Chef Jason Atherton and Executive Sommelier Roxane Dupuy from the Social Company will be joined by JancisRobinson.com writer Tamlyn Currin to judge the live competition finals at one Michelin-star City Social on 30 September 2024
The search is on for UK sommelier and chef teams to compete in the 2024 UK finals of Copa Jerez and win their place to represent Britain at the prestigious international culinary competition in Spain next year.
Entries are now open to UK competitors. Chef and sommelier teams are invited to create a three-course Sherry inspired menu to impress and dazzle judges. Rules are simple: each course should be expertly matched with a different Sherry and one of the dishes should include Sherry wine as an ingredient.
Three selected finalists will have the opportunity to serve their dishes and wine pairings to the very best in their field: Chef Jason Atherton, Sommelier Roxane Dupuy, and Wine Expert and judges Chair Tamlyn Currin. Teams will present their proposals to the jury in front of a live audience in the beautiful setting of one Michelin star restaurant City Social on Monday 30 September 2024.
César Saldaña, president of the Consejo Regulador de Jerez y Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda, says: ’We are absolutely thrilled to launch our UK competition and announce that City Social will be the home of the XI Copa Jerez UK Finals 2024. We would like to thank Irha and Jason Atherton for hosting this year’s competition. Their passion for creative and refined dining represents the very essence of Copa Jerez and we couldn’t think of a better partnership.’
He continues: ‘For the past 20 years, Copa Jerez has encouraged excellence and creativity at the highest level, inviting chefs and sommeliers to work together to unleash Sherry’s food pairing potential. The UK has produced memorable dishes and magical pairings. We can’t wait to see what 2024 will bring and look forward to the entries from top UK teams’.
UK finals winners will be invited on an all-expenses paid trip to Jerez to represent their country against seven other nations in the International Grand Final of the XI Copa Jerez. This will be held in the Spring of 2025 as part of the Copa Jerez Forum & Competition, the largest gastronomic congress on Sherry Wine.
The two runner-up teams will earn a place on the Certified Sherry Educator Course in Jerez in 2005 for an immersive three-day course and the opportunity to gain the coveted Sherry Educator qualification.
UK chefs and sommeliers can find out more and download an entry pack by visiting www.sherry.wine/copa-jerez. Entries can be submitted until midnight on 23 August 2024.
Follow @sherrywinesjerez #copajerez #sherrylover.
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For more information and to request images, please contact celine@otaria.co.uk.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Copa Jerez
Copa Jerez is a bi-annual international culinary competition. Organised by Sherry Wine, it encourages Chef and Sommelier teams to explore Sherry’s versatility and food pairing potential by creating a three-course menu perfectly matched with a range of Sherry wines.
Eight countries take part in the competition. Each run their own national finals to find the top team and best pairings. Finalists battle it out, live, on stage at the international competition finals held in Jerez.
The last, 2022, UK finals were won by Chef Gail Ge’er and Sommelier Jiachen Lu from Dinings Restaurant. They impressed the judges with their Japanese influenced dishes and inventive Sherry pairings. Gail and Jiachen went on to represent the UK at the 2023 international finals in Jerez, conceding to Denmark for the title but winning starter pairing of the tournament with a dish of Cured Mackerel, Yuzu Vinaigrette, Olive Salsa and Sisho Mayonnaise served with Tio Pepe Fino en Rama.
Over the past two decades, UK finalists have included teams from prestigious restaurants. The previous three editions were no exception, with The River Café (2020), Texture (2018), The Ritz (2016) representing the UK at the international finals in Jerez.
About the 2024 UK competition
Chefs and Sommeliers can view competition rules and submit an entry at www.sherry.wine/copa-jerez. All entries – including full details of recipes and pairings – will need to be submitted by midnight on 23 August 2024. Judges will review submitted entries and select the top three teams. Finalists will be announced on 4 September 2024 and will be invited to compete at the live finals at City Social on 30 September 2024.
About the 2024 UK judges
JASON ATHERTON
The first British chef to complete a stage at Ferran Adrià’s triple Michelin-starred El Bulli restaurant in Spain and a former protégé of Pierre Koffmann and Marco Pierre White, Jason spent nine years with the Gordon Ramsay Group before starting his own business, The Social Company, in 2010.
His first solo project, Pollen Street Social, which opened in Mayfair in 2011, won a Michelin star within just six months and soon spawned ‘sister’ restaurants in London and internationally. Today, The Social Company owns and operates eight award-winning restaurants, with three more set to launch in London in 2024.
ROXANE DUPUY
After completing her studies at Suze-la-Rousse, Roxane Dupuy undertook an apprenticeship at the three-Michelin-starred Le Petit Nice Passedat, followed by a stint at the Beau Rivage Palace in Switzerland.
She then moved to London, where she joined Fred Brugues at the Lecture Room and Library. During her time there, the restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars. Dupuy has since amassed an impressive array of accolades, including victory in the Swiss Ruinart Sommelier Challenge (2018), a notable 4th place in Harper’s Wines Head Sommelier Awards (2023), and recognition as the 23rd among the UK’s Top 100 Sommeliers (2023).
Earlier this year, Dupuy was recruited by Jason Atherton as Executive Sommelier for his upcoming fine-dining establishment, set to open this November in London’s Mayfair.
TAMLYN CURRIN
Tamlyn Currin is senior sustainability editor for JancisRobinson.com with a passion for regeneration, food, unsung regions and artisan producers. She was born and grew up in Zimbabwe and it wasn’t until she arrived in the UK at the age of 21 that she discovered wine for the first time.
By the time she turned 30, she was so crazy about wine that she put herself through the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma course and decided to give up a successful career to pursue her passion. She began this new chapter of her life by working for Jancis Robinson, where she has now been for nearly 17 years.
Tamlyn is obsessed with food and passionately interested in the magic between food and wine. She loves to champion unsung heroes of the wine world. Sustainability, however, is what matters most to her (she is currently studying for a BSc Hons degree in Environmental Science).
She is the winner of the Wine Writer of the Year Fortnum and Mason Award 2024 and the proud adoptive parent of Mathilde, an old Grenache Gris vine. Her mission is for generations to come to be able to enjoy beautiful wine and witness the beauty of wine regions.
