The Schlemmer Atlas has named Jochen Benz from the three-star restaurant Atelier im Bayerischen Hof in Munich "Sommelier of the Year 2019". The editors justify their decision as follows: "We are particularly impressed by the empathy of a Jochen Benz who not only knows how to meet the taste of the guest, but also how to choose the explanatory words in such a way that they are not only appropriate to the wine, but also always understandable to the guest."
For seven years now, Benz has been counted by Busche Verlag as one of the best 50 sommeliers in Germany. The magazine "Falstaff" named him the best sommelier in Germany in 2017. Before his engagement in the "Atelier" he worked, for example, in the luxury hotel Schloss Elmau, on the MS Europa, in the restaurant Überfahrt under Christian Jürgens and as sommelier and maître at Thurnher's Alpenhof in Zürs am Arlberg.
Jochen Benz also works as a lecturer at the German Wine and Sommelier School in Koblenz and has been responsible for the Gault Millau tastings in Baden together with Otto Geisel since 2010.
(uka)