by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
I have lost my mentor, friend, confidant and spiritual father. I had known Gérard for 20 years. I think about what always impressed me, with Gégé, was the way he would tell or explain things. When I was preparing for competitions, he was always sacrificing his time to...
by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
The first time I was lucky enough to cross paths with Gérard Basset was during the 1989 Best Sommelier in the World competition in Paris, in 1989. A few months before the finals in Rio, in 1992, where I was going to represent France, he phoned me to ask if I could...
by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
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...
by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
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...
by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
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...
by dev855asiv2 | 28 Feb 2019 | Gerard Basset
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...
