In the constellation of professionals who shape a great dining experience, the sommelier occupies a position of singular importance — and singular vulnerability. A chef creates in the controlled environment of a kitchen, but a sommelier must perform in real time, reading a table’s mood, anticipating desires that guests may not yet be able to articulate, and conjuring the right bottle from a cellar that might hold thousands. It is a profession that demands encyclopaedic knowledge, theatrical poise, and the emotional intelligence to transform a bottle of wine into the centrepiece of an unforgettable evening.
Mohamed Benabdallah: The World’s Best
When the World’s 50 Best Restaurants named Mohamed Benabdallah as the World’s Best Sommelier 2025, the award recognised a journey as remarkable as any in contemporary hospitality. Born in Algeria in 1984, Benabdallah’s life changed course when his family relocated to Switzerland when he was eleven. His entry into wine service began almost by accident — what he expected to be a summer job waiting tables at a restaurant in southern Spain became an apprenticeship alongside the sommelier.
His education deepened at Quique Dacosta in Denia, where mentor Jose Antonio Navarrete cultivated in him a profound appreciation for wine’s ability to elevate culinary experiences. Six formative years at Mugaritz near San Sebastián followed, during which Benabdallah progressed from sommelier to head sommelier and maître d’, learning to orchestrate front-of-house service with the precision of a conductor leading a symphony. In 2017, he joined Asador Etxebarri — the world’s number two restaurant — where he curates a list of over four hundred bottles to complement Bittor Arguinzoniz’s legendary fire-cooked cuisine. His philosophy is instructive: rather than offering wealthy guests the most expensive bottle, he surprises them with something impossible to find — because rarity, not price, represents genuine luxury.
Jhonel Faelnar: The Global Palate
At Atomix in New York, Jhonel Faelnar presided over the second edition of the World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection in 2025, a tasting that brought together more than thirty of the most influential palates in hospitality. The resulting selection honoured wines spanning nineteen countries, from established icons to bold new expressions. Faelnar, whose restaurant was named the Best Restaurant in North America in 2024, represents a new generation of sommelier-curator: professionals who shape what is poured at the world’s most celebrated dining destinations and, through that influence, change how the world thinks about wine.
The Art of Reading a Room
What distinguishes a great sommelier from a merely knowledgeable one is the ability to read human beings as fluently as wine lists. Benabdallah describes his role as being the beating heart of Etxebarri’s dining room — a presence who ensures that the seamless operation of service feels effortless, even when it requires constant calibration. The best sommeliers understand that their recommendation must consider not just the food being ordered but the occasion being celebrated, the relationships at the table, and the unspoken expectations of guests who may be spending more on a single bottle than on their hotel room.
This sensitivity explains why the World’s Best Sommelier Award evaluates innovation, deep knowledge, customer service, and outstanding communication in equal measure. Technical expertise alone is insufficient; the profession demands a form of emotional artistry that cannot be taught from textbooks.
The Wine List as Curatorial Statement
Behind the front-of-house performance lies a quieter but equally demanding discipline: the curation of the wine list itself. At the highest level, a wine list is not a catalogue but a curatorial statement — a reflection of the sommelier’s philosophy, travels, and relationships with winemakers. The 2025 World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection revealed that the finest wine professionals now seek bottles that tell stories of terroir, seasonality, and cultural heritage, valuing narrative as much as score.
This evolution reflects broader shifts in luxury dining. Today’s most discerning guests — particularly those who frequent the restaurants featured in the Michelin Guide and the World’s 50 Best — are increasingly interested in provenance, sustainable viticulture, and the human stories behind their wine. A sommelier who can articulate why a particular Barolo from a small family estate is worth discovering offers something no algorithm or wine app can replicate.
Training the Next Generation
The sommelier profession faces a paradox: never has public interest in wine been greater, yet the pipeline of trained professionals remains constrained. The rigorous path followed by figures like Benabdallah — years of apprenticeship, multilingual fluency, constant travel to vineyards, and the physical demands of cellar management — represents a commitment that fewer young hospitality professionals are willing to make.
Institutions like the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale continue to set exacting standards, but the profession’s future depends on whether it can attract talent that combines technical mastery with the interpersonal gifts that define its greatest practitioners. The World’s Best Sommelier Award, voted on by 1,120 independent restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets, helps spotlight excellence and inspire the next generation.
Why Sommeliers Matter
In an age when wine information is available on every smartphone and natural wine bars have democratised access to interesting bottles, the sommelier’s role might appear diminished. The opposite is true. As the grand restaurant returns to prominence and diners seek experiences that justify leaving the comfort of home, the sommelier emerges as the most human element of the dining experience — the professional whose knowledge, instinct, and warmth can transform a meal into a memory.
As Benabdallah puts it, the secret at Etxebarri is that salt in fire-cooked food brings out flavour, which makes guests want to drink more — and the sommelier’s art is ensuring they drink better, not just more. It is a philosophy that honours both the wine and the diner, and it is why the world’s great sommeliers remain irreplaceable.
Sources: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection, Wine Industry Advisor, Gastromasa, Basque Government, Pexels
World’s Best Sommelier Award | World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection
