ROBB ROUNDUP: The Three-Day Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2026

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Revolution is in the air. This bunch had simply come for a good time.

Everybody wants to rule the world, but sommeliers will inherit the earth. Being meek has nothing to do with it.

This much was again evident at this year’s Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship held over three July days at St Giles Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur. They had gathered in esprit de corps and for sport. Not to best the other, but discover their own limitations and conquer themselves—the greater crusade, the battle with personal demons. To keep seeking; the more we know, the more we begin to fathom the depths of our ignorance. God is great? Greater.

And so, for the first time, the competition threw open its doors to international entries, aptly raising a team of 11 competitors to contrast with the most eventful World Cup then playing out stateside.

Three of their number were left standing for the final: Arthur Chang of 67 Pall Mall Singapore, Chin Voon Ping of Potager in Kuala Lumpur, and Aaron Liew of Grand Vin Singapore.

They were joined by wild card Yong Yi Ying, also of 67 Pall Mall, the competition’s last winner and first-runner up of the ASI Best Sommelier of Asia and Pacific 2025, and Malaysia’s representative in the ASI Best Sommelier of the World in Portugal later this year. Her barely contained exuberance was great to witness. Good luck, Ying!

In case there was any doubt, this was service as performance art; a live audition for an improv stage production—for which the competition’s co-technical directors, Somlay president Danny Leong and Justin Ho, had laid assorted booby traps with a poker face.

It soon became apparent the somm’s lot demands masochism, situational awareness, and the poise to read people and keep your balance in the many spaces in between. All the while dealing with organoleptic diversions and steeling yourself against lethal offences to the palate, besides enjoying trivial pursuit with customers and dealing with the trade. Perhaps next year, they might be climatologists too.

CREDIT ROLL

And at the end, they set the stage, cleared away the props themselves and served the audience and then guests at dinner. Not a job; a calling. That said, Arthur Chang swept home as champion, Best in Theory, Best in Service and the Cepas de Chile Award. Incredibly unassuming, from the time we met him briefly at a Margaux tasting, long may he stay so.

Chin Voon Ping, head sommelier of Potager, took first runner-up and the Best in Blind Tasting Award; his fine palate itself an invitation to dine there. Aaron Liew emerged third-runner-up, coolly thinking on his feet and convivial with it; you’d be happy for his diverse wine list. Daisuke Kawai was Best Foreign Sommelier; a shoo-in winner is hard to find.

The Malaysia Best Sommelier Award 2026 was organised by the Sommelier Association of Malaysia (Somlay) and is a member of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI). The panel of six judges comprised Lesley Liu, Head Sommelier, Odette, Singapore; Wong Yin How, founder, Vintry Cellars; Ronald Binati, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, UCSI  University; Dr Daniel Chong, Dean, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sunway University; Justin Ho, Deputy Wine Director, Park 90, Singapore; and Britt Ng, Wine Director, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore (and past winner of the competition). The panel was supported by Somlay president Danny Leong.

A quick word on the eagerly awaited public wine tasting on the day. Sorry, scanty details for lost notes! But for those willing to track them down…  the Ningxia wines, especially the ones from the producer whose desert vineyard was raised from scratch over a decade, were clean yet characterful across the range. Not yet Ao Yun or de Long Dai but the scale and ambition!

There was a Morgon as naturally elegant and uplifting as any of its pinot noir cousins. Ridge Vineyards, one of the event sponsors, showed two zinfandels through exclusive representative Fortier Wines and Spirits, the Geyserville and its younger sibling, both joyous transformations of golden light and the elements.