In early 2023, Jo Wessels was named the 7th best sommelier in the world as a representative of the South African Sommeliers Association.
The title of Meilleur Sommelier du Monde in Paris in 2023 was awarded to Raimonds Tomsons of Latvia. Since its inception in 1969, the contest has been likened to the Olympics of sommellerie.
Jo began his career in service at a coffee shop in Bloemfontein as a teenager, which he says instilled respect for the trade and the people working in it. Later, as a student at Stellenbosch, he worked in various restaurants, wine shops and tasting rooms, but it was at Rust en Vrede Restaurant where the sommelier bug really bit him.
He subsequently worked as a sommelier on luxury cruise ships. In 2015, he applied to study International Wine Business at Geisenheim University in Germany. While studying, he worked as a commis sommelier in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Wiesbaden. After Wiesbaden, Jo worked as a sommelier at Restaurant OPUS V in Mannheim for three years. Since 2022, he has worked at an innovative casual fine dining restaurant in Heidelberg called Mary Jane Space.
“Our philosophy is to treat our guests as though they are friends coming over for dinner on the weekend. It is a small team (only three chefs, and myself in service). There aren’t the hierarchies of many other fine dining establishments, nor the stress or long hours otherwise present. High-end gastronomy can be quite taxing on one’s personal health as I had a nasty burnout in 2021),” Jo explains.
Jo looks back on Family meals when he was growing up: “Sunday lunches were the highlight of the week. After church, my dad would put on classical music and fetch a special bottle from the cellar, and my mom would show off her cooking. It was mostly hearty and rustic dishes – roasts, casseroles, lasagne and often lamb from my aunt’s farm in the Karoo. It was at these lunches that I was introduced to some old Cape classic wines such as Meerlust, Alto and Rustenberg.”
“The tradition and the setting showed me how good wines shine on special occasions,” he explains.
