For anyone in the wine world, you must have heard of the "Best Sommelier in the world" competitions.
Organized by A.S.I, (Association de la Sommellerie International), the competition is one of the most difficult challenges in the world. It can take years, or decades to make it into the finals. The competition exists since 1969 and held every 3 years
Competitors must be members of their country's local chapter and win their regional, then country-wide competition. A.S.I also organizes the contests of Europe, Asia&Oceania and the Americas.
I was fortunate to compete in the 2009 Best Sommelier in the Americas and placed 4th, after Brazil, and Canada taking 2nd and 1st place. I had just passed the Master Sommelier exam and this competition was way harder! The goal is to get as many points possible in all aspects of theory, service, tasting, language, performance, panache, dress and salesmanship.
You would definitely need some good practice to understand the rules of the game.
I put together some past theory exams. By the way, you have to compete in a language that is not your mother tongue. I'm fluent in 4 languages so I could compete in English, but still have European and Asian judges that may challenge your international language skills.
Take the test.
Past winners of The Best Sommeliers of the World
1969 - Armand Melkonian (F)
1971 - Piero Sattanino (IT)
1978 - Giuseppe Vaccarini (IT)
1983 - Jean-Luc Pouteau (F)
1986 - Jean-Claude Jambon (F)
1989 - Serge Dubs (F)
1992 - Philippe Faure-Brac (F)
1995 - Shinya Tasaki (JP)
1998 - Markus del Monego (DE)
2000 - Olivier Poussier (F)
2004 - Enrico Bernardo (I)
2007 - Andreas Larsson (SE)
2010 - Gérard Basset (F)
2013 - Paolo Basso (CH)
2016 - Jon Arvid Rosengren (SE)
The Best Sommeliers of Europe
1988 - Serge Dubs (F)
1990 - Mikael Söderström (SE)
1992 - Bernd Kreis (DE)
1994 - Eric Beaumard (F)
1996 - Gerard Basset (GB)
1998 - Eric Duret (F)
2000 - Franck Thomas (F)
2002 - Enrico Bernardo (IT)
2004 - Andreas Larsson (SE)
2006 - Robert Lie (NO)
2008 - Isa Bal (TR)
2010 - Paolo Basso (CH)
2013 - Arvid Rosengren (SE)