New champions were crowned at this year's Wine and Dessert Pairing Contest, an annual competition in Lithuania where teams of pastry chefs and sommeliers create and present the best wine and dessert combinations.
Potatoes, caviar, freeze-dried plankton, meadowsweet, paprika, rye bread, sour cream, saffron, potato peels, pine oil, thyme, beetroot, Japanese maple leaves, rowan berries, and porcini mushrooms—this isn’t the shopping list of an eccentric chef but rather a glimpse into the desserts featured at the 15th edition of what’s considered the sweetest and most aesthetic culinary event in Lithuania: the Wine and Dessert Pairing Contest.
This year’s anniversary edition crowned one of Lithuania’s most prominent chefs under 30, Tadas Eidukevičius, and his British-German sommelier Alois Herrmann, both representing the award-winning Vilnius restaurant DEMO.
Their winning creation—a daring composition of caviar, caramel, Jerez wine, meadowsweet sabayon, rice crackers, and freeze-dried plankton—found its perfect counterpart in a glass of Jura wine from Domaine de la Borde. The pairing triumphed over 22 other teams, earning DEMO the coveted Golden Fork Award.
And in a delightful twist, the runner-up also turned to caviar for inspiration. Vilnius restaurant Gaspar’s paid “A Tribute to the Potato” with an inventive dessert of potato cake, sour cream, oscietra caviar, potato caramel, burnt potato skin powder, and potato crisps—paired with the ice wine Liliac & Kracher (Transylvania, 2023).
See the full list of winners below.
In Lithuania, the Wine and Dessert Pairing Contest has firmly established itself among the country’s most prestigious culinary events, uniting top restaurants each year to showcase their most imaginative and indulgent creations. But for contest founder Arūnas Starkus, the vision has always reached beyond national borders—to make this celebration of sweet creativity an international affair. And that dream is now well on its way to becoming reality.
In February, Latvia hosted its first edition of the competition in Riga, where restaurant Kest claimed the top honor. On November 16, Estonia will follow suit with its inaugural event in Tallinn, held during the Tasty Estonia Festival.
It may take time for the contests in Latvia and Estonia to reach the same level of influence as in Lithuania—where the event already shapes restaurant menus and boosts sweet wine sales—but it's a promising start. Leading restaurants across the Baltics are signing on to compete in this new format, while an esteemed international jury prepares to take on the challenge of tasting and judging an impressive number of creative pairings.
Both sugar and wine were once considered luxuries reserved for the upper class—celebrated, coveted, and praised. Today, however, their consummation often carries a political or medical stigma, with society urging moderation to the point of avoidance, shaming those who indulge in wine or desserts, and discouraging them from enjoying these simple pleasures.
“This attitude hinders progress,” says Arūnas Starkus, founder of the Wine and Dessert Pairing Contest and the Lithuanian Sommelier School. “Through this competition, we want to inspire restaurants to rediscover creativity in dessert making and to remind people that fine wine and dessert, enjoyed in moderation, are among life’s genuine joys—not sins to be demonized, but pleasures to be savored. A 'Falstaffian' lesson, one might say.”
Because of Lithuania’s strict alcohol laws, the contest still operates somewhat under the radar in its home country. “You won’t see it on national television and only a handful of journalists dare to write about it,” Starkus adds. “We’re still pretending alcohol doesn’t exist in Lithuania, while ignoring the young, talented sommeliers who dedicate themselves to their craft—and probably read more than many politicians. Taking the contest abroad is our way of speaking openly about what we can’t say at home.”
Most of the restaurants participating announced that the desserts, presented at the contest, will also appear on their dinner menus. Be sure to ask for them when visiting Lithuania’s TOP 10:
