France’s 2024 Best Sommelier, Bastien Debono, has added another accolade to his CV, after being voted 2026 Sommelier of the Year by his peers at the 40th Trophées Le Chef. Since 2018, Debono has been sommelier director at the two-Michelin-starred La Table de Yoann Conte in Veyrier-du-Lac, Haute-Savoie. He previously won the Master of Port award in 2021. The award comes just ahead of the Best Sommelier of the World competition, which will take place in Lisbon from 11 to 17 October. He will be part of the team alongside Pascaline Lepeltier and Florent Martin.

Debono initially trained in his home town of Sisteron before completing a further sommelier qualification at the Bonneveine de Châteaurenard hospitality college in 2012. In 2013, he won the Michel Chapoutier award for Best Student Sommelier, then went on to graduate with a degree in wine commerce and wine tourism at the Institut Guyot in Dijon. His professional experience began when he “was trained in Marseilles under Gérald Passédat, gradually building up his career in several benchmark establishments, from the Hostellerie des Gorges de Pennafort to the three-star L’Ostau de Baumanière”, according to a press statement. Before becoming France’s Best Sommelier in 2024, he reached the semi-finals of the Best Sommelier of France competition hosted by the French sommelier organisation UDSF in 2016, 2020 and 2022.

 Vitisphere