Category / Gerard Basset

With Gérard, I shared four world championships as candidates, and obviously there were many intense moments. The most significant was at the 2010 World Championship in Chile, when on the morning of the final we met up for a relaxing walk together. Discussing how we had approached the exam, I realized that I had probably…

At first, I was impressed when I had the chance to meet Gérard–not only Gérard, actually, as I met the team and couple that Nina and Gérard were, on the way to an international sommelier competition. One day, Gérard asked me to come spend a few days at Auberge de l’Ill, to learn more about…

There are many stories I can tell about Gérard Basset. What I will remember most was his warmth and altruistic will to help others. At the 2013’s World’s Best Sommelier competition, I had worked so hard and I was disappointed and upset by the result. I asked him for advice on how to do better.…

Gérard has always been very generous with his time and knowledge. I will never forget the time he insisted that we drink together a bottle I had just given him as a thank you. We sat on the terrace and enjoyed it together.

My first meeting with Gérard Basset dates back to the beginning of the 1990s when he was a candidate in international sommelier competitions and I was on the jury. From the very beginning, Gérard had attracted my attention because of his great passion and an uncommon level of knowledge of the wines, showing immediately that he would…

The first time I met Gérard, being a young and upcoming sommelier, I was star struck and impressed. Over the years, I got to know him better as we met during the various competitions we took part in. The first time we really sat down tête à tête was backstage during the final of the…

There are so many stories about Gérard, but when I think of them, so many seem to combine the three key elements of his character: his gentleness and generosity, his curiosity and eagerness to learn, and of course, his intense need to test himself and to climb ever higher mountains. We tasted together as chairmen…

In 1994 or 1996, I don’t remember exactly, we had a reunion with a bunch of crazy sommeliers from different nationalities at the first Hotel du Vin in Winchester, Hampshire, which is about a 90-minute drive southwest of of London, in the countryside. I think we were about 14 sommeliers attending this highlight of conviviality,…

In January 2013, I was invited to discover the wines of British Columbia and Ontario, in Canada, and I was lucky enough to be with Gérard on this wine trip. I’d known him professionally, before, but not personally. After this trip, we became quite close and worked together on a lot of projects. This will…

When Gérard was nearing the end of his life, we were able to have a short discussion on the phone about his book and the publishers I had suggested. Poor Gérard was in a lot of pain then and found it quite difficult to speak, but he was most anxious to know about the foreign…