you do.” In Lisbon he needs both: the breadth the MS demanded and the speed and nerve a stage demands.

Unfinished Business from Belgrade

The last time Jonathan competed at this level was the ASI Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa & Middle East in Belgrade in November 2024. He finished fourth. When the rankings were read out, his name came first, which meant he had missed the three-person final by a single place.

If his track record says anything, it is that a near miss tends to make him sharper. “There's a lot of learning in failure,” he says. Every setback on the way to his MS was followed by a rethink of how he tasted and studied, and then a pass.

The three who went through were Mikk Parre of Estonia, who won, Pascaline Lepeltier of France and Martynas Pravilonis of Lithuania. All three are on the start list in Lisbon.

They are not the only familiar names. Reeze Choi (China) arrives as Best Sommelier of Asia & Pacific, Maria Boumpa carries the UK after a fast rise, and Paolo Saccone (Australia) passed the Master Sommelier exam in the same year as Jonathan. Closer to home, Emma Ziemann represents Sweden, Nikolai Haram Svorte Norway, Dmitrii Frolov Finland and Oddný Ingólfsdóttir Iceland.

Sponsored banner from H.J.Hansen

A High Danish Bar

Danish sommeliers have been close to the top of this contest before. Nina Jensen finished second in the world twice in a row, in Antwerp in 2019 and in Paris in 2023. That is the bar Jonathan is measured against at home, and it says something about how far Danish sommellerie has come in a decade.

It also fits with something Jonathan has said he wants to build: a stronger culture of study around wine in Denmark, alongside the emotional, food-first way Danish restaurants already work with it. A good week in Lisbon would be a loud argument for that.

How to Follow Along

The Grand Final runs on Friday 16 October from 14:30 to 18:30 Lisbon time, which is 15:30 to 19:30 in Denmark. If you are in Lisbon, tickets cost €35 through the Coliseu dos Recreios. Everyone else can watch it live on ASI's YouTube channel. Jonathan won't be the only Dane in Lisbon: Tim Vollerslev, founder and vice president of Dansk Sommelier Forening, will represent the association at the contest and at ASI's gatherings during the week. Dansk Sommelier Forening will follow Jonathan through the week on Instagram and here on sommelier.dk.

Good luck, Jonathan. Denmark is watching.