A sommelier from St. Barth in the semifinals of the Caribbean competition

His name is Antonin Jutten, and he works as head sommelier at the Le Barthélemy hotel. On March 15 in Guadeloupe, he will represent Saint Barthélemy in the semi-finals of the French Antilles' best sommelier competition. Ten specialists from the island, both men and women, took part in the competition organized by the Union de la Sommellerie de Saint-Barthélemy in the main hall of the Gustavia harbor master's office last weekend. Master sommelier and president of the Union of Saint Barthélemy, Yann Rinaldo expressed his "pride" at having been able to bring together ten "talented" participants for the 2026 edition of the competition. "Long live healthy competition, self-questioning, the desire to move forward, and performance," he said. "All of our brilliant candidates demonstrated remarkable humility, professionalism, and kindness."
During the competition, the candidates had to answer 100 questions in 100 minutes! They then underwent a five-minute blind tasting of a wine that had been decanted an hour before the start of the competition. At the end of the competition, Marjorie Rinaldo was declared the winner. She beat Delphine Pastourel and Antonin Jutten. "As the semi-final is exclusively reserved for 'active' sommeliers, it will naturally be Antonin Jutten, head sommelier at the Barthélémy Hotel and Spa, who will travel to Guadeloupe in March for the final stages, accompanied by the president of the UDS-SB," according to an online publication by the Union de la Sommellerie de Saint-Barth.
In Guadeloupe, the island's representative will face his counterparts from Saint Martin, Martinique, French Guiana, and Guadeloupe.