Martin Mortensen returns to win Best Sommelier of Sweden 2026
After a year’s pause from competing, Martin Mortensen from Vinkällaren Grappe has won the Best Sommelier of Sweden championship, at an event held in Stockholm on 19 April.
The 2026 edition of the Best Sommelier of Sweden championship was an intense and tightly knit affair. Although the three finalists hailed from quite different backgrounds, their commitment to and complete focus on the tasks at hand were equally impressive, and most onlookers agreed that this year’s competition was one of the most difficult yet.
Winner Martin Mortensen has been competing for many years and also holds – amongst other distinctions – the title of Best sommelier of the Nordics 2024. The runners-up, Isak Lauridsen from Adam/Albin and Ellen Lindegren from Gondolen, are both current members of the Swedish National Sommelier Team and took first place in the Swesomm Junior Challenge 2025 and first place in the Lily Bollinger Award 2024 respectively. Both will go on to compete in the Best Sommelier of the Nordics which takes place this fall in Iceland.
Memorable moments during the day included a boisterous bottle of bitters, missing jury members and former competitor Maya Samuelsson retelling stories from her competing days, which included creating vegetarian menus with wine pairings on the fly and forgetting to spit during spirit tastings. Three-time Swedish champion Emma Ziemann shared insights on how to handle pressure during competitions as well as her build-up towards the ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2026 taking place in Lisbon this fall.
On being asked whether he had his sights set on a place in the European or global sommelier championships, Martin simply stated that “We’ll handle that question tomorrow,” before the stage was stormed by happy onlookers eager to congratulate (and drench the victor in Champagne).
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