Canada's Joris Gutierrez Garcia won the 7th edition of the Best Sommelier of the Americas competition of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), competing amongst 14 national candidates. 

Its final examinations between Garcia, Colombia's Nicolas Reines, and the USA's Mark Guillaudeu were live-streamed via YouTube from Santa Rosa's Flamingo Resort in front of an audience of 100. The seven exam steps were:

* taking an aperitif order then serving them to a table of three
* service of a bottle of 1969 Santenay 1er Cru rouge to a table of four
* blind organoleptic assessment of a single glass of wine
* suggestion of a 4-course menu to highlight three wines for each course brought by the party of 3
* blind identification of two wines followed by a speculation of their aging potentials
* blind identification of 10 beverages then suggest five logical food pairings
* identifying a picture of a notable person with a few associated words about them shown on screens behind the contestants

Honing his skills at Montreal's Club Chasse et Pêche, Gutierrez Garcia noted that while listening to music helps to put him at ease, "I learn the most when traveling in a wine region." His sentiment was shared by the CEO/President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers (SCWG), Karissa Kruse, who said, "while we love any chance to show our vineyards and wines to sommeliers, showing these to the best in their craft from around the Americas gives them a chance to learn and absorb Sonoma--an amazing opportunity."

SCWG was lead sponsor of the week's activities featuring a panel presentation highlighting the work of its members to the young sommeliers whose opportunities to taste what we here take for granted is rare. "It was really interesting that given the challenges wine markets are going through," said Kruse, "that some of them are competing for the 13th time and are so passionate about giving world-class service. It gave me renewed confidence in the future of fine wines and the agriculture behind them, and made me think that we'll be just fine."

Held for the first time in the US, the event was organized by the Best USA Sommelier Association, formed in 2020 by BUSA President Doug Frost MS MW.