{"id":26356,"date":"2025-12-04T07:45:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/?p=26356"},"modified":"2025-12-04T08:01:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T08:01:42","slug":"the-role-of-a-sommelier-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2025\/12\/04\/the-role-of-a-sommelier-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of a sommelier today"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Maxime Courvoisier\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Managing partner and Sommelier at\n\nRestaurant Ressources * Michelin in Bordeaux<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Introduction<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Gerda Beziade : What are the main challenges you face on a daily basis?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Maxime Courvoisier :\u00a0<\/strong>The main challenge today is managing to build customer loyalty in a market that, in Bordeaux, is clearly oversaturated.<\/span><\/p>

GB : Yes, apparently Bordeaux is the European city with the highest number of restaurants per inhabitant.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong>Yes, and we believe that competition is ultimately a good thing. It pushes us to question ourselves every day, to move forward, and it also helps attract customers from elsewhere \u2014 outside Bordeaux, outside Aquitaine, even outside France.<\/span><\/p>

We imagined Ressources and Vivants as places built around three core pillars: precise cooking, a sharply curated wine list, and a space that we wanted to feel warm, relaxed, yet always rigorous.\u00a0In Bordeaux, these three elements rarely came together. There were excellent restaurants with beautiful dishes, or others that were wine-focused with exceptional tools to work with \u2014 but rarely all three combined, and even more rarely with that extra soul, that human touch, that sense of sharing and conviviality, all while maintaining a level of service that drives us every day.<\/p>

That\u2019s how Ressources was born. Very quickly, the Michelin star followed. The Guide understood that we were committed to a quality-driven approach and, above all, that we wanted to offer guests a new kind of experience.<\/p>

GB : What is the most difficult part of your job?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong>Standing on your feet for hours, staying physically fit\u2026 and constantly questioning yourself. Nothing is ever guaranteed. Even when everything seems to be going well, when the restaurant is full, you still have to anticipate, prepare what\u2019s next, stay one step ahead. It\u2019s not about racing to be the best \u2014 it\u2019s about remaining one of those restaurants people talk about, not slipping into irrelevance.<\/span><\/p>

GB : What are the most common expectations your customers have regarding wine and your expertise as a sommelier?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong>When people come to us, they expect a level of guidance and service that you rarely find elsewhere.\u00a0<\/span>Today, we offer a list of around 800 to 900 references in each restaurant. Naturally, the team has to be responsive, proactive, capable of making suggestions, and able to understand every type of guest \u2014 whether they\u2019re foreign visitors, tourists, locals, Parisians, whoever. We have to adapt.<\/span><\/p>

That old dress code no longer exists: before, just by watching people walk through the door, you could almost guess what kind of wine would suit each table. Even twenty years ago, in Michelin-starred restaurants, the codes were still very rigid.<\/p>

Today, much less so \u2014 and we\u2019re among those who want to challenge those codes.\u00a0Advice must be given differently now, with people at the center. Conversation is essential: understanding why guests come to see us and what they expect is fundamental.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The concept behind restaurant ressources <\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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GB : Could you describe the concept behind Restaurant Ressources<\/a>\u00a0? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>At Restaurant Ressources, we are three partners. There is of course what you see \u2014 the restaurant itself \u2014 but also the entire hidden part of the iceberg: the human, social, ecological, and environmental dimension.<\/span><\/p>

Behind all of this is a company called Project Insights, created by Gr\u00e9gory Gouillet, a work psychologist, and Tanguy Laviale. Ressources is not just a restaurant \u2014 it is also a laboratory, a place where we test new management methods that are more horizontal than vertical.<\/p>

Sometimes it works very well. Sometimes it doesn\u2019t. And that\u2019s normal \u2014 we work with people. The idea is to learn, to question ourselves, and to keep moving forward.<\/p>

They also created an association called L\u2019Assiette, now chaired by Tanguy. Its mission is to promote food education among children and young adults.
Every week, we run workshops with students from the Crous de Talence. And recently, during Food Week, we welcomed more than 500 primary school children across four different workshops. Through these moments, we pass on a love of ingredients, cooking, and wine \u2014 values that we hope will take root when these children become adults.<\/p>

Today, fast food is taking up more and more space. We try to act at the source by providing taste education, teaching children to recognise and appreciate seasonal products. The workshops are designed around the senses: touch, sight, smell, and taste.<\/p>

In both of our establishments, there is no hierarchical structure. Everyone is a chef; everyone is a cook. We believe there is not just one way to get from point A to point B \u2014 there are several. What matters is that we get there together.<\/p>

GB : That\u2019s quite rare, because the restaurant world is usually very hierarchical, with brigades, head chefs, sous-chefs\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, and that is precisely what we don\u2019t want to reproduce. I\u2019m not saying we succeed perfectly every day \u2014 we work with humans, with different personalities, some more open, others more hesitant. But together, we move further.<\/span><\/p>

GB : Is your concept also a response to the recruitment challenges facing the restaurant industry?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>It is, at the very least, the solution we found to keep our teams engaged in a long-term vision.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Wine List<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GB : When you select a wine for the list, what are the most important criteria?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>There isn\u2019t just one criterion, but I would say the three main ones are the human element, emotion, and the expectations of our clientele.<\/span><\/p>

A wine list should never be built according to the sommelier\u2019s personal taste, but according to the taste of the guests. That\u2019s a mistake we see far too often.<\/p>

For example, we have two establishments: Vivants and Ressources. Vivants is located in a more touristy area, so expectations and consumption habits differ from those at Ressources, which is more out of the way.
The goal at Ressources was to make it a destination restaurant \u2014 and we\u2019ve achieved that. But the customer profiles are completely different, and therefore the wine lists are too.<\/p>

At both places, the selection remains demanding, but it adapts. It took us some time to really understand that \u2014 my mistake at first. At Vivants, the wine list offers a broader and more precise range of Bordeaux wines, whereas at Ressources, it\u2019s more eclectic and open.<\/p>

Bordeaux is also becoming more and more of a seasonal city. You can clearly see cycles: for six months, one style of wine dominates, and then everything shifts with autumn and winter. It\u2019s fascinating to watch.<\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>And this year, which wine was the most in demand?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Bordeaux was the top seller this year. We\u2019re also investing in building very strong wine teams, with real expertise that guests expect and appreciate. They\u2019re the ones who advise and guide, not by pushing the same wine or appellation over and over, but by working with a wide and diverse wine list \u2014 which leads to very varied sales.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>People often say that Bordeaux wines are underrepresented on wine lists in Bordeaux \u2014 on average around 34%. And what about yours?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Today, across our two establishments, Bordeaux and Burgundy dominate, each accounting for around 40%, with the remaining 20% spread across other regions.<\/span><\/p>

There\u2019s also a geographical reality: at Vivants, located in the historic center of Bordeaux, Bordeaux wines represent between 35% and 40% of sales this season.
At Ressources, however, we\u2019re unfortunately far from those numbers: over the year, Bordeaux doesn\u2019t exceed 10% of sales \u2014 even though the list is far more extensive. But the clientele there, mostly from Bordeaux, tends to look towards other regions. Bordeaux often comes as the second or third bottle. Many Bordelais already have a cellar at home and come to the restaurant to discover something different.<\/p>

Today, 95% of our Bordeaux sales come from tourists.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Bordeaux wines<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GB : What is your opinion on Bordeaux wines?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>I\u2019m originally from Franche-Comt\u00e9, but a little over ten years ago, I chose to come to Bordeaux to complete a year of sommelier studies.<\/span><\/p>

I picked Bordeaux because in 2013, it was right in the middle of the \u201cBordeaux bashing\u201d era. I wanted to understand that phenomenon: the why, the how, and especially the direction the region was heading.<\/p>

Ten years later, we\u2019re seeing the consequences: even in Bordeaux, some restaurants no longer offer Bordeaux wines. And that, I admit, I find hard to understand. You can disagree with certain pricing or environmental strategies, but Bordeaux is not defined by those aspects alone.<\/p>

In terms of surface area and diversity of appellations, Bordeaux remains one of the largest and most varied wine regions in the world. I can\u2019t imagine that someone couldn\u2019t find pleasure in its wines.<\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>And you \u2014 did you find that pleasure in our wines?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, I did, and a long time ago. Even if Bordeaux is not always the most featured region during themed dinners, Bordeaux will always be Bordeaux. It will continue to shine.
Maybe Bordeaux simply forgot its own local market. We discussed this with Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Maroteaux: the city of Bordeaux, and even France as a whole, were neglected by the Place in favour of international markets. Today, the n\u00e9gociants are coming back to us. People tend to blame restaurants, wine bars, or wine shops \u2014 I hear that often \u2014 but we are not the only ones responsible.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>What are the most common expectations your clients have regarding wine and your expertise as a sommelier?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>When people visit us, they expect a level of guidance and service you rarely find elsewhere. At the moment, we offer a selection of around 800 to 900 references in each establishment.\u00a0<\/span>Naturally, the team has to be responsive, proactive, and capable of advising every type of guest \u2014 whether they\u2019re from abroad, tourists, locals, Parisians, anyone. We have to adapt.<\/span><\/p>

The old dress codes are gone: in the past, just by seeing a table walk in, you could almost guess what style of wine they would want. Twenty years ago, in Michelin-starred restaurants, everything was still very codified.\u00a0Today, much less so \u2014 and we\u2019re among those who want to challenge these codes.<\/p>

Advice has to be offered differently, with people at the centre. The conversation is essential: understanding why guests come to see us and what they\u2019re hoping for is fundamental.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chateau Branaire Ducru<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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GB : Which vintages of Branaire-Ducru do you have on your wine list?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>We have 1989, as well as more recent vintages like 2011 and 2016. Bordeaux is fortunate in that, thanks to the n\u00e9gociants, we can still offer older vintages \u2014 something almost no other French region can provide.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>We began the tasting with the second wine of Ch\u00e2teau Branaire-Ducru, Duluc 2021. Even though 2021 was a somewhat complicated vintage, it gives immediate pleasure.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, the 2021 surprised me. It had this spicy character you would normally associate with warm, sunny vintages, but without any sensation of heat on the palate.
I later learned why: Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier told us that Petit Verdot had a stronger presence in 2021 \u2014 which is quite rare. And with wine, there is always an explanation. Duluc 2021, like Branaire-Ducru, turned out to be a beautiful bottle, offering real pleasure during the tasting.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>Is it a wine you would recommend to your customers?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Of course. We made the choice to have teams who guide the customer toward the wine. It\u2019s now very rare for a guest to arrive and say, \u201cI want to drink this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

There is always an expectation of guidance.<\/p>

I also understand that for young sommeliers, the great wines of Bordeaux \u2014 the first wines \u2014 are not always well-known. They\u2019re more expensive and less accessible. They\u2019re more accustomed to the second wines, which they taste at work rather than drink at home. There is a whole culture of Bordeaux wine to pass on to the younger generation \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what we do at the restaurant.<\/p>

GB : Then we tasted the Duluc 2020, which is superb. I love that vintage on the Right Bank, but this Duluc 2020 truly impressed me.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, it has lovely power, while remaining approachable and charming. It\u2019s a very pleasurable wine, carried by great finesse and elegance that lingers on the finish.
It\u2019s enjoyable already, but it can certainly age \u2014 which is something we see more often today. Fifteen or twenty years ago in Bordeaux, you had to wait a long time before opening the wines.
Today, consumers want wines they can drink sooner. Winemakers are adapting. Duluc 2020 is a great vintage, offering both immediate pleasure and ageing potential \u2014 the opposite of 2021.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>What did you think of the third wine, Duluc 2018?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC : <\/strong><\/span>I Find it very flattering. It\u2019s a sunny vintage, but here, the wine remains appetizing and fresh. I\u2019m not always a fan of 2018s from the Right Bank \u2014 often a bit too opulent \u2014 but here, the balance is remarkable.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>Yes, 2018 stays true to the Branaire-Ducru style: always linear and vertical.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC : <\/strong><\/span>Exactly. Everyone knows 2018 as a warm, sunny vintage, sometimes with very ripe, even slightly cooked fruit. That often shows through in the aromas.
But here, not at all \u2014 the wine is driven by beautiful acidity and a straight, vertical structure. There is no heat on the palate, even though the alcohol is above 14%. It\u2019s very elegant and incredibly well-controlled.<\/span><\/p>

GB : Then we tasted three vintages of Branaire-Ducru: 2021, 2017, and 2010. How would you describe Branaire-Ducru in a few words?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>I always find Branaire-Ducru to have a restrained, elegant power \u2014 almost paradoxical: a contained strength, always precise, always vertical.
There is a lot of freshness, almost a vibrant, acid-driven tension, an appetizing quality that carries the wine. Branaire-Ducru is, to me, one of the great wines of Bordeaux. I\u2019ve never known it to be exuberant.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>It never succumbed to the fashion for heavily extracted wines.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Exactly. Even in warm, sunny vintages, Branaire-Ducru never falls into opulence. The terroir and the estate\u2019s style always bring this gentle, suave finish.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>Yes, and that constant freshness that carries the wine.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Absolutely. Even in 2021, where the mid-palate structure is lighter, you still find that freshness. And thank goodness vintage variation still exists! I don\u2019t see it as a flaw.
Calling a vintage \u201ccomplicated\u201d does not mean it\u2019s less good or that it shouldn\u2019t be on a wine list. These vintages often offer more accessible profiles in their youth, with adjusted pricing \u2014 and Bordeaux is very good at that.<\/span><\/p>

GB : So you could offer the 2021 on your wine list?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, of course. We cannot only list exceptional vintages. Not all of our guests expect that. As sommeliers, we also have a role to show that even so-called \u201cweak\u201d or \u201cdifficult\u201d years can produce excellent wines.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>Next, we tasted the 2017 vintage, which was a wonderful surprise for me. The mid-palate had beautiful texture and complexity, and the finish \u2014 so typically Branaire-Ducru \u2014 kept that vertical freshness with a hint of salinity. Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier mentioned that 2017 was the first vintage vinified with optical sorting.<\/strong><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, that likely played a role. The 2017 has flesh, texture, and a good chew, without being a vintage of strong concentration.<\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>Blind, I never would have guessed it was a 2017. That\u2019s the beauty of discovery.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Exactly. I would have guessed wrong too. The wine gives enormous pleasure. Eight years on, it\u2019s perfect to open right now!<\/span><\/p>

GB : The last bottle we tasted was the exceptional 2010 vintage.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, a more concentrated vintage that requires some preparation \u2014 decanting, for example. A great vintage is not always ready immediately. It remains great, but it goes through phases of openness and closure. And today, the 2010 is magnificent again.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>What dish pairs particularly well with a wine like Branaire-Ducru?<\/strong><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>There are so many possibilities. At Restaurant Ressources right now, with autumn arriving and game season beginning, we\u2019re working with venison.
Naturally, that calls for a wine with a bit more power, but we preserve that slightly sanguine character, lifted by a vegetal touch that we develop across the whole dish. We\u2019re working especially with exotic spinach.<\/p>

GB :\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Spinach is known to be difficult to pair with red wine.<\/strong><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>True, but with a vintage like 2017, where the vegetal notes are noble, spinach and red fruit create a beautiful dynamic in the pairing.
At Ressources, we like to explore slightly \u201cedgy\u201d territories \u2014 lacto-fermented notes, umami-driven broths \u2014 like the rye miso made by Ch\u00e2teau Coutet in Saint-\u00c9milion, which almost evokes soy sauce.
You need meat with texture, without falling into heaviness, so that the fruit and vegetal notes align with the umami of the miso \u2014 its light toastiness, its subtle roasted nuances.<\/span><\/p>

GB : <\/strong><\/em>The vegetal notes in Branaire-Ducru \u2014 those fresh, minty aromas \u2014 feel like noble vegetal tones to me.<\/strong><\/p>

MC :\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Yes, absolutely. The Cabernet Sauvignon dominance in Branaire-Ducru gives it its strength and verticality.
It\u2019s an aromatic profile and style we love: never exuberant, never excessively powerful.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I reached out to Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Maroteaux about participating in a Regards-Crois\u00e9s session, he immediately suggested inviting Maxime Courvoisier as well. The idea struck us as an excellent one right away. In 2024, we already published several interviews with sommeliers, which you can find on our website under the\u00a0Sommelier filter.
\nSommeliers are essential voices in the conversation. As Maxime Courvoisier highlights in the interview: \u201cThere is a whole culture of Bordeaux wine that needs to be passed on to the younger generation. And that\u2019s exactly what we do at the restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[627],"tags":[1550],"appellation":[1051],"profession":[1081],"propriete":[1296],"personnalite":[1551],"class_list":["post-26356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross-perspectives","tag-maxime-courvoisier","appellation-saint-julien-en","profession-sommelier-en","propriete-chateau-branaire-ducru-en","personnalite-maxime-courvoisier"],"yoast_head":"\nThe role of a sommelier today - Inside La Place<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2025\/12\/04\/the-role-of-a-sommelier-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The role of a sommelier today - Inside La Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I reached out to Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Maroteaux about participating in a Regards-Crois\u00e9s session, he immediately suggested inviting Maxime Courvoisier as well. The idea struck us as an excellent one right away. In 2024, we already published several interviews with sommeliers, which you can find on our website under the\u00a0Sommelier filter. Sommeliers are essential voices in the conversation. As Maxime Courvoisier highlights in the interview: \u201cThere is a whole culture of Bordeaux wine that needs to be passed on to the younger generation. 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