During my many travels as a jury member with ASI, I met skilled sommeliers from all over the world, and I studied, ‘a little enviously,’ their very different and often beautiful emblems that showed which sommelier association they represented. For example, the French Sommelier Association had / has a beautiful golden bunch of grapes, and Italy had a beautiful small golden Tastevin (wine taster cup) on their sommelier uniform — I also wanted one. So, back in Denmark, I went to the kiosk at the SAS Radisson Hotel Scandinavia (where I worked in the gourmet restaurant Top of Town on the 25th floor). The kiosk didn’t sell sommelier emblems, but they had the little charming mermaid on a stone with the Danish flag as a background. I proudly wore it on my suit at the next ASI championship, and suddenly, ‘everyone’ wanted to trade emblems with me to get the sweet mermaid. So, before the next international championship, I bought a whole box of these very popular Danish Mermaid ’emblems’ at the kiosk and traded them for a large, nice collection of beautiful sommelier emblems from all over the world.

But I was well aware that our lovely mermaid probably didn’t symbolize wine or sommelier work, but I knew what emblems all the then-30 ASI member countries had and was actually surprised that none had what I considered the most important tool — a ‘Waiter’s Corkscrew’ as their emblem. So, I took my own regular corkscrew, placed it on the photocopier, and sent out a fax to several companies asking for offers on a golden corkscrew emblem — which today receives great praise from many of the now almost 70 ASI member countries. Many would love to trade for it, but they get a ‘sorry, not possible’ response. The Golden Corkscrew Emblem with D.S.F. is exclusively reserved for members of the Danish Sommelier Association who work in the restaurant industry and have proven their knowledge of beverages before becoming members.

P.S. The same corkscrew emblem in silver is reserved for DSF’s sponsors — who are very important — even though all sommelier work is still unpaid. We need sponsor support for education, events, training, and travel, etc., so that DSF, as support for the Danish restaurant industry, can ensure the service of highly qualified labor for the demanding customers from both Denmark and the rest of the world, who are increasingly visiting the many famous restaurants we are all so proud of.”