Australia's leading champagne connoisseur, Bernadette O'Shea, has been named the world's foremost champagne writer at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Ms O'Shea was awarded the accolade on March 3 when she won 'the Best in the World' in the French Wine category at a prestigious award ceremony  on the first day of Paris Cookbook Fair.

Judges commended Ms O'Shea for her first book, Champagne & Chandeliers: Grand Dining Celebrations -  a coffee table book detailing extravagant and memorable dining occasions throughout history  from the worlds of politics, fashion, royalty and the arts.

Brisbane's Ms O'Shea said she was ecstatic to hear the news of her win.

"This a salute to Australia and a great accolade for Champagne!" Ms O'Shea said. "I have just popped a cork and will have a glass to celebrate."

Bernadette was one of just two Australian wine experts nominated. She competed with experts from over 56 different countries in the wine category.

Champagne & Chandeliers contains thirty-five stories of history-making moments in the world's collective champagne experience. In her trademark exuberant style, Ms O'Shea revisits each event's dinner of celebration in detail, matching the menus to classic champagne vintages from throughout the ages.

Champagne and Chandeliers: Grand Dining Celebrations is available to purchase online for $120.00 AUD and can also be found in selected book stores.

This year 154 countries participated in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, entering books in 53 categories. The competition is free and open to all. No other sector of book publishing has the benefits of such an international platform . All countries, authors and publishers, big and small, have the same equal opportunity.

The major trend this year is the rise in quality in Asia and Latin America, the New World of cookbooks, while the crisis is limiting the investments of many publishers in the West. The sector is in good health, with the number of cookbook titles increasing from 5 to 10% in the West, such as 9% in France in the first nine months of 2010 in spite of the crisis. In Asia or Latin America the increase is 10 to 20%. For wine books titles, it is even higher.

ALSO

Australian celebrity chef, Sean Connolly has taken home the cookbook award for Best TV Celebrity Chef - English (beating Nigella Lawson and among 37 other countries that participated in the Paris Book Fair) at the Gourmand Awards 2010 Cookbooks, the best in the world.

Here is a selected list of the best cookbook of the year for 57 countries, according to the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Argentina : Siete Fuegos, Mallmann, Kaminky (V-R Editoras)

Australia : Bentley (Murdoch Books)

Austria : Sacher (Styria)

Bangladesh : Sasto Sochaton Ranna, Keka Ferdousi (Anannya)

Belgium : Dix Petits Doights Pleains de Chocolat, Pierre Marcolini (Racine)

Bhutan : Foods of the Kingdom of Bhutan (Bhutan Foundation)

Canada : Glutton for Pleasure, Bob Blumer (Whitecap)

Chile : Gastronomia del Mar (Gourmet Patagonia)

China : Official Health Food, Master Chef Du Guang Bei

Colombia : Secretos de la Parrilla, Bernardo Gomez Cortazar (Gama)

Costa Rica : Saberes y Sabores de Boruca,  Leila Garro Valverde (Gama Print)

Czech Republic : Czech Home Cook, Jitka Rakoskikova (Mlada Fronta)

Denmark : Paul Food, Paul Cunningham (Politiker)

Ecuador : Cocina de Autor, Santiago Chamorro (Sesos Creacian Visual-Unimarket)

Finland : Olo (Teos)

France : 1 Canard, 2 Daguin (Sud Ouest)

Ghana : Ghanaian Cook Book, Sophia Manu ((Adaex Educational Publication - Accra)

Germany : JW4 (Wissler Group)

Greece : Every Day , Argiro Barbarigou  (Liberis)

Hong Kong : Grandma, Grandpa Cook (MCCM Creations)

Hungary : Segal Viktor - Colours and Taste (Book Publishing)

Iceland :Silver of the Sea, Volundar Snaer Volundarsson (Salka)

India : Byriani-Pratibha Karan (Random House India)

Ireland : Catherine's Italian Kitchen , Catherine Fulvio (Gill McMillan)

Italy : Food Designing, Marti Guixe (Corraini)

Japan : 12 Roads and Stories of the Foods, Chieko Mukasa (Heibonya)

Latvia : Est Ir Tava Daba (Zvaigzne)

Laos : Food from Northern Laos - The Boat Landing Cookbook (Galangal Press)

Luxembourg : Henri Schumacher  Potissier (Guy Binsfeld)

Lebanon : Mouneh (Barbara Abdeni Massaad)

Malaysia : Kulit Manis, A Taste of Terengganu's Heritage. Puan Rosita Bt Abdullah (My Viscom)

Malta : Pippa's Festa , Pippa Mattei (Miranda)

Mexico : Los Top Chefs de Mexico (Larousse)

Morocco : Le Figuier de Barbarie (Alwifak)

Netherlands : Toscanini Venticinqe (Toscanini)

New Zealand : Me'a Kai, Come Eat, Robert Oliver, Dr.Tracy Berno, Shiri Ram (Random House NZ)

Norway : Ekte Mat, Andreas Viestad (Cappelen Damm)

Peru : History, Anecdotes, and Some Recipes from Peruvian Cuisine, Berit Knudsen (Iandu)

Philippines : An Invitation to Malacacan (Art Post Asia)

Poland :Nature of Polish Cuisine - Woicieh Modest Amaro

Portugal : 2780 Taberna (Bertrand)

Russia : Larousse Gastronomique (Chernov)

Singapore : Above and Beyond, Singapore Airlines (Marshall Cavendish)

Slovenia : Ljubezen Skoz Zwloswx (Vale Novak-Gorenjski Tisk)

South Africa : Koekemakranka Khoi-Khoin Kultuurgoed en Kom-Kuier-Kos Renata Coetzee (Lapa)

Spain : Las Cocinas del Camino de Santiago (Al Gusto)

Sweden : Syrat �Sour (Informationsf�rlaget)

Switzerland : Fusion Pur (Betty Bossi)

Trinidad Tobago : Ah'Len - Welcome (Syrian Lebanese Woman Association)

Turkey : Tadi Damagimda Kaldi, Mehmet Soykan (Food in Le Gastronomy)

UAE : Arabian Dreams, Aaron Maree (Motivate)

Uruguay : Gastronomia de las Costas de Rocha, Juan Antonio Varese

(Cruz del Sur)

UK : Noma, Rene Redzepi (Phaidon)

USA : The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser (WWW Norton)

Venezuela : Las Recetas Olvidadas, Gamal El Fakih Rodriguez (Speedread)

One of these books above will be the Best Cookbook of the Year. The shortlist will be announced in January, and the Best in the World will be proclaimed March 3, 2011 in Paris, in a glamorous awards event at the Theatre Le 104, within Le 104, the new Artistic Center of the City of Paris.