We’re not even halfway through 2017 but it has already proved a vintage year for Peninsula sommelier Julia Sewell.

Julia has just taken out the Ruinart Challenge UK for sommeliers, a competition in which she finished runner-up last year after reaching the finals of the Australian Challenge in 2014 and 2015. Her response upon hearing she was the winner this time? “Pure joy,” said Julia. “I’d done the competition a few times so it was very rewarding to finally win.”

The Challenge was held on May 30 and saw 20 sommeliers from restaurants across the UK battle it out in a blind tasting, in which the sommeliers were asked to correctly identify a line-up of four rosés.

Julia’s now off to enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Champagne, France, with the winners from the other countries in July. She’s thoroughly looking forward to sharing her stories and experiences with the other winners and absorbing as much knowledge as she can.

The Toorak College Dux of 2008 has been studying as a sommelier for nearly five years and has been enjoying her work at The Fat Duck as junior assistant head sommelier.

Despite the exciting win, Julia’s favourite part of the experience was the seminar. “They go into a good level of technical details that doesn’t feel like it’s being simplified for the sake of brevity,” Julia said.

With many rewarding sides to her career (besides all that fine-tasting wine), her favourite is working with a product that combines art and science, giving her “the opportunities for technical, cultural, philosophical and social expansion of the mind”.

Travelling opportunities are another amazing perk of the business, and Julia also compliments the mentality of other like-minded wine lovers. “The culture of mentorship in this industry is great in that it allows you to exchange experiences and continue learning.”

The generosity of other restaurants and winemakers in welcoming travellers really radiates a brilliant community spirit and helps Julia to grow.

We’ll drink to that!