How Did Discovering Wine Lead Gérard Basset to Become the World’s Best Sommelier?

Introduction

How did Gérard Basset discover wine and then go on to become the World’s Best Sommelier? What does truly exceptional hospitality look like in practice? How did a man with no fine dining background develop such a deep understanding of what excellence looked and felt like?

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Nina and Romané Basset, who have just published a commemorative edition of the book Tasting Victory: The Life and Wine of the World’s Favourite Sommelier by Gerard Basset.

You can find the wines we discussed here.

 

Giveaway

Two of you are going to win a copy of Nina and Romané Basset’s commemorative edition of Tasting Victory: The Life and Wines of the World’s Favorite Sommelier by Gerard Basset.

 

How to Win

To qualify, all you have to do is email me at [email protected] and let me know that you’ve posted a review of the podcast.

It takes less than 30 seconds: On your phone, scroll to the bottom here, where the reviews are, and click on “Tap to Rate.”

After that, scroll down a tiny bit more and click on “Write a Review.” That’s it!

I’ll choose two people randomly from those who contact me.

Good luck!

 

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Join the live-stream video of this conversation on Wednesday at 7 pm eastern on Instagram Live Video, Facebook Live Video or YouTube Live Video.

I’ll be jumping into the comments as we watch it together so that I can answer your questions in real-time.

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Highlights

  • What makes Tasting Victory different, and why does Gérard Basset’s story resonate far beyond wine?
  • How did Gérard use competitions and certifications to transform himself?
  • What did working in a specialized bookshop unexpectedly teach Gérard about human behavior and the psychology of service?
  • How deeply was wine woven into family life in the Basset household?
  • How does Romane see Gérard’s legacy as a gift?
  • How did writing a chapter help Romane process grief and rediscover his father?
  • How did the King’s College Wine Society teach Romane that serious wine education can still be inclusive?
  • Why was standing on stage in Chile for Gérard’s seventh attempt victory as World’s Best Sommelier such a defining family moment?
  • How did Gérard’s childhood shape his lifelong approach to relationships?
  • What does exceptional hospitality look like in practice?
  • How did Gérard mentor young team members?
  • What changed for Gérard once wine gave direction to his ambition?

 

Key Takeaways

  • How did discovering wine lead to Gérard Basset to become the World’s Best Sommelier?
    • Because he was French, somebody in a restaurant said to him, oh can you tell me about this wine? And very much of his nature, he was very embarrassed that he didn’t know enough about the wine to be able to give an honest and well-rounded answer. So he went and bought a book and it was buying that book that really opened his eyes to this fascinating world of wine, which, you know, encompasses history, geography, so many other aspects than just about the wine. And he was hooked.
  • What does truly exceptional hospitality look like in practice?
    • NB: He saw it as a personal challenge, we both did, when we were running the hotels. If somebody would arrive on a Friday evening, they’ve had a really difficult week. They’ve had a row with their wife in the car, driving to the hotel. They’d been stuck in a traffic jam for hours, and they would arrive with their shoulders up here and really stressed and tense, and we would look at each other and say, okay, this one’s going to be a challenge. And we worked our magic, if you like, between us and the team. And by the end of their stay, they would leave and their shoulders would be relaxed. They’d be smiling, they’d be talking to their wife again. They’d be promising to come back. They’d have had a great time. And that was because Gerard was this all in everything, sort of host. he would share his wine knowledge with people. It didn’t matter how busy we were. He would spend the time that each customer demanded of him. he had this way of making people feel really special and really listened to and people would arrive as a guest, but they would often leave as our friends.
  • How did a man with no fine dining background develop such a deep understanding of what excellence looked and felt like?
    • NB: He was very tenacious. He was very determined. He loved learning. I was horrified when he told me the story about the napkin, and I didn’t know about that until he actually wrote the book, and then I read it, and said, My gosh, did you really do that? And he said, Yes, why wouldn’t I? You know, for him, it was kind of normal. Why wouldn’t you ask somebody to help you and show you? And I said, But you know, I can’t imagine they’ve ever had anyone do that before or since. they were very happy to let me. I think they just wanted to get him out of the store, to be honest. But I mean that was his character. He just had this thirst for knowledge and he was constantly wanting to better himself. And I think that was stemmed from the fact that he’d gone to school and come out with so little and then he just had this love of learning. For him, it wasn’t a chore to sit down every morning and open a wine book and study for hours on end. It wasn’t a chore to write endless essays. And he wanted to share that with as many people as possible.

 

About Nina and Romané Basset

Nina and Romané Basset are Co-Founding Trustees of the Gérard Basset Foundation, the Charity set up to fund education, mentorship and training in the wine, spirits and hospitality industries to honour the legacy of Gérard Basset.

 

Resources

 

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Thirsty for more?

  • Sign up for my free online wine video class where I’ll walk you through The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)
  • You’ll find my books here, including Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines and Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
  • The new audio edition of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass is now available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and other country-specific Amazon sites; iTunes.ca, iTunes.com and other country-specific iTunes sites; Audible.ca and Audible.com.

 

Transcript

Natalie MacLean 00:00:02 How did Gerard Basset discover wine and then go on to become the world’s best sommelier? What does truly exceptional hospitality look like in practice in some of the world’s best restaurants? And how did a man with no fine dining background develop such a deep understanding of what that excellence was, and then go on to execute it in his own restaurants? In today’s episode, you’ll hear the stories and tips that answer those questions in our chat with Nina and Romain Bessette, who have just published the commemorative edition of the book Tasting Victory The Life and Wines of the World’s Favorite Sommelier by Gerald Bass. By the end of our conversation, you’ll also discover what makes Tasting Victory different from other books and why Gerard’s story resonates far beyond wine how he use competitions and certifications to transform himself from a background of no privilege. What? Working in a pornography bookshop unexpectedly taught Zahra about human behavior and the psychology of service. How writing a chapter helped Romani process his grief over the loss of his father and rediscover him. How the King’s College Wine Society taught Romani that serious wine education can still be available to everyone.

Natalie MacLean 00:01:27 Why? Standing on the stage in Chile for Gerald’s seventh attempt, victory as the world’s best sommelier was such a defining family moment. How Gerard’s childhood helped shape his lifelong approach to relationships and how he mentored young restaurant members.

Natalie MacLean 00:01:52 Do you have a thirst to learn about wine? Do you love stories about wonderfully Obsessive people, hauntingly beautiful places, and amusingly awkward social situations. Oh, that’s the blend here on the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast. I’m your host, Natalie MacLean, and each week I share with you unfiltered conversations with celebrities in the wine world, as well as confessions from my own tipsy journey as I write my third book on this subject. I’m so glad you’re here. Now pass me that bottle, please, and let’s get started.

Natalie MacLean 00:02:34 Welcome to episode.

Natalie MacLean 00:02:35 385. Well, April.

Natalie MacLean 00:02:38 1st came and went last week, and the drinks industry delivered its annual round of pranks, including companies launching a pickle line. Ooh, a butter chicken vodka. Maybe not so bad. And a tequila flavored toothpaste. No thank you.

Natalie MacLean 00:02:53 In Australia, they announced the world’s first powdered single malt scotch that consumers can rehydrate with water. And just a few of my favorite food and drink pranks from previous years. The Heinz Chocolate Mayonnaise in 2019. The Pringles Caviar Flavor 2018, positioned as a luxury snack for refined palates and packaged in an elegant, shiny black canister. The greatest of all? Well, that goes back to 1998. Burger King’s left handed Whopper was so confidently stupid that customers reportedly asked for it long after the joke ran. Hands down my all time favorite. So what’s new in the drinks world this week? Well, the trade standoff between Canada and the US is now officially on the books. The office of the United States Trade Representative published its annual Foreign Trade Barriers report this week, naming Canadian provincial liquor boards by name and declaring the restrictions, quote, greatly hamper us wine, beer and spirits exports, according to CBC news. The USTR wants American alcohol immediately and permanently returned to all markets. And yes, we’d like that. And we’d also like tariffs return to what they used to be, as that’s what started this whole thing.

Natalie MacLean 00:04:15 Can we just play nice anyway? The Lcbo has officially shifted its pricing strategy as part of Ontario’s plan to modernize the alcohol market, effective April 1st. No joke, the system moved away from a retail model to a cost plus model. That sounds like really boring until you realize what the impacts are for both producers and consumers. So in the simplest terms, the Lcbo used to start with the price on the shelf and then work backwards to figure out what wine and spirits producers got paid. Now they start with the producer’s cost and add set fees on top so alcohol suppliers now set a price. The Lcbo adds a fixed percentage markup based on their category wine, beer, spirits, etc. and the alcohol by volume. Higher alcohol products are always taxed more. While the goal of the move is to create a fairer marketplace for consumers. The immediate impact for you, the buyer might feel like a bit of a mixed Lcbo bag. So here are three of the largest impacts. Number one uniform wholesale pricing. So whether a bottle is sold at the Lcbo, a convenience store, a grocery store or Costco wherever, the wholesale price those stores pay is now the same.

Natalie MacLean 00:05:40 This seems to level the playing field between big grocers and small corner stores. Number two potential price creep because the old 10 to 15% discount for retailers has been replaced with this new cost plus formula. Some retailers and restaurants have warned that their costs will have to go up. You might see slightly higher prices at your local restaurant or convenience store as they pass those costs along. Number three, the minimum retail price MRP for wine and cider has increased. This means the floor price, the cheapest a bottle can legally be priced at, has ticked upward. And number four, the new model is designed to make it easier for private retailers like corner Stores to order a wider variety of products that were previously only available at flagship Lcbo locations. All right, moving out to the larger world in Italy. A small vineyard near Verona recently hosted a wedding, where the couple replaced traditional confetti with dried grape skins left over from fermentation, creating what actually might be the first fully wine themed send off that doubled as compost for the vineyard.

Natalie MacLean 00:06:54 I actually really liked the eco friendly nature of this, because confetti has a bad reputation of litter and getting into the wildlife and animals, eating it and all the rest of it. Whereas these grape skins, I mean, they’re natural and they’ll fertilize the vineyards. Meanwhile, Michelle Pucci, the head of the famous winery Maison Chapel in La France, has recently made headlines for maintaining a vineyard for the blind, where every vine is labeled in Braille and the entire estate is designed around scent and touch rather than visual appeal. Since 1996, the estate has included braille on every wine label across its range. A tribute to Maurice Meunier de la saison, the inventor of the first abridged version of Braille and a former owner of the family’s Hermitage Vineyards, the estate offers specialized sensory visits designed for the visually impaired, focusing on the tactile biodynamic soil and the intense aromatic profiles of the Rhone Valley wines. Love that! Still in France, a sommelier in Lyon went viral after identifying a wine blindfolded not just by taste, but by the sound it made as it was being poured.

Natalie MacLean 00:08:10 Claiming the viscosity created a distinct acoustic signature. Well, that’s definitely a way to position your resume as a sommelier. All right. In a feat of extreme patience, a master glassblower in Marino, Italy, has claimed a new record for the world’s most delicate wine glass. The stem is so thin it flexes under the weight of the wine. Designed to vibrate with the aromatic notes of the liquid. It is arguably the only wine glass that requires a breathing exercise before you dare to pick it up. And a tech startup has developed a smart glass that uses haptic feedback to vibrate when the drinker is sipping too quickly, aimed at encouraging mindful tasting rather than rapid consumption. Not sure if I like that. Sounds very, I don’t know, scolding. I don’t want my wine glass scolding me, although it’s probably a good health innovation. Another tech company has launched a wine scented alarm clock that releases the aroma of freshly popped champagne and brioche at your designated wake up time. The goal is to trigger a celebratory mindset the moment you open your eyes, though it sadly does not include an actual glass of bubbly with your toast.

Natalie MacLean 00:09:28 And if that doesn’t wake you up? A luxury hotel in Paris now offers a champagne concierge who will sabor bottles of bubbly on your balcony upon request. 24 hours a day and savouring of courses when you take that long sword or spoon will work too, really along the seam of the bottle and shear off the whole top of the bottle, cork surrounding glass and all without spilling it. If you’re a pro, by the way, that champagne pop is actually a supersonic event. When the cork is released, the high pressure gas, which is £90 per square inch, the same as city bus tires, so that high pressure gas escapes at speeds exceeding Mach one, the speed of sound, creating a tiny localized sonic boom. The white smoke you see immediately afterwards isn’t actually gas escaping. It’s a localized cloud of water vapor that condenses instantly because the temperature of the gas drops as it expands rapidly. In Australia, a bar in Melbourne has introduced a mystery wine vending machine where customers receive an unlabeled bottle Along with a short story about its origin, turning every purchase into a blind tasting adventure in Tokyo.

Natalie MacLean 00:10:50 A new silent sommelier bar has opened where patrons are forbidden from speaking. Orders are placed by pointing at flavor profile cards, and then the wine is served in complete silence to heighten the olfactory senses. It is a perfect destination for anyone who loves Chardonnay but hates small talk. Yes, please. An eccentric collector in London, England, recently held a dust tasting where he opened bottles from a 19th century cellar without wiping them down. He argued that the terroir of the cellar, the specific molds and dust accumulated over a hundred years, contributes to the sensory experience of opening and old vintage. In Japan, a distillery is experimenting with aging whisky and casks made from discarded cherry blossom trees, resulting in a spirit that reportedly tastes like a spring afternoon in Kyoto. Because cherry wood is highly porous and intense, it is typically used for finishing rather than primary aging, imparting that distinct floral Kyoto in spring scent of sandalwood and cherry blossom petals to the whisky. It sounds lovely. Meanwhile, a Scottish distillery recently matured a small batch of its gin by sending it to the bottom of the North Sea in a waterproof capsule for six months.

Natalie MacLean 00:12:15 They claimed that the constant pressure and five degrees Celsius temperature created a unique maritime infusion. The resulting bottles, encrusted with actual barnacles, are being sold as lock aged spirits for a premium price lock. Of course, in Scottish loch means lake. In other ocean news, a luxury cruise line has announced a wine and wrestling voyage where passengers can watch professional matches in a ring surrounded by oak barrels, with each slam tied to a specific wine pour. Virgin voyages has launched the events known as Lucha Libre and Libations, featuring professional Mexican wrestlers in a ring where the high flying moves correspond to uncorked, a specific pairing blending high octane entertainment with high end sommelier service. That just sounds bizarre. All right, there always seems to be a weekly herd of animal related drink stories. So let’s start with the winery in Australia that uses a llama patrol to protect its grapes from pests, claiming llamas are much more effective and more photogenic than traditional fencing. While sheep are common for mowing rows. Llamas are guard animals because they are naturally territorial and highly effective at deterring foxes and stray dogs that might otherwise damage young vines or irrigation lines.

Natalie MacLean 00:13:46 Plus, as the winery notes, they are a massive hit with tourists compared to traditional electric fencing. A goat in California has become a local celebrity after it was discovered that he had a refined palate for Chardonnay, and frequently escapes to a neighboring vineyard to munch exclusively on the premium white grapes. A vineyard in Bordeaux has recently made headlines for employing a bat battalion to protect its vines. By installing high tech nesting boxes. The winery has attracted over 200 bats that consume thousands of grape eating moths every night, completely eliminating the need for chemical pesticides. Cool. It turns out that these caped crusaders of the night are also the world’s most efficient organic farmers. A cat in Scotland has been officially employed by a distillery as Chief Mouser, complete with a tiny high visibility vest that glows in the dark and a social media following that’s larger than the brand’s own account. Meanwhile, another cat in Italy has become a social media darling for its ability to predict which wine a customer will choose by sitting next to specific bottles in the family run wine bar.

Natalie MacLean 00:15:03 And finally, in South Africa, a winery is using a duck parade of over a thousand runner ducks to clear the vineyard of snails every morning at 10 a.m., a spectacle that has become a major tourist draw. That’s got to be so darn cute. Oh my gosh, I wonder if feeding the ducks to do this is tax deductible. I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry. All right. For your food and drink calendar this week, April 15th, is National Glazed Spiral Ham Day. The spiral cut itself is a good story. Harry Hohenzollern patented the technique in 1952, after building his first slicing machine from a motorized tire jack and a washing machine motor in Detroit. The invention eventually led to the Honey Baked Ham Company, and the spiral cut created a ham that practically carved itself on the table, which is either the most democratic or laziest innovation in entertaining history. Perry sugar and citrus glaze with an off dry Riesling to match the sweetness without being cloying and the bright acidity cuts through the fat. If you prefer a cocktail, make a ham bone sour using a smoky mezcal and a honey mustard syrup that mirrors the glaze.

Natalie MacLean 00:16:26 For anyone with leftovers the next day, a cold ham sandwich and a glass of sparkling wine remains one of life’s greatest, underrated pleasures. April 16th is both the day of the Mushroom and National Eggs Benedict Day, which means brunch earns a double billing this year. The origin of the story of Eggs Benedict. In 1894, a retired Wall Street stockbroker stumbled into the Waldorf Hotel in New York City seeking a hangover cure and ordered what he described as buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a hooker of hollandaise. I don’t know why he called it a hooker. Anyway, the maitre d was sufficiently impressed to put a version of it on the menu, swapping the toast for an English muffin and the bacon for Canadian back bacon. Yahoo! For a wine pairing, a crisp, traditional method sparkling wine cuts through that rich hollandaise sauce, and a Cremo d’Alsace does it beautifully for a fraction of the price. April 17th carries two very different holidays that happened to pair magnificently together World Malbec Day and National Cheeseball Day.

Natalie MacLean 00:17:39 On April 17th, 1853, Argentine President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento commissioned French agronomist Michel Pouget to modernize Argentina’s wine industry, and Puga arrived with Malbec cuttings from southern France’s CoA region tucked into his luggage. That decision reshaped the entire wine industry. World Malbec Day was officially established in 2011 by Wines of Argentina to mark the anniversary. The best way to celebrate a side by side tasting of Malbec on the left darkened, tannic and Argentine Mendoza malbec on the right, plush and violet centered on the cheese ball front. Former US President Thomas Jefferson received a £235 cheese ball as a gift from Massachusetts farmers in 1801, nicknamed the Mammoth Cheese, which was so large it had to arrive by a horse drawn wagon. One wonders why they sent him cheese, I guess because he was the big cheese, right? Anyway, celebrate with a classic nut crusted cheddar ball with crackers and a generous pour of an unmarked Chardonnay. April 18th is National Animal Crackers Day, which is the birthday of the product that is technically a cookie masquerading as a cracker.

Natalie MacLean 00:19:05 The circus themed packaging, with a single handle designed to hang on the box of a Christmas tree, was introduced by Nabisco in 1902. The famous Shirley Temple song Animal Crackers in my soup. Lions and llamas loop de loop from 1935 referenced eating cookies in milk rather than broth, which means the lyrics are misleading and the product is still being misrepresented more than 90 years later. Outrage to celebrate in grown up style, infuse a measure of whiskey with vanilla bean and cinnamon. Shake it over ice with a little honey syrup and garnish it with a single floating animal cracker that will immediately become the most charming garnish on your Burkhart. April 19th is a three holiday pileup. National Garlic Day, National Amaretto Day, and National Gin and Tonic Day for Garlic Day. The city of Gilroy, California, holds an annual Garlic Festival, so enthusiastic that it serves garlic flavored ice cream. But more relevantly, garlic was worn around the neck during the Black Death as a protective charm, making it the original wellness supplement. A Vampire Slayer martini built with vodka, dry vermouth, and a garlic stuffed olive is an appropriate toast for National Gin and Tonic Day.

Natalie MacLean 00:20:29 The drink originated in British India in the 19th century as a way of making quinine the anti-malarial bitter, palatable by mixing it with gin and lime. A well-made GMT with quality tonic and a properly aromatic gin is still the best argument for how a two ingredient drink can be more interesting than most ten ingredient ones. And finally, on National Amaretto Day, this almond forward Italian liqueur from Saronno, Italy, has origin stories dating back to the Renaissance. A classic amaretto sour made with Disaronno fresh lemon juice and egg white foam, remains one of the most underrated cocktails. The word amaretto comes from the Italian for a little bitter. Most commercial amaretto taste like sweet almonds or marzipan, but the traditional recipe from Saronno, dating to 1525, makes it one of the oldest liqueurs still commercially produced, and it’s built from apricot pits, which naturally carry a bitter almond compound at safe concentrations. The bizarre part is that actual bitter almonds were historically the source of flavor, but they also contained prussic acid, a compound related to cyanide, in small amounts as part of a distilled liqueur.

Natalie MacLean 00:21:49 It’s safe in any significant quantity consumed raw. It’s deadly. So the pleasantly warm, nutty, marzipan flavored Italian liqueur you’re celebrating on National Amaretto Day this Sunday is, in its origins, a carefully managed version of something that required a skilled distiller to make drinkable. April 20th is both National Cold Brew Day and National Cheddar Frais Day, which is either a meal in two courses or a very energetic afternoon. Cold Brew Coffee’s distinction from regular iced coffee is the extraction method. Long, slow steeping in cold water over 12 to 24 hours produces a smoother, lower acid liquid than the heat brewed coffee that has simply been chilled, blended with coffee liqueur and vodka over ice. It becomes a cold brew cocktail that is considerably more interesting than most espresso martinis, and requires zero actual espresso. For the cheddar fries, the origin story belongs to Snuffer Restaurant and Bar in Dallas, Texas, where the dish was created in 1978 using hand graded aged Wisconsin cheddar melted over hand-cut Idaho potatoes. The richness of the aged cheddar and deep fried potato calls for something with genuine acidity and effervescence.

Natalie MacLean 00:23:09 A spicy cheddar maculata made with a sharp cheddar, salted rim and plenty of hot sauce, is the casual option and a sparkling wine. April 21st is National Tea Day, a holiday with UK origins, of course. Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world after water. According to the Chinese legend, it was discovered in 2737 BC when wild tea leaves blew into the boiling water of the emperor Sten Nung Earl grey tea infused in gin overnight, was served with tonic and a lemon twist to transform the standard Chianti into something more layered and interesting for a cocktail. A tea ni made with cold brew, jasmine tea, vodka and a squeeze of fresh lime, is light fragment and works beautifully on a warm spring afternoon. And finally, for your weird but wonderful scientific facts this week, your saliva changes the taste of wine. Mid sip enzymes and proteins in saliva bind with tannins, reducing astringency or that tight, grippy feeling as you hold the wine in your mouth. That’s why the first impression and the finish can taste like two different wines.

Natalie MacLean 00:24:28 And that is always why I don’t judge a wine until I’ve had two sips. No, that’s not just an excuse to have two quick sips, but it all works in the name of science. All right. Alcohol warms you up and cools you down at the same time. Ethanol causes blood vessels near your skin to dilate, which makes you feel warm. In reality, this pulls heat away from your core, meaning your body is actually losing warmth when you drink a glass of whiskey. The burning sensation in your throat is a biological trick played on your VR one receptors. These are the same heat activated receptors that tell your brain when you’ve touched a hot stove or eaten a spicy pepper. Ethanol lowers the threshold of these receptors From 42°C, or 108°F, to roughly 34°C, or 93°F, which is lower than your body temperature, causing your brain to believe that your throat is on fire. Finally, have you ever noticed that wine tastes different at 30,000ft? You know when you’re flying. You can blame that on atmospheric pressure and humidity in a pressurized airplane cabin.

Natalie MacLean 00:25:48 Your humidity levels drop to less than 12%, which dries out your nose and mouth quickly. This physical change reduces your sensitivity to sweet and salt by about 30%, which is why airlines often select wines in high acidity with bold fruit profiles to compensate for your numbed palate. Also, the reason, I’m sure for those pretzels and mixed something or others I can never figure out but don’t like those little snack bags, whatever they are. All right, back to today’s episode. Two of you will win a copy of Nina and Roman’s new book. If you’d like to win, just let me know by email. It doesn’t matter where you live, I’ll choose two winners randomly from those who contact me at Natalie Natalie MacLean dot com. Keep them for yourself or give them as gifts. If you’re reading the paperback or e-book, or listening to the audiobook of my memoir, Wine Witch on Fire Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, defamation and Drinking Too Much, a national bestseller, are one of Amazon’s best books of the year.

Natalie MacLean 00:26:50 I’d love to hear from you at Natalie at Natalie MacLean. Com. I’ll put a link in the show notes to all retailers worldwide at Natalie MacLean dot com. Slash 385. Okay, on with the show.

Natalie MacLean 00:27:10 Nina and Ramani.

Natalie MacLean 00:27:11 Bassett are the co-founding trustees of the Gerard Basset Foundation, the charity to honour the legacy of Gerard Basset. Gerard, born in France in 1957, is the only person to have held simultaneously the titles of Master Sommelier, Master of Wine, World’s Best Sommelier and the holder of a wine MBA and the Master of Science in Wine Management. He mentored hundreds of young sommeliers, many of whom went on to win national and international titles of their own. Gerard was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in October 2017, and he spent his final months writing his memoir, Tasting Victory, completing it the day before he died in January 2019 at the age of 62. He is survived by his wife, Nina and his son Romain. The Gerard Basset Foundation has to date, directly supported more than 2000 individuals in more than 35 countries working in wine, spirits and hospitality and they join us now from Norfolk and London in the UK.

Natalie MacLean 00:28:19 Welcome, Nina and Ramani. We’re so glad to have you here with us.

Nina Basset 00:28:22 Thank you very much, Natalie. It’s nice to be here.

Natalie MacLean 00:28:25 All right. Cheers. So tell us in a nutshell what this book is about and what makes it different, say, from other wine memoirs. The subtitle is quite explanatory, but maybe you can just give us a high level summary of what this book captures.

Romane Basset 00:28:39 Tasting victory is the story of my dad’s life. It really starts off when he was a young man and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life, and follows him as he discovered hospitality and then within hospitality, he discovered wine and then through that, discovered the competition, the certification that really defined him. And I think it’s very special because obviously I was there for much of it, but I wasn’t there for all of it. So I get to see some of the things that I missed before I was born, but it also it tells the story, I think, through those events of how dad conquered adversity, how he trained himself, how he used his work and used certifications and the competition to train himself to improve himself, to prove that he could thrive in education, he could thrive in competition.

Romane Basset 00:29:30 But then also how he carried that forward, talking about, you know, the mentorship that he so loved and the team members that he nurtured along the way.

Natalie MacLean 00:29:39 That’s lovely. So we’ll get into some specifics now and feel free, either of you to comment based on who feels comfortable or both of you. Now, Gerard, if I understand, once worked in a pornographic bookshop and he concluded that experience taught him one of the most important lessons of his career, and maybe you can share what that was. And then he put that lesson to use of becoming the world’s most celebrated sommelier.

Nina Basset 00:30:02 But maybe I’ll start. Yes, he didn’t know it was a pornographic bookshop when he applied for the role. It just said a specialised bookshop. And he actually thought, oh well, it’s probably something really interesting. Like, I don’t know, religion or food and wine or something, you know, nothing at all like pornography. But when he got there and he realized it was, I think what struck him first was how very ordinary it was.

Nina Basset 00:30:32 It didn’t matter that it was a pornographic bookshop. People would come into the bookshop just as if it was any other type of bookshop, and they had no embarrassment. That’s where his fascination with people really started, because he was intrigued that, you know, people from all walks of life would be coming into such a bookshop with no embarrassment, would take a book from the top shelf, would flick through it, maybe decide to buy it or not buy it. And so I think that’s where his fascination and his interest in people and the dynamics of people really started.

Natalie MacLean 00:31:06 Fascinating. no, Nina, I think this was before Romani was born. But tell us about the time when Gerard and his friends stood up in the middle of a crowded London restaurant and sang la marseillaise together to a room of utterly bemused diners, and then did the same thing. Years later, at Terracina, another restaurant. Except this time he followed it with a loud and passionate rendition of God Save the Queen.

Nina Basset 00:31:28 Yep. So the friend in question both times was actually Raymond Blanc, who here in the UK is a very famous Michelin starred chef and was a very good friend of Gerard’s.

Nina Basset 00:31:39 The first restaurant was actually one of their shared proteges, Xavier Russo’s restaurant called Texture in Marylebone in London. And Raymond had recently broken his leg, and we’d gone out for dinner just to sort of catch up with him. And we’d had a very lovely evening. And towards the end of the evening, Steve Wine had been drunk and they decided that they would sing la marseillaise, standing on a chair with Raymond, which obviously was a bit of a feat because he was in a from top of his hip to the toe on cast. And of course people were sort of looking and then whispering, isn’t that Raymond Blanc? And it was a very fun evening and nobody was disturbed. Everyone thought it was great. And Xavier was like, oh my gosh, what are they doing? But it created a great atmosphere in the restaurant. A number of years later at Terra Vino, which was actually mine and Gerard’s Hotel. Raymond very kindly came to host a wine dinner with Gerard. And of course, at the end of the evening everyone was very jolly and Raymond stood up and started singing la marseillaise.

Nina Basset 00:32:44 Gerard joined in but then said, of course we can’t sing la marseillaise without singing God Save the Queen, because I’m an honorary British person now, because he he’d got dual nationality so that he could compete representing the UK. And to Raymond’s horror, he started singing God Save the Queen instead of singing la marseillaise. And Raymond to this day says, I understand he wanted to be an honorary British man, but still he should have sung la marseillaise as opposed to singing God Save the Queen. So it was always a sort of a running joke between them.

Natalie MacLean 00:33:17 That’s great. And if I understand correctly, Romani, you are named after a bottle of wine on your father’s wine rack.

Romane Basset 00:33:24 The story goes that there were a couple of different wines and running. apparently, if I’d, If I’d been a girl, it was possible that I would have been at Achaia.

Natalie MacLean 00:33:34 Okay.

Romane Basset 00:33:35 But then, Mum and dad were thinking about the name. And then the Roman label from.

Natalie MacLean 00:33:42 Burgundy, the famous Burgundy Pinot.

Romane Basset 00:33:44 Noir.

Romane Basset 00:33:44 And so they thought that Roman would be the name to go for and made the decision that if I was a girl it would have been spelt as it is spelt with two e’s, because it’s La Romani, so feminine. But being a boy, there’s only one. Only the one he kept for me. Okay, so I’ve always been. It’s always been very lovely to have been named after wine and thought of. I suppose nominative determinism at work in day one?

Natalie MacLean 00:34:07 Yes, exactly. Did you name your pets after wines like. Is there a merlot and a. We did Chardonnay. Indeed you did. Yes. Okay. Yeah, I was kidding. But yes, you’re serious about that?

Nina Basset 00:34:17 Yeah, we really did. So in Gerard’s lifetime, together as a family, we had two boxer dogs. The first one was called Merlot, the second was called mumsy, and we have a third boxer dog since, sadly, who hasn’t ever met Gerard and she’s called Maipo. And the reason that she’s called Maipo is because Gerard always named the dogs with a wine theme, beginning with an M, and we wanted to connect Maipo with Gerard, and he obviously won his world championship in Chile.

Nina Basset 00:34:48 So we named her Maipo because it’s a wine region in Chile. So.

Natalie MacLean 00:34:53 Right. A nice cool valley, cool climate wines. Yes, that is great.

Nina Basset 00:34:57 I love a cool dog.

Natalie MacLean 00:34:59 Yeah. No, Romany. You are named among the 100 most influential people in wine and one of Harper’s Magazine’s top 30 under 30. You wrote a chapter for the commemorative edition of Tasting Victory, and you are now working at the heart of the Gerard Basset Foundation. Your father’s name must open many doors for you in the wine world. He was so famous and has such a legacy. Has that been a gift or a weight that you carry and how do you deal with it?

Romane Basset 00:35:30 Oh, that’s a very good question. I mean, I’d say it’s very definitely been a gift. I’ve grown up in the industry and, you know, Mum and dad took me everywhere when I was growing up. You know, always come on, wine to them often come to, you know, dinners with them if I, you know, obviously I wouldn’t be drinking.

Romane Basset 00:35:45 I was very young, but as long as I was blind and I dressed properly, I could come along. So I’ve been very privileged to grow up in this industry, so to say that it would be a weight on my shoulders, I think, would be to do a great disservice. I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful experience in this industry. But not many people got. So I’m very grateful for it. And I suppose I’m very cognizant of the fact that what I’m trying to do now with the foundation, the way I always describe it, is dad had to work so hard to get where he got. If I was going to win events now and on my name tag, you know, you pick up a name tag and it said, like Jared Bass’s son. That’s the only reason I’m there. I think he wouldn’t like that, but because now it says co-founder of the Jared Battle Foundation that it is still his name. It’s opening those doors, but I’m doing something that aligns with his legacy, aligned with his values, that it’s distinct from what he did.

Romane Basset 00:36:35 But it is my own role, and I think he would like that. But I’m not relentlessly riding at coattails. I you know, of course, I had amazingly and amazingly grateful for all the doors that it opens.

Natalie MacLean 00:36:46 But absolutely.

Romane Basset 00:36:47 I’m also trying to carve my own space.

Natalie MacLean 00:36:49 Yeah. And Nina mentioned in some of our exchanges that even when you were a baby, she was sleeping under the table at Vint Expo, one of the largest wine Expo is in Bordeaux, so you truly grew up in this atmosphere.

Nina Basset 00:37:01 I just want to jump in there and say, although probably Gerrard’s surname has opened some doors for both of us, to be honest, but certainly in Roman’s case, I think it’s really important to say that yes, his name might have helped open the doors, but it’s definitely Roman’s character, personality, hard work and drive that’s kept those doors open and subsequently opened other doors. So I do think, you know, Remy has to be congratulated for creating or co-creating the foundation, because it’s very much what it is today is because of Roman’s hard work and vision.

Natalie MacLean 00:37:39 Oh that’s wonderful. Very nice. Now, Romana, you describe writing the chapter for this commemorative edition as a way of processing your grief. Your father, by contrast, resisted writing personally about his own obstacles throughout his time that he was working on the book. His editor, Felicity Carter, magnificent editor, writes that quote, she never managed to convince him of just how remarkable his story was. That’s amazing. How did writing this chapter help you through the loss?

Romane Basset 00:38:10 You know, it’s interesting because obviously it was a form of processing, but it was quite a few years on after his passing, and I think it helped collect the strands of what’s happened since. so since then, the foundation has been created and you’ll know, like I begin that chapter talking about one instance of people walking up to me and telling me stories about dad that stories that mum and I had never heard. You know, some of them we knew. Sometimes it’s from people we knew, but often it’s from people we’ve never met.

Romane Basset 00:38:43 But who? Dad met them while he was on a wine trip somewhere, and then gave them a bit of advice or gave him the time of day, or was just really friendly and a good laugh. And I think I’ve really found it helpful to collect all those strands when I wrote that chapter and think about, yes, it could be viewed as, oh, it’s constant reminders of someone special who’s not there, but equally, it’s it’s also oh, wow, how lucky was I to have a dad like that? Yeah, I think that’s what really helped me. He really reaffirmed to me how lucky I was to have him as a dad. And it really sort of, in a way, it helped me think about my own memories of him because I obviously we we talk about his legacy every day with the foundation, and we hear so many wonderful stories from people. It also helped me to think back to some of my own stories, like, you know, as an example, like this wasn’t in the chapter, but we used to have a game.

Romane Basset 00:39:30 If you’d take a lift in a hotel, we would sprint from the lift to our hotel room door and race each other and, you know, things like that. It really helped bring those memories back. So, yeah, it was a process and it was lovely to think back to him as the man as well as the legacy.

Natalie MacLean 00:39:46 That’s terrific. Now, you completed a first class degree from King’s College London and served as the president of the Wine society there. Where did writing about wine begin for you? Was there a specific piece of writing long before you wrote this chapter? An experience, maybe in a cellar or a vineyard, that made you feel that you really wanted to write about wine as well?

Romane Basset 00:40:08 So, I mean, I would, by no stretch of the imagination call myself a wine writer or anything approaching that, but I would say I am preparing for tasting the King. I loved it, I remember I in my first year I joined the society and then I was made president ahead of the second year.

Romane Basset 00:40:25 And I mentioned it to dad, and dad said, well, if you’re if you’re going to be president of society, you need to know your stuff. He signed me up for level one and two, and it was at the time he was unwell. He just started with chemo. So he had he was at home. He wasn’t traveling as much. So we used to just talk about wine on the walks. And, I always held that with me and he, you know, put me in touch with loads of people to organise some amazing tastings. And it was in preparing for those, I really enjoyed sort of thinking about the wine. we’re going to serve. Thinking about, you know, the society. We very much aimed for people to come along to an unpretentious surrounding people. With it being university and people coming from all walks of life. We really wanted to make it as approachable as possible. So I tried to reflect that when we were talking about the wines and when I prepare my note for the tasting and, you know, I think honestly, dad helped immensely with that because the last word you would use to describe dad was unpretentious.

Romane Basset 00:41:19 So he very helped. He helped me realize you can have a top level discussion about wine while also being really approachable and warm and friendly.

Natalie MacLean 00:41:27 That’s terrific. What is one of your most memorable moments with Gerard and Wine?

Nina Basset 00:41:32 Oh, I mean, there are so many, but I suppose the one that you touched on where we arrived at Ben Expo with Romain, he was literally a month old in his pram and then saying, I’m sorry, you can’t come in. And we said, Gerard is here for a lunch. He’s the winner of the Bollinger Tasting Cup when he was awarded his Master of Wine, and so they were holding the lunch in his honor. So we said he has to come in. He’s the guest of honor. And so they said, okay, well, you can bring the baby in, but you’ll have to carry the baby. You can’t bring the pram, which was fine. I carried him around the wine fair, but when we got to the lunch, of course I had nothing to put him in.

Nina Basset 00:42:12 So I literally just lifted up the tablecloth and put him under the table and said to all of these very important people who were there, please be careful. There’s a newborn baby under the table. And they were like, oh. And everyone lifted up the tablecloth and there he was fast asleep. So that was a very you know, that was a fun memory. Obviously, I can’t not say when we were there in Chile as a family. And we saw Gerard eventually on the seventh attempt to take the title of ASI Best Sommelier of the world. That was incredible. He called us up onto the stage, and it was a very special moment for Romain, especially to be up on the stage with his papa.

Natalie MacLean 00:42:49 How old was. How old were you? Romani at that time?

Romane Basset 00:42:53 I would have been 11.

Natalie MacLean 00:42:55 Oh, okay. Did you get to hold the trophy?

Romane Basset 00:42:57 yes. Yes. And? And damn near dropped it as well.

Natalie MacLean 00:43:02 Oh, it was a big one, was it? Oh.

Natalie MacLean 00:43:04 That’s wonderful. Marvelous.

Nina Basset 00:43:07 In fact, you did drop it.

Romane Basset 00:43:08 Oh, okay. Well. Fair enough. Mum’s outing me there. There was. There were two trophies, and there was one that was hollow. Okay. I did I did manage to drop it, but happily, only left a very minor dent.

Natalie MacLean 00:43:19 Minor dent. Okay, so you made your mark on the wine world early. That dents from me back in. Whatever. So Gerard writes that, from 200 yards away, walking home from school, he could hear his parents shouting. And that every time he turned the corner to his home street. I’m quoting him now. The tension forced my head down to look at the pavement. He describes watching his brother’s arm slashed by a knife during one of his parents fights. Yet he went on to make people feel really comfortable in his presence, more so than anyone else in the profession. When did he talk to you about the specific connection he made with what he experienced as a child, and what he became as a professional? Either of you?

Nina Basset 00:44:05 Well, I think first off, it’s really important to say he didn’t have an easy childhood for sure.

Nina Basset 00:44:11 But in their own way, his parents loved him very much and he loved his parents. So it wasn’t perhaps the as as happy in upbringing as it might have been, but it certainly it. I think he would say that it shaped him in ways that helped him in, in future life. So, you know, he wanted to be well, he never would have wanted to be portrayed as a victim, for sure. You know, I think it gave him an understanding of always trying to be kind and decent and and if somebody upset you, you know you shouldn’t be prepared to be walked over. But on the other hand, you should be kind in the way that you dealt with whatever the issue was. And so at home with us in his in our home life, he never enjoyed conflict.

Natalie MacLean 00:45:01 Okay, cool. Now he’s speaking of animals. He writes that he gave all my loved animals, I guess, as he was growing up, because showing open affection to his parents felt impossible. One of his most striking observations is that the chaos at home gave him a sharp sensitivity to people, and a need to make people feel comfortable.

Natalie MacLean 00:45:23 Can you give us a concrete example or a specific story that you witnessed, or is in the book that shows that what that sensitivity looked like in action, say, at a restaurant or elsewhere?

Nina Basset 00:45:35 I mean, I think he saw it as a personal challenge, or we both did, actually, when when we were running the hotels, if somebody would arrive on a weekend, you know, Friday evening, they’ve had a really difficult week. They’ve had a row with their wife in the car driving to the hotel. They’d been stuck in a traffic jam for hours, and they would arrive with their sort of shoulders up here and really stressed and tense, and we would look at each other and say, okay, this one’s going to be a challenge. And we worked our magic, if you like, between us and the team. And by the end of their stay, they would leave and their shoulders would be relaxed. They’d be smiling. They’d be talking to their wife again. They’d be promising to come back.

Nina Basset 00:46:15 They’d have had a great time. And that was because Gerard was this all in everything sort of host, you know. He was very humble. So he would share his wine knowledge with people. He would stand and chat or sit and chat in the bar with people. He would stand at the table and talk to people. And, you know, people would say, why does this wine go with this? And he would spend the time, it didn’t matter how busy we were, he would spend the time that each customer demanded of him. And so he had this way of making people feel really special and really listened to. People would arrive as a guest, but they would often leave as our friends and, you know. The testament to that is that we’re still in touch with lots and lots of the people that we knew from hotel de Man and Hotel Terracina days. We still see them personally, Roman and myself. So he had a real knack of talking to people and making them feel special.

Nina Basset 00:47:06 And that was no more important than with our team of people. You know, he had proteges all over the world now, you know, they’ve all become very successful, but he nurtured them in such a way that, you know, he made them feel that even from a young age, he empowered them. He gave them responsibilities that lots of people wouldn’t have been brave enough to do when they were only 19 and just starting out. And he allowed them to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. And he was very gentle with the way he showed them and pushed them forward. So he pushed them forward, but holding their hand at the same time. So he I mean, you know, he was he was very special when it came to people.

Natalie MacLean 00:47:47 Indeed. Now he writes about this in his book. He was fired from a clothing shop after two weeks, then quit a factory job before they could sack him. Then he was let go from a luggage factory and he writes, it took me a long time to realize what was wrong, what was the quality or combination of qualities that eventually surfaced for him.

Natalie MacLean 00:48:06 Was there a person who saw something in him that he hadn’t seen in himself that enabled him to realize, perhaps, you know, wine was the world for him, or what came through all those experiences?

Nina Basset 00:48:18 I think possibly because of his upbringing. You know, he hadn’t studied very much at school. He he was the class clown. You know, he wanted to have everyone laugh at him. And so he hadn’t done very well academically. And so all of those kind of jobs that he describes in the book, of course, they were, you know, fairly menial jobs, which bored him. They didn’t. They didn’t grab his attention, and it was only when he came to England to watch a football match and enjoyed the hospitality of the English people, specifically those in Liverpool. And he then said, I’m going to come back to England and I want to work in England and I’m not qualified to do anything. I’ll get a job doing something fairly menial, and he got a job as a pot washer in a hotel on the Isle of Man and then thought, actually, I maybe could learn to be a chef because maybe that’s something that I might be interested in.

Nina Basset 00:49:08 He liked food, so he went back to France and did some French cooking qualifications, and he enjoyed being a chef. But he didn’t really like the stress of the kitchen, because he didn’t like to be in that sort of stressful environment because it reminded him of home. And so he came back to England and thought, well, you know, maybe I could be a waiter. That seems a bit calmer. So he went back to France, did some waiting exams which were called cap at the time, and came back again and started as a waiter. And because he was French, Somebody in a restaurant in the New Forest said to him. Or can you tell me about this wine and very much of his nature? He was very embarrassed that he didn’t know enough about the wine to be able to give her an honest and and well-rounded answer. So he went and bought a book, and it was buying that book that really opened his eyes to this fascinating world of wine, which, you know, encompasses history, geography, so many other aspects than just about the wine.

Nina Basset 00:50:02 And he was hooked. And from that day onwards, you know, it was really him that self-developed. So he had mentors, of course, along the way. But later the first initial getting into wine was really him discovering himself just from opening a book, because he didn’t want to be embarrassed when somebody asked him a question about wine.

Natalie MacLean 00:50:23 That’s great. I love this story as well. But among the most striking images in the book is when Gerard is spending his days off in London. He would go to bookshops and buy catering manuals to learn, and that he once persuaded a grocery store employee to remove a folded napkin from a window display and slowly demonstrate the technique so he could sketch it in his notebook. And he did this not because anyone asked him to, but because he noticed he didn’t know how to do it. I loved that image of he was a really self-taught, self-made man. And another one. He describes his first meal at a three star Michelin restaurant, dining alone at Paul Bocuse very famous restaurant.

Natalie MacLean 00:51:07 Watching the room with such intense focus, he barely touched his food. And I’m quoting from the book, it was like watching a ballet. That dinner confirmed he was on the right path. So how did a man with no fine dining background know role models really at home develop such a precise understanding of what excellence looked and felt like? It was just simply by this observation and incredible thirst for learning.

Nina Basset 00:51:32 Yes, exactly. He I mean, he was very tenacious. He was very determined. He loved learning. He loved discovering. And so, I mean, I was horrified when he told me the story about the napkin, and I didn’t know about that until he actually wrote the book. And then I read it and said, my gosh, did you really do that? And he said, yes, why wouldn’t I? You know, for him it was kind of normal. Why wouldn’t you ask somebody to help you and show you? And I said, but I can’t imagine they’ve ever had anyone do that before or since.

Nina Basset 00:51:58 And he said, no, but, you know, they were eventually they were very happy to let me. I think they just wanted to get him out of the store, to be honest. but I mean, you know, that was his character. He he was just, he just had this thirst for knowledge and just wanted he was constantly wanting to better himself. And I think that was stemmed from the fact that he had gone to school and come out with so little, and then he just had this love of learning. You know, for him, it wasn’t a chore to sit down every morning and open a wine book and study for hours on end. It wasn’t a chore to write endless essays, and he wanted to share that with as many people as possible.

Natalie MacLean 00:52:40 Wow. Now, Nina, you set up blind tastings for Gerard every morning before major competitions, opening dozens of bottles in hotel rooms, bringing out miniatures of spirits from your suitcase. The book describes a room service waiter arriving to find bottles and miniatures covering the floor at dawn.

Natalie MacLean 00:52:58 Tell us about maybe another memorable tasting along that line.

Romane Basset 00:53:02 I distinctly remember there was a wine that dad had not tried cava Rosé, and he was really paranoid. What if it comes up? You know, I haven’t tried it. We ended up finding a bottle of Cava Rosé in an off licence.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:17 What is an off licence.

Nina Basset 00:53:18 Shop that sells wine? Yeah. Liquor store.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:21 Okay. Yeah.

Romane Basset 00:53:22 And, him doing a very quick tasting of it in the car park from the boot of the car.

Nina Basset 00:53:30 Ahead of him going to an exam. And actually, of course, as would one would expect, the Carver never came up in the exam. So it was all for nothing. But he enjoyed it.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:39 But he was ready.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:39 For it though.

Nina Basset 00:53:40 He was ready for it just in case. Yes. Yeah.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:43 That’s great. Romani, if you have to go. Thank you for joining us. For what? You could. And, good luck with your next. Whatever’s coming up.

Romane Basset 00:53:53 Thank you so much for your time.

Romane Basset 00:53:54 And thank you for talking about the book and sharing that story. It means the world.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:58 Thank you. My pleasure.

Natalie MacLean 00:53:59 All right. Bye bye. Bye bye.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:06 Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed our chat with Nina and Romani.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:10 Here are my.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:10 Takeaways. Number one, how.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:12 Did discovering.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:13 Wine lead Gela Bass.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:15 To become the world’s best sommelier? As Nina explains, he was French. So of course people assumed in a restaurant he knew about wine. They asked him. He was embarrassed not to know. So he bought a wine book to be able to give a well-rounded answer the next time. And that really opened his eyes to the fascinating world of wine, which, as Nina notes, encompasses history, geography, and so many other aspects of human endeavor. He was hooked. I really can empathize with that. Number two, what does truly exceptional hospitality look like in practice? Nina says she saw it as a personal challenge when they were running their hotels. Someone arrived on a Friday evening.

Natalie MacLean 00:54:59 They’d had a difficult week. Maybe they were arguing in the car on the way there and their shoulders were up to their ears. They’d look at each other and say, this one’s going to be a challenge. But they worked their magic, and by the end of their stay, they would leave. Relaxed. I want to go to that hotel. As Nina notes, Shahar was all in on everything. As a host, he’d share his wine knowledge. It didn’t matter how busy they were. He’d spend the time each customer demanded of him. Sounds like a really first rate guy. And finally, number three, how did a man with no fine dining background develop such a deep understanding of what excellence in hospitality looked and felt like? As Nina says, he was very tenacious and determined and love learning. And I love that story of him walking into the department store and asking the clerk to show him how to fold the napkin that was on the table setting in the window. I mean, that’s just so representative of how Zara approached learning every aspect any way he could.

Natalie MacLean 00:56:04 Books, people. Whatever. And as Nina said, it wasn’t a chore for him to sit down every morning, open a wine book and study for hours. And then he just wanted to share that learning and joy of wine with everyone. If he missed episode 19, go back and take a listen. I chat about how to become the world’s best sommelier with Arvid Rosengren, another world competition winner. I’ll share a short clip with you now to whet your appetite.

Arvid Rosengren 00:56:32 The key if you want to become a good blind taster for spirits, it’s exposure. I think you got to smell a lot. Usually the wine tasting of spirits are sort of. Let’s say they put down eight glasses. My goal is to be able to nail 5 or 6 on smell alone, so that I don’t have to start tasting until the very end, because once you start tasting, you start messing with your palate and everything becomes difficult. You have to nail more than half of it on the nose alone and then move to the taste.

Arvid Rosengren 00:56:59 Your spirits are usually so sort of defined by their category, in the sense that it’s pretty easy once you learn the set of archetypes to start getting there.

Natalie MacLean 00:57:09 And do you mean that.

Natalie MacLean 00:57:10 Like a tequila is always easily identifiable versus a Cabernet?

Arvid Rosengren 00:57:14 Exactly. Even if they’re different. The difference is also marked, whereas the difference in wine can be very subtle. You know, sometimes you get Shiraz, a taste like Malbec and that kind of thing. You don’t get that with spirit. If it’s a Scotch, it’s very different from a bourbon, and it’s always going to be very difficult for me.

Natalie MacLean 00:57:35 You won’t want to miss next week when we continue our chat with Nina and Romain, to give you a taste of future guests, we’ll have professor Mark Salata on the intersection between wine and religion, doctor Dave Nutt on wine and health, Ben Hawkins on Port and Sherry. Global bartending champion Caitlin Steward on fresh new cocktails for spring. Humorist Maurice Chevrier on how to sound wine smart. Karen Newman on 40 cocktails to close out any evening.

Natalie MacLean 00:58:05 James Chatto on the iconic recipes and drinks that have shaped our taste. Liz Gabay on rosé from Provence. Christine Resto on Sark. Doctor Charles Knowles on why we drink too much and Marisol de la Fuente on the wines of Argentina. Do you have a question for any of our guests? Let me know. Do you know someone who would be interested in learning more about what it takes to become the world’s best sommelier, and what defines great restaurant wine service? Let them know about this podcast. Email or text them now while you’re thinking about it. It’s easy to find the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast. Just tell them to search for that title or my name Natalie MacLean Wine on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, their favorite podcast app, or they can listen to the show on my website at Natalie MacLean or. Email me if you have a question or if you’d like to win one of seven drinks books I have to give away. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on this episode, or if you’ve read my book or are listening to it.

Natalie MacLean 00:59:12 Email me at Natalie at Natalie MacLean. Com. In the show notes, you’ll also find a link to take a free online food and wine pairing class with me called the five Wine and Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner and How to Fix Them Forever at Natalie MacLean class. And that’s all in the show notes at Natalie MacLean 85. Thank you for taking the time to join me here. I hope something great is in your glass this week. Perhaps a glass of similar recommended wine. You don’t want to miss one juicy episode of this podcast, especially the secret full bodied bonus episodes that I don’t announce on social media. So subscribe for free now at Natalie MacLean. Meet me here next week. Cheers.

Natalie MacLean 01:00:11 Cheers.

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​3 Bottles to Elevate Your Easter Table

  The kids’ Easter candy haul this weekend is actually a great flavour guide for some fun cocktails and terrific wines.   Here to lead us on this adult Easter hunt is our favourite drinks expert Natalie MacLean, editor of Canada’s largest drinks site at nataliemaclean.com.   Welcome, Natalie.   Great to be back with you! Just let me say that no child’s candy stash was raided during the research for this segment, though in the name of science, I do believe in duplicating experiments this weekend.   Today we’re going to find a bridge between your inner five-year-old who […]

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The Debates, Controversies and Mysteries That Have Shaped the World of Wine Like Organics With Alan Ramey, Author of Pressing Matters

Introduction What might surprise you about the amount of research on organic versus conventional farming when it comes to winemaking? Why are many strong opinions in wine accepted without much challenge or push for validation? Why are traditional wine regions being forced to balance heritage with visibility and branding in today’s market? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Alan Ramey, author of the new book, Pressing Matters: The Debates, Controversies and Mysteries that have Shaped the World of Wine. You can find the wines we discussed here.   Giveaway Two of you are going to […]

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Hop to It: Easter’s 5 Best Wine Finds Are Hiding in Plain Sight

  While children search for Easter eggs this weekend, grown-ups deserve a treasure hunt of their own, right there in the wine aisle.   Who better to lead us on this spring discovery than Natalie MacLean, editor of Canada’s largest wine review site at nataliemaclean.com.   Welcome, Natalie.   Great to be back with you! You know, Easter is the one holiday where we’re encouraged to hunt for hidden treasures. I say we bring that energy to the wine aisle. The best bottles aren’t always at eye level with the glossy labels. Sometimes you have to crouch down, think like […]

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The Prison That Became a Distillery: Belfast’s Most Unlikely Comeback Story with McConnell’s Irish Whisky

Introduction Why do Irish distillers believe triple distillation creates a smoother, more refined whiskey? What makes a whiskey feel warm and smooth on the palate instead of fiery or harsh? Why does the Belfast origin of ginger ale make it such a natural pairing with McConnell’s Irish Whisky? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with John Kelly, CEO of the Belfast Distillery Company, responsible for reviving one of Belfast’s most famous brands, McConnell’s Irish Whisky. You can find the wines we discussed here.   Join me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live Video Join the […]

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5 Irish Superstitions and Drinks to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

    Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and whether you’re Irish or just Irish for the day, there’s no better time to raise a glass. But did you know that how you pour, clink, and even stir your drink could make or break your luck? Today we’re exploring five Irish drinking superstitions and the spirits that pair perfectly with each one.   Who better to help us than our favourite drinks expert Natalie MacLean, editor Canada’s largest wine review site at nataliemaclean.com.   Welcome, Natalie.   Great to be back with you! Ireland is likely the birthplace of whiskey. The […]

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From Hard Time to Happy Hour: The Remarkable Resurrection of McConnell’s Irish Whisky

Introduction What’s the hidden meaning behind the opaque ribbed glass at the bottom of a McConnell’s Irish Whisky bottle? What made the opportunity to revive McConnell’s Irish Whisky important enough to leave a long and secure career behind? How does a master distiller notice that something is off long before anyone else can spot it? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with John Kelly, CEO of the Belfast Distillery Company, responsible for reviving one of Belfast’s most famous brands, McConnell’s Irish Whisky, which actually dates back 250 years this year to 1776. You can find the wines […]

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The Ghost in the Glass: 5 Ways AI Is Rewriting the Story of Wine

Introduction If your wearable device knows your cortisol level, your heart rate, and the ambient light in your dining room, should it also choose the perfect wine for you? The Romans raved about Falernian. The Georgians were fermenting in clay vessels eight thousand years ago. Could AI finally let us taste what they were drinking? Conversely, can AI write an accurate tasting note for wine still in the bottle before a single human lifts the glass? When every appellation is covered, every vintage scored, and every back label written by an algorithm, what is a wine writer actually for? You’re going to discover […]

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More Than a Drink: Why Wine Divides & Unites Cultures with Sarah Heller MW

Introduction Why do some cultures embrace wine as a cultural expression while others see it simply as a beverage? Why do some cultures embrace wine as a cultural expression while others see it simply as a beverage? Can fine wine actually be defined, or is it something subjective to be debated? Why is it so important to identify both the aroma and structure of wines when tasting? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Sarah Heller, Master of Wine. You can find the wines we discussed here.   Join me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live Video Join […]

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