Chef and sommelier teams from The Ritz, Labombe by Trivet and Cord by Le Cordon Bleu have been selected to compete in the 2026 Copa Jerez UK final. The three teams will put their Sherry pairing credentials to the test in London later this month, with the winner progressing from a competition whose international final brings together some of the world’s leading restaurant talent.
Three London restaurants have reached the UK final of Copa Jerez 2026 after judges whittled down 11 entries from across the country.
The Ritz, Labombe by Trivet and Cord by Le Cordon Bleu will each field a chef and sommelier team at the live final on 28 September at Orrery by Pierre Minotti in Marylebone.
Chef Aaron Blais and sommelier Léonard Lievin will represent The Ritz, with chef Higinio Machado and sommelier Ben Cardwell competing for Labombe by Trivet. Cord by Le Cordon Bleu will be represented by chef Karl O’Dell and sommelier Jiachen Lu.
Head judge and regular db contributor Douglas Blyde said selecting the finalists from entries spanning Scotland, Yorkshire and Northumberland as well as London had proved difficult.
“Reducing eleven entries to three was agonising,” he said. “I returned to several repeatedly because some of those left out contained ideas I would have happily eaten and drunk.”
From Manzanilla to VORS
Each team will prepare a three-course menu from scratch at the final, with every dish accompanied by a Sherry pairing.
The Ritz’s “Flavours of Pintxos” menu begins with Orkney scallop paired with Manzanilla Gabriela from Bodegas Sánchez Ayala.
Pigeon “À la Presse” with petit pois “A la España” follows alongside Lustau Oloroso Don Nuño, before a peach, almond, lemon verbena and Baron Bigod cheesecake is matched with César Florido Moscatel Dorado.
Blyde said the team had made the dining room “an extension of the kitchen”, with three dishes involving tableside finishes.
“Their wines travel from Sanlúcar through Jerez to Chipiona with intelligence, without straining to show it,” he said. “Three tableside finishes leave little tolerance for delay, but if the timing holds, this could be magnificent.”
Labombe by Trivet will take a less conventional route, beginning with pici and clams paired with Bodegas Tradición Cream VOS 20 Years.
Sea bream with courgette and brown butter hollandaise will be served with Barbadillo S. Roberto Amontillado Bota Única 2/2, followed by almond sablé with goat’s dairy and smoked hojicha alongside Lustau 30 Year VORS Palo Cortado.
Blyde described it as “the menu I am most curious to taste”, pointing in particular to the decision to begin with Cream Sherry and finish with a dry Palo Cortado.
“Its success will depend on measure: enough sweetness and smoke to intrigue, never so much that we can see the cleverness working,” he said.
Former champion returns
Cord by Le Cordon Bleu’s pairing also brings previous Copa Jerez experience to the final, with sommelier Jiachen Lu having already won the UK competition in 2022.
The team’s opening langoustine dish, incorporating claw cannelloni, chorizo crisps, sundried tomato, bok choy and an Amontillado bouillabaisse, will be paired with Osborne La Honda Amontillado En Rama.
Pigeon with black pudding, pigeon leg and Sherry pie, girolles and green peppercorn sauce follows with Barbadillo Cuco Oloroso VORS.
For dessert, foie gras ice cream with cherry and PX jam, pain d’épices and piment d’Espelette will be paired with Bodegas Tradición Cream VOS 20 Years.
“It is lavish, confident cooking, and the Sherries will cope; the question is whether our palates will,” Blyde said. “If Karl and Jiachen find sufficient freshness, spice and proportion, this could be formidable.”
Judging the final
Joining Blyde on the judging panel will be Pierre Minotti, executive chef at Orrery by Pierre Minotti, Spanish sommelier Julio Sierra, group senior sommelier at The Evolv Collection, and Zoé Donadio, who won the UK sommelier competition in 2024.
Donadio subsequently represented Great Britain alongside chef William Stoyle at the international Copa Jerez final in Spain last year.
As previously reported by the drinks business, the pair collected two awards at the 2025 competition, with Stoyle named Best Chef and their Silo London x Apricity team winning Most Creative Pairing.
Their menu ranged from sea bass and foraged coastal herbs with Manzanilla to smoked pumpkin with Palo Cortado and beetroot amazake sorbet with Cream Sherry.
Denmark ultimately took the overall title through chef Emil Rask Bahr and sommelier Andreas Kobs Laursen of Sdr. Bjert Kro, securing the country’s fourth Copa Jerez victory.
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Dining and Cooking