After two months of study, tasting and competition, Vietnam Best Sommelier in Italian Wines 2026 reached its finale in Hanoi. Across two days at Casa Italia, sommeliers and hospitality professionals gathered around the language of Italian wine, tracing its terroirs, testing expertise and celebrating the craft behind every thoughtful pour.
Italian wine has never been a single story. It unfolds through altitude and coastline, volcanic soil and limestone, native grapes and centuries of regional tradition. To understand it is to move beyond labels and appellations into a landscape shaped as much by culture as by climate.
That sense of discovery defined the closing chapter of Vietnam Best Sommelier in Italian Wines 2026, organised by ICHAM and staged at Casa Italia in Hanoi on 28 and 29 September. The programme began with “The Italian Wines Journey – From North to South, From Terroir to Taste”, a masterclass co-organised with Don Vino. Designed for professionals from restaurants and hotels, the session approached Italian wine through geography, exploring how distinct terroirs translate into character, structure and flavour.
More than a technical tasting, it offered a reminder of what makes Italy endlessly compelling at the table. Each region carries its own rhythm, and with it, a different expression of place.
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The following day shifted the focus from vineyard to sommelier. Three finalists stepped into the Grand Finale, bringing together knowledge, tasting precision and the composure demanded by professional service. Their performance was screened live for an audience of importers, distributors, sommeliers, wine specialists and members of Vietnam’s Ho.Re.Ca community, turning the competition into a shared study of judgement, instinct and hospitality.
For a sommelier, expertise is rarely about knowing the most. It lies in the ability to interpret, to connect a wine with a guest, a dish or a moment, and to make complexity feel effortless.
The Awards Ceremony brought the competition to its conclusion, while an invitation-only Appreciation Dinner extended the evening in a more intimate spirit. Organisers, participants and partners gathered around the table, allowing Italian wine to return to what it has always expressed so naturally through conversation, conviviality and shared experience.
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In this sense, VBSIW 2026 was never simply about identifying a winner. It was about deepening the conversation around Italian wine in Vietnam and recognising the people who give that conversation meaning.
From terroir to tasting glass, the finale offered a fitting conclusion to a journey built on curiosity, discipline and respect for one of the world’s most nuanced wine cultures.